Background
Humanitarian and development actors are increasingly exposed to complex political emergencies and conflict environments. In each emergency, a variety of different stakeholders are involved at various levels, giving humanitarian protection and relief. Each of these actors operates in accordance with their own principles and specific mandate. Furthermore, civil society and the UN are increasingly aware of the growing presence of international military forces in crisis areas.

Having different actors working towards a common goal will help preventing duplication of work and the risk that work might fall in between chairs. A balance of a variety of organisations with their particularities, different priorities and actions and of a coordinated and coherent strategy with a common goal where all parts know their roles and the donors contribute to this coordinated action is strived for. Moreover, coordination should be implemented in manners that help strengthening local capacity and local structures.

Purpose
The purpose of the course is to highlight why humanitarian coordination is needed and how it can strengthen response capacity, efficiency, predictability and accountability among actors.

Diverse aspects and levels of coordination among different actors in different humanitarian settings, i.e. both natural disasters and conflicts settings, will be addressed at the training. Furthermore, the different levels of communication, both from a practical and policy point of view will be assessed; including the UN-system (Resident Coordinators, Humanitarian Coordinators, the role of OCHA, the Cluster approach etc.), NGOs coordination, the military and the Red Cross Movement. Different roles and abilities, difficulties and limitations in supporting coordination efforts etc. will be presented and discussed. Evidences of a successful coordination will be presented as well as examples of when coordination doesn’t give an added value.

Participants will discuss how agencies can continue to function in accordance with their mandate within a coordinated system. It will be debated if and how civil-military cooperation can be achieved without jeopardizing fundamental humanitarian principles and values such as impartiality and neutrality and independence.

Target group
Targeted organisations include organisations working with humanitarian aid, as well as organisations working with long term development. Staff from other European and international organisations, governmental institutions, academia, military, police and UN may also apply for the course.

Application
Professional affiliation with an organization or institution is a requisite for participation in the course. Thus individuals interested in applying to the course are asked to submit applications in conjunction with their employing or sponsoring organization.

Apply here: http://www.atha.se/course-application

Contact and Inquiries
Questions concerning the content of the course should be addressed to Anna Högberg, ATHA Program Manager, e-mail: anna.hogberg@sida.se, phone:+46 (0)8-698 40 71. Administrative questions concerning lodging, venue, meals etc should be addressed to
ATHA Program Administrator Magdalena Åkerros, email: magdalena.akerros@sida.se, phone: +46 (08) 698 40 44