In this feature, we spotlight a capacity strengthening initiative of the HLA Asia Regional Centre in Nepal: the Humanitarian Operations Programme (HOP) Core training which is preparing front line humanitarians for responding to climate-induced emergencies and in turn strengthening community resilience.

Nepal has long been recognised as a high-risk area for climate-induced crises and humanitarian emergencies. To help address these vulnerabilities, the HLA Asia Pacific Regional Centre is collaborating with Save the Children Nepal Country Office to bolster their efforts to prioritise capacity strengthening initiatives to enhance community-level resilience, particularly with local civil society organisations.

The training content was exactly what I was looking for; it’s refreshing and directly useful for my work.

A cornerstone of these efforts is the Humanitarian Operations Programme (HOP) Core training. The HOP Core training aims to equip humanitarian responders with the skills and knowledge necessary for effective emergency management.

Save the Children Nepal Country Office’s commitment to localising humanitarian response is reflected in its ‘Partner Graduation Model,’ which focuses on supporting national and local partners with sustainable leadership and resource capabilities. This places local civil society organisations and actors at the centre of all their activities to achieve breakthroughs and results at scale.

This year’s two-phased HLA HOP Core training in Nepal – held between 28-31 May in Surkhet (Western Province) and 6-9 August in Bardibas (Eastern Province) – is part of this broader strategy to strengthen the resilience of frontline responders.

Contextualised learning for Nepal

The training was designed with a blended approach – featuring both classroom sessions and hands-on simulations, allowing participants to practice real-world scenarios using context-specific case studies, such as flood responses.

The curriculum was customised based on a Training Needs Assessment (TNA), ensuring that participants’ diverse backgrounds were addressed, with modules tackling vital areas such as humanitarian principles, wellbeing in emergencies, needs assessment and accountability, gender equality in crisis response, proposal writing, and simulations for disaster preparedness.

Asad Zia Iqbal, HLA Asia Pacific Regional Centre’s Humanitarian Capacity Building Manager, and the lead trainer had previously trained the HOP Core Nepal trainers, and also provided technical support to the workshops.  

Asad commends the dedication and expertise of the HOP Core-trained facilitators, whose skills were instrumental in delivering impactful training sessions, remarking: “The facilitators’ commitment, knowledge, and adaptability truly made a difference, creating an environment that was both impactful and inspiring for our participants.”

He also highlights the emphasis on the practical elements of the training, notably the simulations which enable participants to engage in realistic scenarios that mimic actual emergency situations: “These simulations foster critical thinking, teamwork, and decision-making skills, preparing participants to effectively manage crises in their respective roles. This combination of learning sessions and simulations ensures a dynamic and immersive training experience, equipping participants with the necessary tools to lead and respond effectively in emergency situations.”

Inclusive and collaborative approach

The training marked the first time participants from Save the Children and local partner organisations came together for shared capacity strengthening. 50 attendees, including 16 women, ranged from field staff to board members of partner organisations.

The training was led by in-country facilitators who share the view that the engagement of the diverse participants created a stimulating and productive learning environment.

Trainer Ratna Raj Ojha, Head of Programme Operations, Save the Children Nepal Surkhet Field Office, reflected:
“The diverse backgrounds of the participants made the training experience richer. Tailoring content to their needs and simplifying complex topics ensured better engagement and understanding.”

Sharing this view is Rabin Dahal, Shock Responsive Social Protection Training Coordinator, Save the Children Nepal, who remarked:
“It was a privilege to share the Humanitarian Operations and Programme Skills with colleagues. The enthusiasm and learning attitude of participants truly made this training impactful. It was encouraging to see their commitment to applying the knowledge gained to future crisis responses.”

Strengthening local leadership for effective crisis management

One unique aspect of this training was the inclusion of board members from partner organisations, focusing on enhancing their strategic oversight during emergencies. By strengthening the knowledge these leaders with emergency management principles, the programme strengthens organisational resilience, ensuring swift and informed decision-making in times of crisis.

HOP training is very effective and relevant to the staff and organisation those what to make career in Humanitarian Response and organisational growth in humanitarian sector.

The training has provided us with insights on how effectively we can respond to a humanitarian situation. HOP is a well-facilitated training course with very useful and context relevant contents.

As the HLA representative, it is good to see how Nepal Team has simplified and well customised the contents to make them context relevant, maintaining the essence of the training. The training was well received and widely appreciated by the participants. Seeing how the Nepal team adapted the HOP content to fit the local context was impressive. This training truly reinforced our commitment to localisation.

Looking ahead: building on successes

As a next step, Save the Children Nepal plans to conduct additional training on ‘Emergency Preparedness and Response Planning’ (EPRP) for partners to further strengthen their crisis management capabilities.

The positive feedback received from participants and trainers alike underscores the training’s immediate impact on enhancing local humanitarian response capabilities.

The successful execution of the HOP Core training in Nepal demonstrates the power of collaborative, context-specific capacity-strengthening initiatives. By equipping local actors with the tools and knowledge to respond effectively, Save the Children and HLA are contributing to a more resilient and prepared humanitarian landscape in Nepal.

I would like to thank HLA for developing such practical training and looking forward to other courses to capacitate the humanitarians for lifesaving interventions addressing the needs of affected people.

The HLA Asia Regional Centre would like to congratulate all participants and extend thanks to the facilitation team, Save the Children Nepal Country Office as well as the Humanitarian Director Asia for supporting HOP Core training in Surkhet under Humanitarian Fund.

Congratulations to the Education in Emergencies Certificate of Advanced Studies (EiE CAS) Asia residential participants! Between 21-28 October, this immersive residential provided a stimulating and enriching in-person learning experience for participants from across the Asia Pacific – and represented the first time that this residential has taken place as part of the University of Geneva-accredited EiE CAS programme in the region. 

The residential represented a milestone moment for these education sector professionals who have been learning together online on the EiE CAS programme for the past nine months.  

Participants travelled from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines to convene in a tranquil location on the banks of Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river for a fruitful week of learning. 

This training is really such an eye-opening experience for me, especially because there are participants from many countries in Asia. So it’s really a cross-learning opportunity. We have been learning this course for nine months, and learning the materials online alone is of course quite different from being with the team members and doing experiential learning. The simulation is really an opportunity to learn and make mistakes under some guidance so that we will be ready for the professional setting.

Participants represented a diverse range of organisations including local organisations, international organisations such as Save the Children, Plan International, and NRC, as well as UN and government agencies. With the HLA Asia Regional Centre’s commitment to localisation, over half of participants represented local organisations. 

Efren Lubuguin, the HLA EiE Professional Development Programme Manager for Asia, leads this programme in the region, and for the residential was supported by a global facilitation team from Asia, Europe and the Middle East. 

Interactive and immersive learning 

The residential provides an opportunity for the participants to apply their skills and knowledge gained from the programme and their own professional experiences.  

The programme was carefully designed to provide an engaging blend of workshops, immersive four-day simulation, and was rounded off with a two-day Transformation of Training (ToT) – equipping participants with the skills to develop EiE training in their own contexts. 

Proceedings kicked off with an interactive session focused on teamwork essentials and a deeper dive into key topics including safeguarding, in readiness for their intensive four-day simulation.

From day two, the expert facilitation team guided participants to the fictional setting of Galania, working together in NGO teams in a realistic scenario and testing their technical and collaborative skills under pressure.  

For many participants, this experience underscored the critical importance of adaptability, especially in unpredictable and resource-limited situations. 

 

One of the best things that this education in emergencies simulation provided to me was that it was not only supervised by the subject matter expert while we were putting our learning into practice, but we were also provided a simulated environment of instability and lack of resources and we had to adapt and become more flexible to be changing and evolving situations and the needs of different stakeholders. Leaving this simulation, I feel that I’m more prepared now for education in emergencies programming, especially in the context of Pakistan and child rights.

Cross-cultural exchange and networking 

With participants joining from nine Asia Pacific nations and a global facilitation and support team, a highlight of the residential experience was the opportunity to meet and learn from each other’s experiences.  

Through this opportunity I learned a lot from the facilitators and also from the students…The students come from different countries, different cultures and different contexts. They are implementing education projects. They address their challenge and their achievement of implementation of EIE in their context. It’s really beneficial for me and I took the skill from here to manage training by considering different angles of training or different stages of training.

A vibrant cultural event was held to celebrate the completion of the simulation, with participants showcasing traditional dress and sharing cultural traditions and heritage with each other, creating an enjoyable and meaningful exchange.  

Strengthening capacity: building a pool of expert facilitators across the Asia Pacific region 

As these professionals return home, they bring with them not only their learning from the week but also the ability to cascade this expertise locally.  

With the completion of the Transformation of Training programme (ToT), these EiE professionals are now equipped to facilitate further training, fostering a growing network of EiE experts across Asia Pacific who are prepared to respond to education in emergencies. 

This innovative approach to training highlights the value of simulation-based learning, which provides a realistic and hands-on environment for professionals to hone their skills.  

As crises continue to impact education systems across the region, the work of these EiE experts will be crucial in supporting crisis-affected communities through education as a lifesaving intervention.  

The ToT is very, very practical because this is a way where we would be able to actually transfer our learning to the next people to build the capacity. So I liked all the activities which are interactive, and how they are introducing us with the new events and activities, which is really exciting.

As the cohort approach the final programme module, they are a step closer to earning their Certificate of Advanced Studies accredited by the University of Geneva – and a step closer to making a lasting impact on education in emergencies across the region.

 

The EIE CAS simulation and ToT was an amazing experience with the global team of facilitators and students from the Asia Pacific region. Students met co-mentors among each other in the field of EiE and as a result they would like to establish their own community of practice. It was wonderful to see how differences in culture and context can work together in aspiring for education of children in crises. 

It is always impressive to see the residential module of the CAS. Indeed, online education is precious and allows access to a whole range of knowledge wherever you are, but interactions, communication, informal chats, teamwork in presence, are important dimensions of training. I was impressed by the seriousness of students and their engagement in any task. They do not know each other well but they performed as teams really quickly!

The HLA Asia Regional Centre extends its thanks and appreciation to colleagues from Save the Children International, to Save the Children Thailand Country Office for its support, to the University of Geneva, and funders PPL Education Trust. 

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• Pre-event news article: Education in Emergencies residential training for the Asia Pacific region set to take place in Thailand

• HLA Education in Emergencies programme

• Free EiE Online programme available the HLA’s digital learning platform Kaya, available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Ukrainian and Polish. This course is designed to help Education in Emergencies (EiE) and education practitioners improve their overall understanding of EiE or their knowledge of specific EiE topics and areas.

The HLA Asia Regional Centre is poised to deliver its innovative Education in Emergencies Certificate of Advanced Studies residential training in Thailand, welcoming a global training facilitation team and participants from nine countries from across the Asia Pacific region.

Education sector professionals from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Pakistan will undertake an intensive five-day training programme, followed by a two-day Transformation of Training (ToT), enabling participants to conduct EiE training within their home countries.

As participants gather in Bangkok, they will be embarking on a transformative journey: one that not only enhances their own professional skills but also contributes to a broader mission of providing education as a lifeline to children affected by crises around the world.

Why education matters during emergencies

In times of crisis, education provides a lifeline for children and their families, providing a vital sense of normalcy and hope for a better future. Delivering timely, high-quality Education in Emergencies (EiE), however, requires skilled professionals who are equipped to respond effectively.

That’s why the Humanitarian Leadership Academy together with Save the Children delivers EiE training around the world together, including the flagship EiE Certificate of Advanced Studies (EiE CAS) accredited by the University of Geneva.

Global training efforts for localised impact

This residential represents the first time this Asia Pacific programme cohort has come together in-person following nine months of remote learning, which has enabled participants to undertake the course modules alongside their roles in their home countries.

I am really excited to see all the participants from across the Asia Pacific region come together to apply their learning from the last nine months. It’s always great to see the bonds participants establish throughout the residential!

Efren Lubuguin, HLA’s EiE Professional Development Programme Manager for the Asia Pacific, will lead the expert team. Together, they will guide participants through a learning experience that will develop their EiE programme design, implementation, and leadership skills.

During the residential, participants engage in an in-depth, immersive simulation exercise. Participants will act as NGO teams tasked with addressing a realistic Education in Emergencies scenario in a fictional setting.

This simulation emphasises problem solving, technical skills, teamwork, and effective communication – all vital elements for operating in crisis situations.

I’m really looking forward to meeting all EiE CAS participants from across the Asia region and the global training team, and to experiencing the learning and training we’ll be engaging in together!

I’m looking forward to connecting with the diverse participants and the fantastic team of facilitators. It’s exciting to see dynamic collaboration and impactful learning unfold!

Education specialists from the HLA Asia Pacific Regional Centre and Save the Children recently collaborated to deliver a vital Education in Emergencies (EiE) training initiative in four Pacific Island nations.

The HLA’s flagship EiE Fundamentals course aims to equip country office education staff and members of the Education Cluster with the fundamental competencies of initiating, designing and implementing an EiE response in their context.

Supported by Save the Children Australia, this month-long tailored training initiative was led and delivered by the HLA’s Asia Pacific regional EiE expert Efren Lubuguin (pictured above, bottom left), with facilitation support from in-country colleagues.

The EiE Fundamentals programme was contextualised for the Pacific Islands and rolled out across Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Tonga.

The training was designed to enhance the capacity of local education and government stakeholders in responding to climate-induced emergencies, which have become more frequent in recent years. The timing of the training was an important consideration, planned and delivered in readiness for the upcoming cyclone season in the region.

Delivered as a series of intensive three-day in-person workshops across the four countries, the training engaged a total of 72 participants who are working in education roles within local and international organisations, as well as government departments. Particular attention was paid to ensuring the training was accessible for all participants, including adaptations for those with accessibility needs.

A platform for dialogue on preparedness and response work in education

The training sessions provided an opportune moment for the sector to reflect their past and current initiatives on preparedness and response work in education, in the context of cyclical climate-induced emergencies that the countries have been experiencing in recent years.

Emerging as a result of the dialogue was a consensus that there is a crucial need for improved coordination in EiE service delivery and areas such as data collection for assessments, child safeguarding, referral pathways for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and teachers’ training in handling crises.

Participant feedback highlights

Across the four training sessions, participants praised the training content and approach, in particular the interactive nature of the workshops, and the training focus on a holistic and relevant range of topics for educators, including safeguarding, social-emotional learning (SEL), MHPSS, and gender analysis.

“This is the first time a partner is offering a training like this one and I hope that we can continue to run more trainings like this in future on trending themes to ensure that our activities in education are relevant to the changing times.”
– Participant in Papua New Guinea

“This training is super awesome. I learned a lot of new things with the team on child safeguarding and protection.”
– Participant in the Solomon Islands

“Really appreciate today’s session, especially understanding the connection between SEL and MHPSS. Well done to the two facilitators for today.”
– Participant in Vanuatu

Participants also reported that they would be able to directly apply this new-found knowledge to their work, particularly in response to climate-induced emergencies impacting the region.

“This training is a very important training opportunity as our country is experiencing a couple of natural disasters (landslide in Enga and earthquake in East Sepik). The humanitarian nexus is critical and this training is equipping me.”
– Participant in Papua New Guinea

“Well done on this session and learning from experience. The facilitator shared very useful EiE tools and can be applied to my field of work.”
– Participant in the Solomon Islands

Impact across the Pacific Islands

Efren Lubuguin, HLA Education in Emergencies Regional Professional Development Programme Manager for Asia, praised all involved – including Save the Children country office teams, and training participants from local and international organisations as well as representatives of government agencies – for coming together to create an impactful training experience.

Reflecting on the training in Papua New Guinea, Efren highlights the importance of the presence of the government partner, development partners like JICA and PNG Australia, other INGOs and national organisations.

In the Solomon Islands, Efren commends the active participation of local organisations that Save the Children is working with.

The training became a platform where they can strengthen their coordination mechanisms and improve their service delivery in education during crisis through the three-day learning on child safeguarding and protection, EiE tools and strategies.

Similarly, in Vanuatu, Efren observed the strong relationships between Save the Children Vanuatu and government partners, INGOs, local organisations and international development partners within the education sector.

Meanwhile, in Tonga, Efren reported a highly successful training which provided an important platform to expand discussions on the Tonga School Safety Handbook that will be launched by the Ministry of Education, Save the Children under the Global Partnership for Education (GPE ) funded programme.

Further immediate outcomes from this workshop include the development of educator sector plans, and a commitment to review and update policies in key areas such as child safeguarding policies in local organisations, and the creation of sector-wide referral pathway on child protection and mental health support.

The HLA extends congratulations to all participants for their active engagement in this initiative. With thanks to Save the Children Australia and the People’s Postcode Lottery Education Trust for their generous support, and to colleagues from Save the Children Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga for making this training possible.

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The HLA Asia Pacific Regional Centre has launched its innovative Education in Emergencies (EiE) training in the Pacific Islands – with the first phase successfully delivered in Papua New Guinea between 24-26 July.

At the request of Save the Children Australia, the HLA’s Asia EiE Regional Development Manager, Efren Lubuguin, embarked on a month-long EiE Fundamentals training programme in the Pacific Islands. During this time, Efren has been leading and delivering in-person group training in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga, with support from in-country co-facilitators.

EiE Fundamentals is a training programme delivered globally by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, with the aim of equipping country office education and EiE staff with the fundamental competencies to be part of initiating, designing and implementing a quality EiE response in their context.

The training in Papua New Guinea follows a condensed format which was successfully piloted for women in Islamabad. Contextualised for the Pacific Islands, this interactive training format utilises a ‘learning by doing approach’ with case studies focusing on climate induced emergencies.

In Papua New Guinea, 16 participants – 11 women and five men – benefited from this three-day programme. They represented a diverse range of organisations: local organisations, UN and development agencies, government, and international INGOs including Save the Children.

The programme content was tailored to focus on priority areas identified by a learning needs assessment, including physical and psychological protection, teacher supply and wellbeing and assessment, analysis and design in EiE. The training also emphasised topics such as cross-cutting issues in EiE, child participation and safeguarding, and inclusive and quality education.

The participants responded very positively to this training, praising its relevance, and strengthening their work in managing EiE response during current climate-induced emergencies.

Reflecting on this training, the HLA’s Efren Lubuguin said:

“This is a great first session in the EiE Fundamentals series across the Asia Pacific. The training provided the platform for Save the Children Papua New Guinea and its partners to learn, discuss and plan next steps in systematising EiE efforts in the country.

The presence of the government partner, development partners like JICA and PNG Australia, other INGOs and national organisations made this three-day learning process more meaningful and purposeful in helping children during crises.”

Participant feedback echoed these reflections:

“This is the first time a partner is offering a training like this one and I hope that we can continue to run more trainings like this in future on trending themes to ensure that our activities in education are relevant to the changing times.”

“[I] felt content at the end of Day 2 [showed that] we have been doing activities in an ad-hoc situation…today’s training showed [a] very systematic and organized way of dealing with EiE.”

Next steps

This training in Papua New Guinea will feed into a proposed review of the Department of Education’s Emergency Action Plan led by the government partner together with Save the Children and other partners. Furthermore, individual organisations have committed to strengthening and integrating child participation, child safeguarding, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), and social-emotional learning (SEL) to their current activities and programmes.

The HLA’s Efren Lubuguin has now completed the full Pacific Islands EiE Fundamentals training programme across Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga, with a further article sharing the details of this training coming soon.

Efren Lubuguin and the HLA Asia Pacific Regional Centre extends thanks to Save the Children Australia and Papua New Guinea, and to all participants for their active engagement in this training initiative.

The HLA Asia Pacific Regional Centre has recently delivered crucial capacity strengthening training to equip Save the Children Pakistan and key partner staff with the skills necessary to support climate-induced emergency responses across the country.

Taking place in Islamabad between 25-28 June, the four-day Humanitarian Operational Programme (HOP) Core programme was led by Asad Zia Iqbal, the HLA’s Asia Regional Humanitarian Capacity Building Lead, with the support of two of the HLA’s HOP master trainers who were successfully trained in 2023.

The 24 training participants – including 10 women and 14 men – represented a diverse range of roles from executive directors to officers, and are either new to humanitarian efforts or this was their first experience of formal humanitarian training.

Asad Zia Iqbal, together with co-facilitators Farman Khan and Sehar Taimoor from Save the Children Pakistan, delivered a comprehensive and tailored face-to-face workshop format with a desk-based simulation.

The training curriculum was contextualised and tailored for this cohort following a comprehensive training needs assessment which identified knowledge, skills, and competency gaps.

The training covered a comprehensive range of topics including an introduction to humanitarian aid; wellbeing in emergencies; needs assessments; accountability to affected populations; gender equality in emergencies; and proposal writing.

A notable feature of the training was a two-day desk-based simulation focused on flooding scenarios, providing participants with a practical, hands-on approach to applying their newly acquired skills. This innovative training method received positive feedback, especially from those who had never experienced simulation-based training before.

Anticipating climate-induced emergency response: upskilling and preparing Save the Children and partner staff

This initiative forms part of the HLA’s Resilience pillar work by the HLA in partnership with Save the Children, Pakistan, and builds on recent capacity strengthening and emergency preparedness planning work led by Asad Zia Iqbal across the region.

Pakistan has been dealing with the impacts of extreme weather-related events. In 2022, floods in Pakistan affected approximately 33 million people including 16 million children. The country received more than three times higher than national 30-year average rainfall resulting in catastrophic floods across four provinces.

This year, country is anticipating similar patterns of heatwaves and climate-induced rainfall and flooding. Against this backdrop, it was also imperative to upskill partners’ staff as the Save the Children Pakistan Country Office mainly implements its emergency projects with the support from local partners at the grassroots level.

Reflecting on this HOP Core training in Islamabad, Asad Zia Iqbal remarked:
“The need for this training was highlighted by the country teams during flood response in 2022 for the first time, and this came very strongly during the Emergency Preparedness Planning process in mid-2023. I was therefore pleased to be able to work together with co-facilitators to deliver this iteration of HOP Core training for Save the Children Pakistan and partners in Islamabad to strengthen humanitarian response to climate-induced emergencies in anticipation of future responses required.”

Sehar Taimoor, Co-facilitator for the HOP Core training reflected:
“Delivering the HOP for Save the Children Pakistan colleagues and partners was an exciting opportunity. The best part was hearing feedback from colleagues who mentioned that they now fully understand the humanitarian cycle. The team was energetic and collaborative, and I felt greatly satisfied disseminating what I learned from the HLA.”

Next steps

The HLA’s Asad Zia Iqbal continues to roll out HOP Core training across the region with the support of the cadre of HOP trainers, most recently in Nepal. Plans are also underway to deliver training in Bangladesh in August.

The HLA Asia Pacific Regional Centre would like to thank Save the Children Pakistan Country Office colleagues who helped make this training possible. The collaborative effort of teams ensured that the training objectives were met, preparing the participants for future humanitarian challenges.

The HLA’s Asia Pacific Regional Centre has successfully piloted an innovative approach to Education in Emergencies (EiE) training in Islamabad, adapting the flagship EiE Fundamentals programme for women in Pakistan.

In times of crisis, education is a lifeline to children and their families. EiE Fundamentals is a training programme delivered globally by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, with the aim of equipping country office education and EiE staff with the fundamental competencies to be part of initiating, designing and implementing a quality EiE response in their context.

In Pakistan, the Education Working Group identified a crucial need to build a core group of women trainers who can deliver EiE training in areas of the country where only women trainers are allowed to teach or train women participants.

In response, the HLA has developed an innovative twin training approach contextualised for Pakistan: the Women in EiE Fundamentals programme coupled with the Transformation of Training (ToT) programme, designed to build a pool of highly skilled facilitators who will be able to deliver quality humanitarian training.

This successful initial implementation is now paving the way for this initiative to be built on and developed further by the HLA across the Asia Pacific region.

Contextualised capacity strengthening training for Pakistan

Between 1-3 July 2024, 35 learners – 31 women and 4 men – convened in Islamabad to undertake the in-person training component of the programme.

Participants were drawn from a range of organisations including international NGOs – including Street Child and Save the Children – UN agencies, local/national organisations, and government agencies.

The Women in EiE Fundamentals Pakistan programme was carefully designed to support women EiE/education professionals working on project sites where they may face limited access to capacity strengthening support.

This condensed version of the standard EiE Fundamentals programme was delivered over a total of 24 hours by the HLA in partnership with Save the Children Pakistan and the Education Working Group (EWG).

Participants engaged in an activity-based learning through a country context case study, focusing on ‘learning by doing’ approach – with the aim of yielding impactful results within a limited time frame and resources.

Within this training we discussed a lot about localisation. When we say EiE, it means that local partners who are there in the field, on the ground. When an emergency hits, their capacity should be the best to react to that. So those strategies – I am very happy that we are going to develop further on it and improve it, so that more and more local partners are capable of being part of EiE.

The training was led by Efren Lubuguin – the HLA’s EiE Professional Development Programme Manager for Asia – together with co-facilitators Humaira Naseer from Save the Children Pakistan and Ehsan Ullah from UNICEF Pakistan. They were supported by Sehar Taimoor, Save the Children Pakistan’s Education Advisor and a current student on the EiE Certificate of Advanced Studies programme in Asia.

I appreciate this training module as well as the concept behind it. The training is about women in education in emergencies, and revolves around women, and I have learned a lot. This is something new for me in a way. It was a very targeted approach. I have improved my competencies in thinking about children, school, community overall, government regulations and the coordination between all these stakeholders.

Once the Women’s EiE training had concluded, 25 participants – 18 women and 7 men – undertook the Transformation of Training programme between 4-5 July. This aims to equip participants with skills, knowledge and confidence to deliver training in a humanitarian context, cascading their knowledge throughout the country.

I’ll be using this training to plan a EiE workshop in Balochistan. So first of all, I’ll plan a training for at least two or three days for my staff and implementing partners so they are updated on the new skills and what I have learned – I will cascade that to my staff. [The training] has already improved my skills personally and professionally because I will be able to respond to emergencies and transfer my knowledge to others as well.

Inclusive and supportive training environment for women

It was at the launch of the initial launch of EiE Fundamentals programme in Islamabad in December 2023 – where one-third of participants were women – that the team recognised a need and opportunity to develop a contextualised version of the training designed  specifically for women, and identified ways to adapt the existing provision.

In this Women’s EiE Fundamentals edition of the training, measures were taken to create an inclusive training environment in order to reduce potential barriers to female participation. For example, accommodation was provided to participants from outside of Islamabad, and three participants who are breastfeeding mothers were able to bring their children to the training venue.

In addition, a participant who has recently taken maternity leave highlighted the particular benefits of this training to her as a recent returnee to the workplace, helping to refresh her skills and knowledge.

I was on maternity leave for almost a year and I did not get a chance to renew my skills. We have regular emergencies in Balochistan and we have threat of new emergencies – flash floods in the upcoming monsoon season. It’s good for me to update my skills especially after long leave and also have tabs on what’s happening in EiE and how I can help in – god forbid – an emergency. This is very important and relevant to my job – as an EiE person I have to support my government counterparts, implementing partners and staff on how to respond to any emergencies, especially in education.

Training benefits and immediate impact

The participants shared some immediate benefits and positive impact of the training, with all reporting that they will be able to apply their new skills and knowledge in their work.

As I have direct contact with teachers, especially with female teachers, assistant education officers and girl students, I think I can guide them, how to deal in such emergencies, especially regarding preparedness and how to respond properly. More importantly, I have learned that education is a very, very important thing to do an immediate response on. We usually get involved in life saving matters, of course this is very important, but education is not something to ignore at that time because early education suffers.

Participants also expressed increased confidence in taking leadership roles and acting as a role model to other women.

On conclusion of this training, lead facilitator Efren Lubuguin from the HLA reflected:

“We were delighted to have this opportunity to develop the Women’s EiE training for Pakistan, launching two innovations of our EiE Fundamentals: reaching out to more women EiE professionals in the country with limited access to capacity building opportunities, building women’s capacities and unleashing women’s power in transforming EiE sector strategies.

In addition, this is the first time conducting an EiE Transformation of Training in the region, and I see the value of implementing this immediately after EiE Fundamentals course. ToT is a fitting complementary course to the Fundamentals essential to the rolling-out activities within the sector.”

Co-facilitator Ehsan Ullah from UNICEF said:

“Pakistan Education Sector Working Group (ESWG) on EiE is committed to take gender mainstreaming and transformation as key priority Education in Education preparedness response planning. I see this training as key to equip ESWG women to better support EiE response at affected areas.”

Insights from facilitators and participants will be shared in an upcoming HLA podcast episode, offering a deeper look into the training and its impact as well as future plans.

Looking to the future

The Education Working Group will continue its collaboration to develop follow-up activities including establishing a Community of Practice EiE Fundamentals with programme graduates.

The HLA Asia EiE Regional Development Manager is set to embark on an in-person EiE Fundamentals training programme in the Pacific Islands, delivering in-person training in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga. The training will follow this condensed format successfully piloted in Islamabad and will be contextualised for the Pacific Islands, utilising a ‘learning by doing approach’ with case studies focusing on climate induced emergencies.

The HLA Asia Regional Centre congratulates all participants in this programme and extends thanks to Save the Children Pakistan, UNICEF, and the Education Working Group, as well as the Ministry of Education.

Insights from facilitators and participants will be shared in an upcoming HLA podcast episode and case studies, offering a deeper look into the training’s outcomes, impact and plans for the future.

Find out more

Education in Emergencies Professional Development Programme
Education in Emergencies (EiE) – Humanitarian Leadership Academy

Education in Emergencies Online – free online course on Kaya available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Ukrainian and Polish

HLA Asia Regional Centre
Asia – Humanitarian Leadership Academy

The HLA Asia Regional Centre is delighted to commence a new partnership for the Education in Emergencies Professional Development Programme in the Philippines.

The Education in Emergencies Professional Development Programme Certificate of Advanced Studies (EiE-PDP CAS) was successfully launched in the Asia Pacific region in 2023, with a cohort of 30 currently undertaking this comprehensive 450-hour blended learning experience accredited by the University of Geneva. The team is excited to strengthen the programme in the region through this new partnership with the College of Education, University of the Philippines (Diliman Campus).

In times of crisis, education is a lifeline to children and their families. The course aims to help Education and Education in Emergencies (EiE) practitioners to further develop their EiE design, implementation and leadership skills, as well as their ability to share these with others. EiE can help protect children and young people’s physical and mental health, allowing them to continue to learn and develop, and offering a sense of normalcy and hope for a better future.

To mark the start of this regional EiE collaboration, Efren Lubuguin, the EiE-PDP Regional Manager for Asia, attended the College of Education, UP Diliman campus on 25 May to deliver a guest lecture to graduate students and Faculty of Non-Formal Education.

Efren shared expert practitioner insights on a range of topics including the rationale and aims of EiE, emerging instructional strategies, and identifying areas of action research for EiE in the context of the Philippines and neighbouring countries in Asia. He also shared the work of the HLA in the region, and how students can begin to explore EiE as an emerging topic to their academic inquiry and professional practice through free, open-access EiE modules on the HLA’s digital learning platform Kaya.

Through this partnership, Professor Ched Arzadon from the College of Education, University of the Philippines (Diliman Campus) will join the expert EiE-PDP training team as module teacher in July 2024, sharing her expertise on Pedagogy, Planning and Curriculum, Language and Materials in EiE settings.

Remarking on this new partnership and collaboration, Efren Lubuguin said:

“We’re delighted to expand and enrich the EiE-PDP in Asia through this new partnership with the College of Education, UP Diliman. We’re excited to welcome Professor Ched Arzadon to our PDP training team for module four of the CAS programme, helping our work go from strength-to-strength!”

A new suite of supply chain courses is now available for humanitarians to access for free on Kaya.

Save the Children International has partnered with HELP Logistics and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy with support from Amazon to create six versatile courses within this digital masterclass, that cover key supply chain fundamentals.

Megan Bassford, Global Head of Supply Chain Planning and Capability at Save the Children International said: “We’re excited to have partnered with HELP Logistics and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy with support from Amazon to launch these high-quality courses.  The supply chain masterclass will strengthen knowledge in supply chain management across our sector. The courses are designed to cater to various levels of experience from new entrants to leaders in the area of supply chain management within the humanitarian sector, as well as to mid and senior level humanitarians in different functions including Programmes, Finance and Award Management.”

James Maltby, Head of Digital Learning at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy said: “The supply chain masterclass is an excellent addition to the plethora of resources available to our learners on Kaya. The courses are easy to access and navigate. We’re excited that over 718,000 learners on Kaya now have this additional resource to learn with and share on their networks. We hope that more humanitarians will take advantage of this training series.”

This is an interactive, self-taught, free training series of best practices and innovative concepts in supply chain for the humanitarian and development sectors.

The courses have been developed based on content from Save the Children’s over 100 years of delivering goods and services in crisis situations with HELP Logistics, a major player whose mission is to be a catalyst for transferring supply chain and logistics knowledge to improve the lives, and economic potential of vulnerable people and communities.

Participants in these courses can expect to gain or build knowledge through the following topics:                                                                        

1. Unlocking the supply chain: a guide for non-supply chain staff

2. A step-by-step journey into supply chain planning

3. Embedding sustainability into end-to-end supply chains

4. Warehouse management in action

5. Mastering asset management

6. The essentials of Good Distribution Practice

CLICK on the links above to view the courses.

The courses are free and available on Kaya. The supply chain masterclass courses are also available on DisasterReady and HELP Logistics learning platform.

Through the HLA’s reactive capacity strengthening work, we provide support to humanitarians during emergencies, helping to ensure effectiveness at every stage for affected populations, from start-up phases which need rapid action, to longer term capacity strengthening.

In this insights article, we spotlight a vital area of this reactive capacity strengthening work in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region: Emergency Preparedness Planning (EPP) training which is led by Asad Zia Iqbal, the HLA’s Regional Humanitarian Capacity Building Lead for Asia based in Pakistan.

In the final quarter of 2023, Asad delivered an important phase of EPP training across the Asia Pacific region. He led a series of face-to-face EPP workshops for Save the Children Country Offices in Bhutan, China, Nepal, Laos, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and online training for Save the Children in Bangladesh.

Collaboration with Save the Children humanitarian teams was instrumental to the effectiveness of this contextualised training.

Asad explains:

“The assistance provided for Emergency Preparedness and Response in the APAC region has allowed us to collaborate closely with Save the Children humanitarian teams in each respective country.

This collaboration has enabled us to gain insights into the preparedness and response gaps of country offices and partners, as well as the technical and operational capacities of in-country humanitarian responders. 

The information gained has empowered us to tailor capacity strengthening programme specifically suited to the needs of the region, ensuring their relevance and effectiveness.

In addition, through this reactive capacity strengthening work, we advocate for country teams to have EPPs in place in the longer run for effective management of the response.”

This EPP work directly supports and complements the EPP work and training conducted by the Save the Children regional team in Asia – for example in 2023 the Regional Advocacy, Campaigns, Communications and Media (ACCM) team conducted training in crisis communications, media and communications in emergencies, and humanitarian communications.

For this insights article for the HLA, Ka Man Parkinson (HLA Communications and Marketing Advisor) spoke to Asad to gain insights into what EPP training entails and to learn more about the context in each country where this training was conducted.

Hi Asad, could you explain what Emergency Preparedness Planning is?

Preparedness is an essential part of Save the Children’s humanitarian commitment, delivering a timely, appropriate and effective humanitarian response in line with the Core Humanitarian Standard, specifically commitments 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9. [An updated version of the CHS was publicly launched in March 2024].

The plan ensures that the Save the Children International (SCI) Country Offices are prepared to respond to emergencies by having in place operational and thematic Emergency Preparedness Plans (EPPs) and risk-specific Contingency Plans, ensuring staff and partner awareness of SCI’s approaches and systems for humanitarian response, and consistently monitoring humanitarian early warning indicators.

It builds the capacity of staff and partners before and during humanitarian crisis and ensures they are supported to do their job effectively, with systems to draw upon regional and international surge capacity as required.

It sounds like EPP training underpins critical humanitarian operations for Save the Children Country Offices. What role does the HLA and the HLA Asia Regional Centre play in this?

This work directly supports the HLA’s broader work in the area of strengthening leadership and civil society. This EPP training was funded by the country offices through Humanitarian Fund (HF). 

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent humanitarian crises in Asia, the majority of country offices have been unable to conduct their Emergency Preparedness and Response workshops since 2018.

The involvement of HLA has been instrumental in addressing gaps in EPP expertise and in streamlining the EPP processes, revitalising the planning and design of the planning workshop with regional and in-country teams, and ensuring a quality emergency preparedness plan in place that is aligned with in-country context and operating environment.

Moreover, it has played a crucial role in enhancing the capacities of both Save the Children and partners’ staff to independently conduct such planning workshops in the future. 

The pivotal components of the entire EPP planning process included consultations with the government and children, as well as the involvement of local partner organisations.

The participation of local partners in the EPP process has afforded them the opportunity to glean insights and skills, enabling them to conduct their own EPP (partner-led approach) in alignment with Save the Children’s localisation objectives.

Could you briefly outline some general contextual information relating to the EPP for each country?

Yes, I will outline a brief snapshot of key contextual information for each country. The data is drawn from the EPP plans.

• Political instability, shrinking space for civil society, increasing inequalities, and overall limited services represent an impediment to the growth of the country.
• A considerable part of the population faces food and nutrition insecurity and chronic scarcity of livelihoods.
• Structural causes, and the demographic pressure due to rapidly growing population, heighten concerns.
• The country is exposed to natural hazards, including floods, cyclones, and earthquakes, and is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Bangladesh ranks 133 in the 2020 UNDP Human Development lndex and scores 6.0 in lnform: 7.5/10 for hazards and exposure and 5.6/10 for vulnerability.
• The severity and intensity of seasonal weather patterns has intensified, challenging the capacity of vulnerable communities to recover from cyclical stocks. Bangladesh has been affected by more than 200 natural disasters over the last three decades.
  

The country’s susceptibility is exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, leading to more frequent and severe events in recent years. 

• Almost all types of natural disasters occur in China, including flood, drought, earthquake, sand-dust storms, mass movement wet (including avalanches and landslides), extreme weather and temperature, epidemic, air pollution, forestry and grassland fires.
• According to the Chinese Government, in a typical year, up to 200 million people are affected by natural disasters in China, and children are especially vulnerable.

• Nepal is exposed to multiple hazards, including frequent earthquakes, floods, landslides, glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), fire (forest and house), droughts, road accident thunderstorms, heat waves, cold waves, avalanches, hailstorm, snakebite, drowning, windstorms, number of health hazards and so on. 
  

• While Laos is not a typically disaster-prone country, it is vulnerable to recurrent, sudden-onset and slow onset natural disasters such as floods, as well as storms and typhoons causing the more serious humanitarian impacts.
• A lower-middle income country ($2,353 GDP per capita in 2016) with a population of about 7 million people, 23% of which live below the poverty line. 

• For the past 20 years, Pakistan has consistently ranked among the top 10 most vulnerable countries on the Climate Risk Index, with 10,000 fatalities due to climate-related disasters and financial losses amounting to about $4 billion from 173 extreme weather events.
• Due to its geography and climactic conditions, the country is especially vulnerable to a range of natural hazards such as droughts, earthquakes, and flooding. 
• A history of conflict and political and economic instability also put it at risk of manmade disasters such as armed conflict, bomb attacks, industrial hazards, forest and urban fires, to name a few.

• The prominent hazards in Sri Lanka are identified by the Disaster Management Center (DMC) as coastal erosion, drought, floods, landslides, lightning, sea level rise, storm surge, tropical cyclone, and tsunamis.
• Those hazards are identified based on historical records as well as climate change predictions. Sri Lanka has some records of sea surges possibly due to cyclonic wind and tsunami.
  
  

Could you explain how EPP work is carried out?

The overall support provided involves pre- and post-workshop work that includes working with the country office teams to develop the following for the country office:

Context analysis: highlights emergency risks, trends, indicators and triggers.

Context analysis includes existing analysis of risk and vulnerabilities available within the country of regional context, with the support from the Context Analysis and Foresight Unit (CAFU).

This analysis is also informed by external documents from local government officials, UN agencies and other own programming by country office experience and discussion with communities and children. 

Consultations with Government and Children: The context analysis is then shared with government and other stakeholders to validate that relevance of risks identified with the government’s own disaster risk analysis. The critical input comes from the consultations with children.

The HLA, with the support from regional and global colleagues, has put together a children consultation guidance document that supports SC Country Offices to undertake those consultations with children.

The consultation provides an opportunity for children to influence relevant decisions impacting whether and how we work with them and their communities in times of emergencies.

Workshop Planning and Design is done jointly with in-country humanitarian and team of facilitators.

Terms of Reference (ToRs) for the workshop are developed, workshop action plans are laid out, roles are assigned and agenda/timetable for the workshop is outlined and finalised.

Workshop Delivery includes learning session and group work to validating risk, ranking risks based on likelihood and impact, identifying indicators, assigning of triggers to indicators, outlining anticipatory actions and developing plan of humanitarian actions under each risk identified during context analysis.

During the workshop, participants also work on the Minimum Preparedness Actions (MPAs) and Advance Preparedness Actions (APAs – for high risks). The gaps identified during MPAs review process informs the Preparedness Action Plan (PAP) which serves as the Country Office’s capacity building plan for humanitarian preparedness.

Post workshop review to make sure document accuracy, completeness with respect to the discussions during the workshop and also to get input, review and feedback from the Humanitarian Technical Team (HTT).

An important next step is to prepare a synthesis of Preparedness Action Plans (PAPs) across the region, which will be used for regional capacity strengthening for upcoming responses.

The EPP exercise for the Sri Lanka Country Office was really impressive. I feel that it ensured accountability and commitment by involving all key functions, senior management, and field representatives. This approach not only analysed the range of insights on potential hazards but also effectively assessed in-country needs, gaps, and capacities for better preparedness for humanitarian crisis in both functional and programmatic areas.

The EPP workshop held in October 2023 helped all functions of the China Country Office understand how and what immediate support we are able provide to children and their families suffering after natural disasters. With the process, the China Country Office has also identified the gaps and capacity needs for the coming year – this has allowed the CO to develop appropriate resource plan at national level and partner engagement as well.

Thank you for sharing these insights and for highlighting this important work, Asad.

Asad and the HLA Asia team extends thanks to Save the Children Asia Regional Office’s humanitarian and operational teams for their technical support and input throughout the process and also technical and operational support from respective countries in Asia.


Learn more about the HLA Asia Regional Centre

Learn more about the HLA’s Reactive Capacity Strengthening work

In October, the HLA achieved a milestone by launching an innovative capacity strengthening initiative for Save the Children in Asia, blending the acclaimed Humanitarian Operations Programme (HOP) Core with the Train the Trainers programme to cascade vital humanitarian knowledge across the region.

17 Save the Children International staff from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand convened in Bangkok to benefit from the training which was led and facilitated by three experts from the HLA.

HOP Core aims to strengthen knowledge, skills and behaviours to respond effectively and prepare to respond to emergencies.

Balanced representation was given careful consideration in the composition of the training cohort. Eight of the 17 participants were women, and all participants hold diverse roles across Save the Children in Asia in both core support and programme functions, including field operations, training, humanitarian response, partnerships, and as technical advisors.

Immersive training approach: interactive and engaging

Over the five-day HOP Core training, participants were guided through classroom sessions and a three-day desk-based scenario where they navigated an early response simulation delivered in a condensed timeframe. This allowed the participants to experience the pressures of balancing procedures, processes, coordination mechanisms and deadlines, using their knowledge and problem-solving skills to present a proposal on a multi-sectorial response to a rapid onset emergency.

The simulation also helped learners to realise the importance of relying and utilising the skills, knowledge and competencies of each other, as they had to share tasks to get the work done in the condensed timeframe.

Participatory exercises and activities that promoted discussion and sharing between individuals and in small groups were prioritised to encourage and foster connections forming.

During the workshop participants had the opportunity to become familiar with and practice applying humanitarian principles, standards, needs assessments and proposal writing. Emphasis was also given to the importance of mainstreaming gender equality in humanitarian actions, ensuring that accountability for the affected populations and the wellbeing of staff involved in the response.

The whole overview of humanitarian action is a wonderful experience, I will use all these principles, steps, and learnings in my current role as education advisor. Becoming operations person in the simulation teaches me patience and understand limitations and improved my ability to work in critical situations.

Amplified training impact

The learning experience did not end there: 15 of the participants with prior training and facilitation experience were then immersed in a three-day Train the Trainers (TtT) workshop to equip them with the skills to deliver HOP Core in their own countries.

HOP Core coupled with the Train the Trainers workshop is based on an innovative capacity strengthening format that has been successfully established in the HLA’s Eastern European Regional Centre as part of the transformation of humanitarian response for Ukraine. The first cohort of Eastern Europe graduates delivered their first HOP Core training in Poland in October.

The establishment of this regional pool of trainers not only bolsters local capacity, but also breaks through language and communication barriers; resolves access issues particularly in fragile contexts in the region; and supports the HLA’s commitment to locally-led learning.

The training content was carefully adapted for Asia according to a learning needs assessment (LNA) which identified the priority core competencies to develop.

A HOP Asia training participant from Sri Lanka praised the facilitation team for creating an inclusive learning environment:

“I have to commend the facilitators for doing a great job, understanding the different needs of all the participants, respecting them and hearing out everyone’s opinions, and of course addressing all queries being raised. That has been very important for the learning.”

Asad Zia Iqbal, the HLA’s Regional Capacity Building Lead for Asia said:

“This was a fantastic opportunity to bring together Save the Children colleagues from across Asia region to provide first-hand experience of HOP and to establish a group who are equipped and confident to organise and deliver HOP workshops in their own countries.

We will remain in close contact with the programme graduates as they develop plans to cascade HOP Core in 2024.”

During the Train the Trainer days, the facilitators were impressed by the training skills that the cohort already held. Tom Russell, Learning Solutions Specialist at the HLA said:

“We as facilitators learnt so much from the creativity, ideas and energy demonstrated by participants, especially when the tables-turned and our participants became the simulation team for ourselves as facilitators to enjoy.

I am filled with confidence that the future of the HOP initiative is in safe hands in the Asia region. I am looking forward to hearing about how HOP is delivered in the coming year or so. It is an exciting time for this cohort and the region.”

I acquired a lot of knowledge from this workshop. Each day we captured more technical knowledge as well as practical aspects. Another thing is communication – because we have different representatives and colleagues, we need to elaborate on our ideas in group discussions with effective communication. After this programme, my immediate objective is to deliver this training to our partners as well as my colleagues who require this training.”

HOP Core: creating impact around the world

Since 2018, and through the HOP Core programme, the HLA has trained INGO staff and national partners in 14 countries: Uganda, South Sudan, Zambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Poland, Ukraine, Jordan, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Thailand and Peru.

With the latest cohort having completed the programme in Asia, the impact of this training is being realised in a total of 28 countries.

The HLA Asia Regional Centre expresses its thanks to Save the Children colleagues in Asia for their engagement and support as well as to Save the Children Thailand for hosting the training

Find out more about HOP

Read more about HOP on the programme webpage.

Attendees at the HLA’s upcoming Humanitarian Xchange conference taking place online and in London in February 2024 will be able gain a taster of the immersive experience of HOP.

The HLA Asia Regional Centre is reflecting on the successful delivery of the Education in Emergencies (EiE) Fundamentals course in Afghanistan – the first time that this comprehensive training programme has been delivered in the country.

The EiE Fundamentals programme in Afghanistan is an initiative of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy and Education Cluster leads together with Save the Children in Afghanistan and UNICEF.

The five-day programme was delivered in Kabul between 1-5 October 2023 to Education Cluster members in Afghanistan. The aim of EiE Fundamentals is to equip education and EiE practitioners on the principles, processes and techniques essential for EiE programming.

37 participants benefited from the training: 12 representatives from local and national organisations in Afghanistan, together with 25 participants from international organisations including the UN, UNICEF, IRC, Norwegian Refugee Council, World Vision, and Save the Children International.

Contextualised training

The expert EiE training team led by Efren Lubuguin, the HLA’s EiE Professional Development Programme Manager for Asia, guided the participants through a total of 46 hours of blended learning: 35 hours of in-person training and 11 hours of online learning and remote video lectures with face-to-face support facilitation.

Working in collaboration with Education Cluster in-country leads enabled the EiE Fundamentals training content and delivery to be carefully adapted in line with the Afghanistan national context and directives.

Throughout the training programme, participants from national and local organisations were invited to share daily presentations on their EiE work and experiences in Afghanistan which served as an effective information sharing and discussion tool for the group.

Continuous training feedback enabled dynamic adjustments to the programme, fostering a positive reception from the participants.

The training was delivered in a very professional way and I was satisfied with the facilitators.

The HLA’s EiE Professional Development Programme Manager for Asia praised the engagement and collaborative efforts of all stakeholders and participants, highlighting the active participation and high levels of interest in topics such as EiE assessment, analysis, programme design; teacher supply; and wellbeing.

It was very useful training and I kindly request our EiE cluster to provide us with training like this in the future.

EiE work across the Asia region

This training builds on the roll-out and delivery of the HLA’s Education in Emergencies Professional Development Programme across the wider Asia region this year including the inaugural EiE Fundamentals training in Nepal in May, and the launch of the EiE Certificate of Advanced Studies (EiE CAS) programme in Asia, which welcomed a new cohort in November.

Further work in Afghanistan

The HLA will continue its work on the education and EiE context in Afghanistan in partnership with Save the Children in Afghanistan and Education Cluster members

The EiE Fundamentals training in Kabul provided a valuable forum for the Education Cluster members to discuss and identify capacity strengthening support needs, and to consider how the Education Cluster leads will plan and implement technical support to members.

In the immediate term, the HLA Asia Regional Centre team continues to liaise with the training participants and Save the Children in Afghanistan, particularly in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes which hit Herat Province shortly after the conclusion of this initial EiE Fundamentals training. At least 14 schools have been damaged across the area, resulting in major disruption to children’s education.   

To aid humanitarian efforts, the HLA has launched a Response Learning Hub for Afghanistan to provide relevant and up-to-date open-access humanitarian training resources including EiE. These resources will be continuously reviewed and updated in line with identified needs.

The HLA Asia Regional Centre extends its thanks and appreciation to Education Cluster members, Save the Children in Afghanistan, as well as to the EiE Fundamentals training funders Save the Children Norway.

Further Information

Education in Emergencies Professional Development Programme

Response Learning Hub for Afghanistan

About the HLA Asia Regional Centre
HLA Asia Regional Centre

Podcast episode
Education in Emergencies: the viewpoint from Asia in 2023

Since May 2016, Kaya – the free digital learning platform operated by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy has upskilled thousands of humanitarians globally to directly respond to crises in their localities. Kaya is providing high quality, expert led and industry recognised learning at times and places where access can be challenging.

A Kaya learner from Syria said: “As someone who faced challenges due to the Syrian crisis, such as limited access and remote management, I found Kaya’s designed courses to be invaluable in enhancing my skills and knowledge.

The platform not only helped me keep learning but also enabled me to share this knowledge with colleagues, team members, and partner staff, ultimately making a positive impact on those affected by the crisis, especially since many courses are available in different languages including Arabic.”

With over 700,000 learners from 190 countries registered on the platform; there are now over 500 learning resources available on Kaya in 12 languages at varying levels of expertise. Resources for people who have never been involved in humanitarian action to resources for people who have worked in the sector for many years.

A Kaya learner from Cote D’Ivoire said: “The learning has changed my outlook, it’s opened my eyes to some of the challenges faced by our colleagues on the ground.”

Kaya content is contextually relevant and is often updated by experts across the globe with new information as new processes are introduced to humanitarian action.

How can I access Kaya and what will I find?

Kaya is free and accessible on a phone, tablet or laptop. You will need access to the internet to sign up and find content. However, your coursework can be done offline, and progress uploaded when you have access to internet again.

Resources range from games, quizzes, and assessments to online self-directed courses and pathways, webinars, videos, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), and blended courses. Kaya users can also find registration for face-to-face workshops and events and so much more available and accessible at the learner’s time/flexibility.

A Kaya learner from South Africa said: “I believe that Kaya fosters creativity and critical thinking and for me that is an essential skill that every humanitarian needs.”

Kaya is not only helping humanitarians grow, but also supporting international, national and local non-governmental organisations (who we partner with) to share their knowledge on an accessible platform.

Another Kaya learner from Ukraine said: I’ve used the Kaya platform during my work with International Rescue Committee till October 2022. And nowadays I was really surprised to see this hub available in Ukrainian. I don’t remember any other humanitarian platform with trainings available in our language.”

Kaya resources are accessible; the platform includes a screen reader helper, a dyslexia friendly view and much more. As a learner on Kaya, you can earn certificates and showcase the certificates you receive from completing courses. Some courses award HPass digital badges, which you can add to your LinkedIn profile. These certificates and badges validate gained knowledge and encourage and motivate humanitarians to accelerate their learning and professional development.

I was really surprised to see this hub available in Ukrainian. I don’t remember any other humanitarian platform with trainings available in our language.”

What should I do now?

If you’re looking to learn something new as a humanitarian – from project management to proposal writing, understanding big concepts like cash and voucher assistance or the Grand Bargain. If you’re looking to join valuable networks such as the Women in Leadership network hosted on Kaya – sign up now.

If you’re already a Kaya learner, tell a friend about Kaya. Share one of the #KayaAppreciation posts on our social media channels or create your own.

The Humanitarian Leadership Academy remains poised to support professional growth and Kaya learners’ impact and invaluable contributions to individual communities.

In May 2023, Education Cluster members came together in Nepal for a five-day Education in Emergencies (EiE) Fundamentals course – successfully establishing this specialist training in the country for the first time.

EiE Fundamentals aims to equip participants with the fundamental competencies to initiate, design and implement an EiE response.

The course is already well-established across the Africa and Middle East regions, and is part of our Education in Emergencies (EiE) Professional Development Programme (PDP), delivered by our regional teams to target countries or responses on demand, typically in collaboration with the country/response Education Cluster or Working Group.

In Nepal, 29 participants – including 9 women – benefited from this inaugural EiE Fundamentals training in the country, including staff from Save the Children Nepal, local partners, INGOs as well as government officials.

The participants work in a variety of humanitarian and education-related roles including as education coordinators, field supervisors, technical managers, humanitarian focal points, as well as individuals working in the area of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL).

Participants tackled an intensive series of modules covering EiE Fundamentals – including foundational concepts and frameworks, child participation and safeguarding in EiE, among many more specialist topics.

I feel empowered and accountable after the successful completion of five days of training on Education in Emergencies Fundamentals. Thanks to Save the Children and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy for the wonderful opportunity!

Working with Education Cluster Members

In Nepal, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) takes overall responsibility for responding to all educational needs during emergencies and is supported by Education Cluster Co-leads – Save the Children and UNICEF. Together they coordinate a group of government, UN, NGOs and other education sector-related stakeholders to respond to the education needs during emergencies and humanitarian crises.

The training was facilitated by the HLA’s Education in Emergencies – Professional Development Programme (EiE-PDP) Manager – Asia together with Save the Children International’s EiE Emergencies Technical Advisor – Asia, and the Senior Programme Development and Quality Advisor from Save the Children Nepal.

The training was funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Save the Children Norway, with support from Save the Children Nepal.

The EiE Fundamentals in Nepal was special! This is the kick-off activity of EiE-PDP in the Asia Region. Based on our pre-test and post-test of the 29 participants from Nepal, they demonstrated up to a 52 percent increase in their knowledge of the basics of EiE. Congratulations to this training cohort! We look forward to delivering three more Fundamentals courses in three more countries by March 2024.

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Approximately 50-60 participants from mid-level managers to field-based staff are participating in the training, drawn from Save the Children International and seven local partner organisations in Northern Shan State and Magway.

The objective of the training programme is to strengthen and enhance the current skills set of the partners for effective programme implementation and equip them for emergency response as well as to contribute to their institutional capacity strengthening.

The change in the context for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in Myanmar has brought many operational challenges to the local civil society organisations (CSOs).

To support these organisations in working effectively in the current context and to build stronger partnerships, Save the Children Myanmar identified key operational and thematic areas to strengthen partners’ capacity through a consultative process with the partners. Face-to-face training has been identified as a priority, complemented by online training.

Following the consultation, training programmes on different themes based on the priority learning areas were developed: Programmatic (Accountability and Financial Risk Management, Safe Programme, Contextually-Sensitive Programme Management); Operational (Budget Management, Supply Chain, IT Basic Knowledge Sharing, Safety and Security) and Compliance (Child Safeguarding, and Fraud Awareness).

The training successfully commenced in March 2023 with Contextually-Sensitive Programme Management and Supply Chain Training. 

Contextually-Sensitive Programme Management Training

Contextually-Sensitive Programme Management face-to-face training held on 27-29 March was attended by 33 participants – including 14 women – from programmatic, operational and medical roles from Save the Children International and partner organisations.  

Led by Save the Children Myanmar’s Partnership Adviser, the training was instrumental particularly to understand the concept of stakeholder mapping and the concept of Do No Harm. 

I’m quite impressed by the way the facilitator explained the concepts in detail. I’d participated in similar training in the past and have also conducted this training in the field, but the training was helpful to gain an in-depth understanding of the concepts with broader examples and their implication.

Participants learned about the connector and dividers analysis, how the programme impacts the context, and ways to decrease the negative impacts on the programme by redesigning the project. 

We need this kind of training for our project implementation. We have now learned to do connector and dividers analysis that would help us analyse the programme impacts on the context.

Supply Chain Management Training

The supply chain was identified as the key ‘area for improvement’ during the needs assessment process. The training was designed with the objective of feeding into further fine-tuning partner’s supply change policies, systems and processes that are aligned with best practices in the sector.

Participants learned about the workflow and its management of supply chain, procurement, fleet, and asset management, as well as how to set up this system in their organisational operations.

This training provided us with the opportunity to learn more about the procurement process, fleet and asset management in our organisation through sharing of challenges and lessons learned by other participants. It definitely added value to our learning.

The HLA Asia Regional Centre is funding the training programme and providing support through oversight of the entire process to ensure quality standards.

Soso Bagashvili, Head of the HLA Asia Regional Centre said:

“We are very pleased to fund and support the Save the Children Myanmar Country Office in delivering this vital capacity strengthening training in Northern Shan State and Magway. Thank you to colleagues, partners and participants for these fruitful first training sessions – we look forward to the next stages!’”