United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Jun 2017
InterWorks facilitated a Workshop on Emergency Management (WEM) for UNHCR in Starum, Norway from 20 – 30 June 2017. Hosting arrangements for the WEM in Starum were financed by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in direct arrangement with the host institution with the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap – or DSB http://www.dsb.no/forside.asp) – as the supporting host institution. Overall coordination and planning for the event was done by the UNHCR Global Learning Centre (GLC) supported in particular by UNHCR Emergency Service (ES) for core content, and other UNHCR content experts from different Divisions and Units of UNHCR relating to their own areas of expertise.
The intensive and demanding course prepared 40 participants for emergency deployment focusing on three areas of emergency management: managing yourself, managing relationships, and managing your operational role through all phases of the deployment. The course was interactive and work-oriented, and employed a variety of methodologies, including simulation exercises, presentations and case study, as well as group and plenary discussions. The agenda included sessions on team-building, operations planning, financial and administrative systems, operational partnerships, communication and negotiation skills, security, coordination and information-sharing, telecommunications, and humanitarian protection. New this session included the use of a currently developing case study scenario based on a settlement design rather than a camp, so that expert services from UNHCR Geneva (Shelter and Settlements Section) could contribute to the development of the overall response strategy.
Should be compulsory for all UNHCR Staff. A well thought out and articulated workshop. Good balance between theory and practice.
– Workshop participant
