Humanitarian professionals and organizations strive to develop their own competency and capacity building - in order to enhance their ability to conduct their work. There is a need for proof of learning - for accountability and quality assurance - as well as a need to maintain and improve professional capacity and to provide for career progression and continued awareness of new policies and practice.

It is in this context that ATHA, beginning in June 2009, will offer an Advanced Training Program Certificate (ATP) for accepted Program applicants. Having completed the ATP Certificate, participants will have acquired an advanced level of understanding and fluency with issue of humanitarian action.

Enrollment:
All participants who are accepted to Program activities may apply for the ATP Certificate. However, participation in ATHA Core and Specialized Trainings remains possible without seeking an ATP Certificate. A separate Certificate of Completion will continued to be awarded following individual ATHA Core and Specialized Trainings within the Program.
Information on all the trainings offered within the Program may be found on the ATHA website: www.atha.se. The ATP Certificate is available to each participant who has entered the Program and completed each of the required three steps, described below.

Requirements:
Participants striving to obtain an ATHA Advanced Training Program Certificate (ATP) must satisfy the following three steps:

Step I - Complete one ATHA Core Training
The Core Training is currently offered twice a year. The ATHA Core Training is a five day course on humanitarian action, where legal, operational and policy aspects of humanitarian action are examined. The legal framework of international humanitarian law, considered in relation to humanitarian and operational tools, serves as a conceptual underpinning for the training.

Step II - Complete at least two ATHA Specialized Trainings
Thematic/Specialized Trainings varies in areas and lengths. To complete this second step the participant need to complete two Specialized Trainings within ATHA.

Participants seeking an ATP Certification may substitute participation in one or two ATHA specialized trainings with participation in (and completion of) a Thematic Workshop, conducted by HPCR International, as part of their HPCR Internationals' Professional Development Program. Please observe that acceptance to these Thematic Workshops involve a separate application process that is fully managed by HPCR-I and in no way related to the application process of ATHA and/or Sida staff and procedures. Sida is not in a position to fund any organization seeking to be accepted to HPCR International's Professional Development Program.

Step III – Write and complete a Thematic Paper on a humanitarian topic
After completing the first two steps, the participant must draft a thematic paper on an issue of interest for their sending organization. Prior to Step III the suggested topic for the thematic paper should be approved by Sida, along with confirmation from the sending organization that the proposed topic is of relevance to them. The paper should be 10 pages in length and provide critical reflection on an issue brought up in one of earlier Specialized Trainings (or HPCR International Thematic Workshop) The paper will be read and graded by Sida, in cooperation with experts attached to the Program, before final approval and issuing of an ATP Certification.

Certificate:
After completing the above-mentioned three steps the participant should submit a formal request to the ATHA Project Coordinator, detailing the satisfied requirements. ATP Certificate is awarded to no cost to all who have fulfilled the requirements detailed above. Excluded are any additional costs associated with acceptance and participant to the HPCR Professional Development Program