The Humanitarian Leadership Academy and Data Friendly Space are excited to announce the launch of our new joint report on artificial intelligence (AI) in the humanitarian sector.

Drawing on insights from 2,539 survey respondents from 144 countries and territories, coupled with deep dive interviews – we believe that we have created the first baseline study of AI adoption across the humanitarian sector together with actionable insights and takeaways.

Who this research is for

As the first comprehensive baseline study of AI in humanitarian work, this research provides essential insights for practitioners, leaders, partners, funders, and collaborators navigating AI adoption and digital transformation decisions.

Explore the insights

Visit the report website
Including an interactive data visualization dashboard
View the report website

Read the report in PDF format
Featuring comprehensive insights including key themes and humanitarian AI use cases
Download the report [PDF file, 6 MB]
French and Spanish under development

Read the initial insights report
Released in July 2025, available in English, French and Spanish [PDF]
Read our executive summary with preliminary findings

Our research approach: inclusive, community-led insights

Our research was designed with community participation at its core, recognising that meaningful insights about AI in humanitarian work must come from practitioners themselves. Three-quarters of respondents are from the Global South, providing unique insights.

With the research conducted over a three-month period, the team has worked at pace to deliver this report and supporting campaign because we believe that the timing is crucial given the rapid pace of AI development and radical systemic changes the humanitarian sector faces in 2025.

This research is the first attempt to map AI adoption at individual and organisational levels globally, complementing existing sector initiatives on ethical AI processes.

The global engagement in the research – from individuals with a broad range of attitudes and experiences of AI in humanitarian work – shows a strong appetite to learn and align on values and standards.

Coordinated efforts, underpinned by data and diverse voices like those in this research, will enable actors across the sector to move forward together. We share a collective ambition to find contextually-appropriate, ethical AI solutions that uplift humanitarian efforts supporting crisis-affected communities.

The research team will continue to build out these insights to support and mobilise the sector to forge a path ahead in the adoption of AI technologies.

How you can engage in this research

Watch our report launch event: We were delighted to host an online report launch event on 5 August 2025 to highlight key findings and discuss their potential implications together with an expert panel and attendees. A recording, discussion transcript and slides are available on the event webpage. We plan to host further webinars and podcasts to continue this conversation with a diverse range of speakers. Please contact us if you have suggestions for discussion themes and speakers.

Use the report and supporting user personas as a discussion tool in your teams or organisations: The aim of this research and launch event is to spark conversations across the sector and beyond. We encourage the report to be used as a learning and discussion tool in organisations and to help shape approaches to AI and digital transformation. 

Listen to podcasts:
Tune in to an Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives episode recorded at the start of this initiative and to hear why the project co-leads decided to collaborate – and whey they believe that every humanitarian’s voice matters in shaping AI for the sector.

Post-report launch, Ka Man Parkinson and Madigan Johnson joined the Intelligence Explosion podcast as guests to discuss the research and potential implications in more detail. Listen to the conversation.

Connect with us: This research is intended to be a springboard for further dialogue and action within the humanitarian sector and beyond. We aim to convene, connect and collaborate for shared learning and discovery – we welcome your comments and suggestions as we continue this humanitarian AI journey together.

Contact

Humanitarian Leadership Academy
info@humanitarian.academy

Data Friendly Space
hello@datafriendlyspace.org

The Humanitarian Leadership Academy and Data Friendly Space are pleased to share our initial insights report on our global AI in the humanitarian sector survey conducted May-June 2025.

The insights are gleaned from 2,539 survey responses from practitioners in the humanitarian sector and allied fields from across more than 140 countries and territories.

This global engagement has created what is believed to be the largest dataset of its kind and is expected to inform strategic decision making, policy development, and resource allocation for AI initiatives across humanitarian organisations worldwide. This collaborative project is delivering one of the first comprehensive snapshots of AI adoption across the sector in 2025, combining HLA’s extensive global learning networks with DFS’s technical expertise in humanitarian data.

This initial insights report – available in English, French and Spanish – provides a global snapshot ahead of the full report launch in August 2025.

Register to join us for the full report online launch event on 5 August

🗓️ 5 August 2025
🕛 12.00 – 13.30 UTC | 08.00 – 09.30 EDT | 13.00 – 14.30 BST | 14.00 – 15.30 CEST | 15.00 – 16.30 EAT
📍 Zoom Webinars

This is your opportunity to be among the first to explore findings from the largest global study on AI in the humanitarian sector. You’ll gain insight into how humanitarians are using AI, how organisations are responding to the challenges and opportunities emerging. Take part in a growing global conversation on ethical, practical and locally grounded uses of AI in humanitarian work.

Speakers

• Project co-leads Ka Man Parkinson, Communications and Marketing Specialist and Lucy Hall, Data and Evidence Specialist from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, and Madigan Johnson, Head of Communications at Data Friendly Space (DFS)

• Expert panellists Dr Cornelia C. Walther, Humanitarian leader and senior fellow, University of Pennsylvania/Wharton School, C. Douglas Smith from Data Friendly Space, and Ali Al Mokdad, senior strategic humanitarian leader (independent).
  
  

Related AI learning resources and further reading

• News article – 28 May 2025: The HLA and Data Friendly Space launch landmark survey on AI in the humanitarian sector
• Podcast – 28 May 2025: Shaping humanitarian AI: why every voice counts – Ka Man Parkinson and Lucy Hall from the HLA discuss the research launch and aims together with Madigan Johnson from Data Friendly Space
• News article – 23 June 2025: 70% of humanitarians use AI regularly, but organisational uptake still emerging – HLA and DFS global study of 2,500+ finds
• Podcast: ‘Double literacy’: harnessing AI for humanitarians and social change – Ka Man Parkinson in conversation with Dr Cornelia C. Walther

Tools & online learning

• AI platform: GANNET humanitarian tools created by Data Friendly Space
• Course: Community Crisis Intelligence on Kaya
• Course: AI For Everyone from Coursera
• Videos: AI Fluency from Microsoft hosted on our Response Learning Hub (EN, AR, ES, FR)

Further reading signposted by the research team

• Website: UKHIH Directory of AI-Enabled Humanitarian Projects
• Website: Data & Society: Research and policy for the public interest
• Article: Participatory AI? Begin with the Most Affected People | Meg Young
• Project: SAFE AI – CDAC Network

Contact

Email us:

Humanitarian Leadership Academy at info@humanitarian.academy

Data Friendly Space at hello@datafriendlyspace.org

Report coming soon!

Lessons Learned and Pathways Forward

This research was conducted by Open Space Works Ukraine and NGO «Kyiv educational center «Tolerspace».

Key findings

Ukrainian youth primarily conceptualise humanitarian action as grassroots, community-based efforts, often equating it with volunteering. Social media platforms, particularly Instagram, TikTok, and Telegram, serve as key engagement tools, but they mainly reach those already proactive in social initiatives, limiting broader participation. Community-based approaches, personal networks, and referrals play a significant role in mobilisation, particularly in rural areas where digital outreach is less effective. Educational institutions have vast but largely untapped potential for systematic youth engagement, though participation remains limited due to rigid administrative structures.

Youth involvement in humanitarian action spans various roles and responsibilities, from short-term volunteering to sustained coordination and leadership positions. Their engagement extends across different domains, including emergency response, child-focused initiatives, reconstruction efforts, and crisis cleanup. While many youth initially become involved in spontaneous volunteerism, structured mentorship and long-term participation provide pathways for leadership. However, despite this active involvement, leadership positions remain limited, and external organisations play a crucial role in fostering leadership skills.

A complex interplay of factors motivates young people to participate in humanitarian action. Empathy and personal connections to crisis-affected individuals are strong motivators, alongside opportunities for social connection and career development. Humanitarian engagement fosters project management, stakeholder communication, and leadership skills, yet career pathways in the sector remain underpromoted. To bridge this gap, organisations must better support young people in transitioning from volunteering to professional roles through structured mentorship and training programs.

Youth engagement faces several challenges, including significant rural-urban disparities in access to opportunities. Rural youth encounter logistical and financial barriers that limit their ability to participate. Family influence can either enable or restrict engagement, particularly in rural areas where traditional values sometimes discourage civic participation. Additionally, safety concerns, emotional strain, and the risk of burnout present further obstacles, highlighting the need for psychological support and safeguarding measures.

Open Space Works Ukraine is a female-headed private social change enterprise that originated from the Open Space Works Cooperative, a collective of independent consultants in Ukraine, established in 2016. The company is based in Ukraine and supports development, humanitarian, and civil society sectors through independent research, events, mentoring, supporting local partners, and promoting ethical business practices.

The project has been carried out in collaboration with the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. This report has been funded by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) within the Sustainable Humanitarian Innovation for Transformation programme (SHIFT) run by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy and partners in the region.

This research by NSDation Consultancy Services explores the local humanitarian landscape in the aftermath of the response to the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, that showcased a diverse and extensive network of organisations, each playing a pivotal role in the response. This network included grassroots volunteer groups, community-based organisations (CBOs), civil society organisations (CSOs), and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Together, these entities represented a mosaic of efforts, from informal, community-driven initiatives to formalised organisations with significant operational capacity.

In Syria, smaller CBOs and grassroots networks provided rapid and localised responses, leveraging their deep community ties and contextual knowledge to address immediate needs. Larger Syrian CSOs, often licensed in Türkiye, utilised pre-existing partnerships and legal registrations to scale their operations and access international funding. Meanwhile, in Türkiye, the response was characterised by an interplay of national CSOs and grassroots organisations, as well as partnerships with intermediary organisations that facilitated funding and technical support. These diverse actors collectively formed a complex ecosystem that bridged gaps in resources and expertise, enabling a multi-layered response to the crisis.

Key themes

Funding models and resource allocation

The earthquake response highlighted significant disparities in funding models and resource allocation. While larger organisations benefited from diversified donor bases and long-standing partnerships, smaller CBOs struggled with limited access to funding streams, reliance on short-term grants, and exclusion from administrative cost coverage. These dynamic exacerbated inequities, particularly for grassroots actors who were critical in reaching underserved populations.

Organisational adaptation and governance

Many organisations demonstrated adaptability by decentralising decision-making and revising governance structures to improve crisis responsiveness. However, the push for formalisation among smaller organisations often led to operational inefficiencies and mission drift. Larger CSOs successfully leveraged established networks to mobilise resources, while smaller entities often relied on informal collaborations and community-driven efforts, underscoring the need for more inclusive and equitable governance models.

Partnership dynamics

Pre-existing partnerships with intermediary organisations enabled larger CSOs to mobilise quickly and integrate technical expertise, ensuring structured responses. In contrast, smaller organisations, unable to meet stringent partnership criteria, relied on grassroots networks and informal collaborations. Power imbalances within partnerships often relegated local actors to implementer roles, limiting their strategic influence and autonomy.

Sustainability and capacity building

The transition from emergency funding to long-term recovery exposed vulnerabilities in organisational sustainability. Short-term funding cycles left many organisations unable to plan strategically, while limited investment in capacity-building efforts hindered their ability to scale. Collaborative approaches, including private-sector partnerships and income-generating projects, showed potential but require further investment and strategic alignment.

NSDation Consultancy Services is a consultancy and project management firm with an office in Türkiye specialised in developing and implementing Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) systems, conducting project evaluations, designing and monitoring ongoing projects within international frameworks, and conducting capacity building activities.

This research was commissioned by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA) and funded by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).

“We barely have time to celebrate our wins …
or to process what we’ve lost”

This study by Open Space Works Ukraine with the support of Ukrainski Dom (Poland) takes a bottom-up approach to humanitarian action by examining the experiences of Ukrainian women-led organisations (WLOs) in Ukraine and Poland in response to the war in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. 

Key findings

In Ukraine, WLOs provide vital support in frontline areas and to those internally displaced. In Poland, Ukrainian women-led initiatives and organisations provide aid for Ukraine and act as points of first contact and holistic support for refugees, while primarily consisting of Ukrainian women themselves. 

Ukrainian WLOs design services based on an in-depth and gender-informed knowledge of the welfare needs of those affected by war. Services are provided as part of an intersectional approach, in which the meeting of basic needs is entwined with psychological, cultural and vocational support.  

As the conflict extends into its fourth year, Ukrainian WLOs face an array of challenges that threaten their ability to build on their achievements, as the resources for continuing the provision of their much-needed services are rapidly shrinking. 

In Ukraine, WLOs face excessively short-term and bureaucratised funding structures, precluding the involvement of smaller, locally rooted organisations. In Poland, most Ukrainian WLOs operate outside the direct support of international organisations. The precarious financial situation of WLOs is mirrored in the low earnings of refugee women in Poland facing a rolling back of state support. 

As a result of their humanitarian engagement, Ukrainian women have emerged in new leadership roles. In both countries, the crisis response of Ukrainian WLOs has caused a change of attitudes toward the leadership of Ukrainian women, with Ukrainian WLOs being newly included in political bodies at various levels. Ukrainian WLOs struggle with the resources to perform representative and advocacy roles and are often frustrated that, despite participating in consultative bodies, their voices are not heard.

In Ukraine, WLOs identify regressions to gains in women’s leadership achieved during the crisis and argue that preparations must now be made to include women’s organisations in reconstruction plans. In Poland, Ukrainian WLOs face numerous barriers to political representation at both national and local levels based on race and gender. They also struggle to be valued by the Ukrainian state for their work in the diaspora.  

Open Space Works Ukraine is a female-headed private social change enterprise that originated from the Open Space Works Cooperative, a collective of independent consultants in Ukraine, established in 2016. The company is based in Ukraine and supports development, humanitarian, and civil society sectors through independent research, events, mentoring, supporting local partners, and promoting ethical business practices.

Ukraiński Dom supports the Ukrainian community in Poland through information, educational and cultural activities to ensure smooth integration of into Polish society, while promoting the preservation of Ukrainian identity. The organisation creates initiatives aimed at promoting Ukrainian culture and support the development of educational, economic and political contacts between Poland and Ukraine.

The project has been carried out in collaboration with the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. This report has been funded by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) within the Sustainable Humanitarian Innovation for Transformation programme (SHIFT) run by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy and partners in the region.

Conducted by KAOS GL, this report explores the challenges faced by LBGTQI+ individuals in accessing crisis support after February 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. It investigates how local organisations have been able to provide support and the gaps that still remain.

• Organisations which operated in the earthquake-affected areas and were responsible for institutional policies development often fail to adequately include LGBTQI+ individuals and refugees.
• Even though LGBTQI+ individuals and refugees are referred to specialised CSOs, they often hesitate to reach out due to the absence of the aforementioned policies.
• Most of the CSOs that declared that they do not discriminate against LGBTQI+ individuals or refugees had no real experience working with these groups.
• There were no protective or supportive measures in place to address human rights violations against LGBTQI+ individuals, forcing them to conceal their identities. As a result, CSOs struggled to reach them to provide support, while those who disclosed their identities, as well as refugees, were left unprotected and vulnerable to violence.

About KAOS GL

KAOS GL is the first official LGBTQI+ association in Türkiye. The Association organises activities in social, cultural and academic fields to promote the human rights of the LGBTQI+ community and provide visibility. In 2008, KAOS GL started its direct activities regarding the problems of LGBTQI+ refugees, reporting on the problems, and providing social and legal consultations, cultural activities and reports.

KAOS GL’s Academic and Cultural Studies Programme organises symposiums, forums, exhibitions, and anti-homophobia meetings with regular academic publications and develops queer alliances to create an impact in the transformation of the political and cultural axis.

We are pleased to share a new report produced by Kuchnia Konfliktu/Conflict Kitchen and Queer Without Borders, our LGBTQI+ Adviser in Poland.

The report aims to inform the humanitarian community and state representatives how the experience of responding to crises could shape a cross-sectoral and intersectional response that is inclusive, respectful and sustainable to local LGBTQI+ and refugee communities (as well as the intersecting ones: LGBTQI+ refugees’ communities).

The report explores such topics as:

• Invisibility – the needs of LGBTQI+ refugees are often overlooked in standard humanitarian aid
• Lack of cooperation – local and international organisations do not always work together, which weakens the effectiveness of support.
• Mistrust in the system – local organisations must act independently due to limited support from public institutions.

It also shows how to build networks and effective collaborations to deliver support that meets the needs of LGBTQI+ refugees.

Conflict Kitchen is a charity and a social enterprise co-created by refugees. The organisation is involved in daily interventions and provide humanitarian, legal and medical assistance to refugees humanitarian crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border and support refugees coming to Poland, primarily those who experienced discrimination and do not have access to the official aid system, LGBT+ refugees, stateless people and migrants in irregular situations.

Queer Without Borders is an informal group of activists working for the improvement of the situation of LGBTQI+ migrants and refugees in Poland.

This report has been funded by Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) under the Sustainable Humanitarian Innovation for Transformation programme (SHIFT) run by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy and partners in the region.

Launch of our new e-book

The world is facing radical, rapid change, with over 300 million people in need of humanitarian aid in 2024 alone—and that number is rising. As resources shrink and traditional institutions struggle to adapt, it’s clear we need new approaches and leadership.

At its core, humanitarianism is about connection, solidarity, and purpose-driven action. The time has come to rethink the system, evolve the way we act, and create a more inclusive and equitable humanitarian future. This is the vision of Eco-Mutualism, a new approach to humanitarianism.

We’re excited to announce the launch of our new e-book, co-created by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy and The Eco-Leadership Institute, to inspire a new generation of humanitarians to challenge the status quo, think deeply, and never lose hope. We can all make a difference.

In April, we launched the HLA Learner Survey to ask the global humanitarian community their opinions and preferences for humanitarian learning and training. We’re excited to now share initial research insights with the sector.

We invited our 700,000-strong global learning community and wider humanitarian network to take part in the survey, with the option to participate in English, Arabic, French or Spanish.

There was a truly global response, with 4,758 humanitarians from more than 200 countries completing the survey over one month.

There were high levels of interest and willingness to participate in this research and to share opinions and views with us, reflecting the community’s dedication to enhancing humanitarian learning. We extend thanks and appreciation to everyone who engaged in this research.

Together these insights build a rich picture of the humanitarian learner community’s current needs and preferences. The findings will help us to ensure our learning products and services continue to meet sector needs, as well as support our partner organisations through insights relevant to their work and mission.

Key takeaways

1. High motivation for upskilling: Humanitarians are driven to continuously enhance their skills to improve their effectiveness in current and future roles, with a focus on both technical and project management skills.
   
   
2. Preference for online learning: Affordable, accessible, and certified online learning is the favoured format among those surveyed for training and skills development.
   
   
3. Challenges to learning: Time constraints, high costs, and insufficient organisational support are significant barriers that hinder humanitarians’ ability to pursue training and learning opportunities.
   
   
4. Self-directed learning solutions: Despite these challenges, humanitarians overcome barriers through self-directed free online learning, actively seeking out relevant opportunities through newsletters, online searches, and social media.
   
   
5. Importance of organisational support: Cultivating a culture of learning within humanitarian organisations is crucial. This includes encouraging diverse training formats, allocating time for learning, and providing broader training opportunities in collaboration with humanitarian training providers to create contextually-relevant learning and training.
   

In a series of graphics and brief commentary, we take a closer look at the responses and present a global snapshot of the findings.

1. Respondent profile

Humanitarians from across Africa had the highest levels of engagement with this global survey, with eight of the top ten country responses received from the continent: 1. Nigeria (367), 2. Democratic Republic of Congo (278), 3. Ethiopia (256), 4. Kenya (250), 5. Burkina Faso (230), 6. Cameroon (181), 9. Uganda (160), and 10. Niger (145).

In Asia, 171 individuals from Afghanistan participated in the survey, making it the country with the seventh-highest number of survey respondents.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East and North Africa region, 161 people in Syria took part in the survey – the eighth-highest number of responses.

The majority of respondents are working in the humanitarian sector as employees (51.7%) or as volunteers (20.4%), holding positions at entry level (30.3%) and manager level (27%) within NGOs/non-profits (74.6%).

Almost one-fifth of respondents are not currently involved in the humanitarian sector but would like to be in the future (19.1%), while a further 6.2% are currently students.

Collectively, more than half of respondents belong to local (11.9%), national (24.7%) or regional organisations (17.1%); while respondents from international organisations made up 46.3% of responses.

The top five work areas respondents are currently involved in are: 1. education (8.6%); 2. health (7.9%); 3. project management (7.7%); 4. protection, diversity and inclusion (7.5%); and 5. food security and livelihoods (6.9%).

2. Main reasons for accessing learning and training: upskilling and career advancement

A theme emerging in this area is that respondents are motivated to learn to boost their knowledge for their current role and to enhance their career prospects.

More than half of respondents are undertaking humanitarian training and learning to upskill for future roles (27%) as well as address gaps in their current roles (24.1%).

More than a fifth of respondents (21.3%) are motivated to learn for the boost to their professional credentials and career advancement.

3. Main areas of interest: thematic professions

The top five areas of interest for humanitarian learning align with respondents’ current areas of work (as highlighted in section 1) – but in a different order of priority: 1. food security and livelihoods (9.5%); 2. health (8.5%); 3. protection, diversity and inclusion (8.4%); 4. project management (8.3%); and 5. education (7.8%).

It is interesting to observe the high proportion of respondents already engaged in as well as developing in roles which can be categorised as thematic professions, engaged in services related to a specific theme or type of intervention.

Complementing this is the current involvement and interest in project management – a function/job role supporting humanitarian interventions to be delivered effectively.

4. Top reasons driving learning and training choices: certification, affordability, relevance

Respondents are strongly motivated to undertake training which offers a certificate (22%) and is affordable or free to access (20.8%).

Relevance of learning content was also a key consideration, with respondents stating that this was important for their future career plans (14.7%) and current role (12.4%). It is interesting to see this slight emphasis placed on the importance of training relevance to future career plans over existing roles.

5. Preferred learning formats: e-learning comes out top overall – Arabic-speaking respondents favour face-to-face training

Overall, respondents expressed a preference for e-learning for humanitarian learning and training (23.2%). Face-to-face training in a group was ranked second, with 19.6% of respondents stating a preference for this format. There is also significant interest in one-to-one coaching or mentoring (15.4%).

While this is the finding at the global level, it is important and interesting to note that respondents to the survey in Arabic expressed a preference for face-to-face learning over e-learning.

[More on this to follow in future instalments of these research findings where we’ll dig deeper into these variations by region, survey language response etc].

At the global level, this overall preference for e-learning may be linked to the importance of affordability, as highlighted in section 5. It is noted that this weighting may also be due to the majority of survey respondents being existing members of our online learning community on Kaya.

6. Top forms of learning undertaken over the past six months: free online learning coupled with workplace learning

Survey respondents have engaged in a broad range of humanitarian learning and training over the past six months, the top three formats being self-directed online learning (16.5%) together with on-the-job learning (11.0%) and in-person workplace training (10.3%).

The popularity and prevalence of self-directed free online training indicate that survey respondents are highly motivated and committed to self-development to complement organisational learning.

Linked to the importance of affordability of training, it is noteworthy that a relatively low proportion of respondents have stated that they have undertaken self-funded face-to-face training in the past six months (4.5%).

7. Main channels for finding out about learning opportunities: newsletters and online searches

Online communication is the main way respondents find out about humanitarian learning opportunities, with the top five ways stated being online channels.

Email newsletters are the main way respondents stay informed (28.3%), followed by online searches (17.5%), messaging platforms such as WhatsApp (15.9%), and social media platforms LinkedIn (14.2%), and Facebook (8.9%).

This highlights the importance of humanitarian training providers to disseminate opportunities in a timely and accessible manner across relevant platforms.

8. Main barriers: lack of affordable opportunities and time

A finding that can be drawn from the survey responses is the importance of affordability of learning and training opportunities.

Around one-quarter of respondents said that the main barrier to undertaking learning and training is a lack of affordable training opportunities (24.7%). Busy schedules were also cited as a barrier (16.8%), as well as a lack of support from their organisation (12.8%).

It’s also notable that while there is interest in training and learning opportunities in general, respondents report struggles seeking out relevant opportunities (11.7%) that are of personal interest (9.9%).

Next steps

From these insights, a picture emerges of current and aspiring humanitarians who are motivated to learn, upskill and progress – but face barriers to accessing affordable, relevant and interesting opportunities that can fit into busy schedules.

We encourage humanitarian organisations to use these insights to start conversations around training and learning within their teams. What do you think can be done to help reduce or overcome these barriers within your organisation?

We encourage leaders to consider and explore ways to cultivate a culture of learning, enabling humanitarians to feel better supported in their own learning journeys. What actions can you take?

We are committed to using this feedback to refine and enhance our own learning products and services as well as sharing relevant insights with partners. Stay tuned for further research insights!

Learning resources

Explore a range of free, open-access resources for humanitarians in a range of languages through our channels:

Access online learning

• Kaya offers free, accessible, high quality and contextually relevant learning opportunities for the humanitarian sector.
• The Response Learning Hub provides up-to-date and relevant learning resources to support our global humanitarian responses.
• On our Resources Hub you can access our events, articles, podcasts, reports, infographics, microlearning guides, and case studies.
• The HLA’s YouTube channel is regularly updated with humanitarian learning video content including microlearning animations and webinar recordings.

Stay up-to-date and informed

• Learn about our latest work including training and events around the world via our news page.
• Sign up for our newsletter
• Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter)

Kaya for organisations

If you are from an organisation interested in using Kaya to design and manage your own training content, visit our Kaya for Organisations page. You can also email our Sales team at partnerships@humanitarian.academy for more information.

HPass

If you are an individual or organisation interested in learning more about HPass digital badges that showcase humanitarians’ learning achievements and provide global recognition with verified credentials, visit our HPass website.

About the authors

Esther Grieder is the Global Partnerships and Communities Lead at the HLA. She has 20 years of experience in the international development and humanitarian sectors, working primarily on education, youth, health and humanitarian issues. Esther holds a BA and MA in History. Esther led the data analysis stage of this project. After eight years at the HLA, in July 2024 Esther will take up a new role as Director of Membership Engagement at NetHope.

Ka Man Parkinson is the HLA’s Communications and Marketing Advisor. She has extensive professional experience within the international education and non-profit sectors gained in roles at three UK universities and at the British Council. She holds a BSc in Management and IT, an MA in Business and Chinese, and a CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing. On this project, Ka Man co-designed the survey with Esther and produced this commentary and supporting graphics.

Note

This research was conducted in April – May 2024. This overview presents the aggregated responses from the four surveys in English, Arabic, French and Spanish. The findings in this article are for information purposes only.

The authors would like to thank colleagues who lent their support to this project including Salma Babban, Anne Garçon and Ana Lucia Villagran for reviewing survey translations, and Lucy Hall for providing a sounding board for data approaches.

Contact

We aim for these research findings to spark a wider conversation on humanitarian training and learning. We invite any comments, queries or feedback:

HLA Communications and Marketing team
info@humanitarian.academy

We are excited to share the new report by Klon/Jawor Association funded by the HLA as part of the SHIFT programme.

This research aims to provide current and reliable data regarding the situation of local organisations supporting refugees in Poland. It explores the key activities of these organisations, their resources, needs and challenges, with a particular focus on the issue of burnout among teams and challenges related to access to funding. The report also formulates recommendations that will facilitate support for organisations providing services to refugees in Poland, especially in developing organisational infrastructure and business continuity. Read the Learning Brief.

About Klon/Jawor

Klon/Jawor Association has been operating since 2000, supporting the development of the civil society sector in Poland by running the portal ngo.pl – the largest source of information, knowledge and opinions on social activity in Poland, conducting research on civil society, advising activists on formal obligations and promoting social engagement.

From Paternalism to Eco-Mutualism

Author: Dr Simon Western, The Eco-Leadership Institute. Report commissioned by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy and Save the Children.

Part One

Part one sets out the aims, and then summarises the humanitarian sector, placing it within a broader social context. Our entangled environmental, technological and social ecosystems are continually disrupting our world and we move towards a new paradigm, from late modernity to the Precarious-Interdependence Age (P.I. Age). The report navigates this process, setting out the challenges and identifies EcoMutualism as a new age of humanitarianism that can address these challenges.

Modernity’s Gaze

Humanitarianism has had many successes and has grown exponentially. However, there are many critiques and concerns about the future of humanitarianism. This report shortcuts the critiques, setting out an argument that the biggest challenge the sector faces is to transcend its attachment to the ideology of modernity. The current state of humanitarianism is pervaded by modernity’s discourses such as, rationalisation, control, hierarchy, bureaucracy, centralisation, paternalism, instrumentalism, audit and target culture, neo-colonialism and so on.

In recent years, humanitarian governance has also become entangled with the desires of big government donors. This results in a lack of agility, innovation and of positive relational engagement with many local actors. The sector feels ‘stuck’, unable to escape limited and binary ways of thinking, such as localisation versus centralisation or global north versus global south. Disenchantment sets in as leaders and humanitarian workers feel trapped within the machinic organisations and the modernist processes that humanitarianism has unwittingly created. The report believes that the P.I. Age demands very different understandings, practices and approaches. These cannot come from existing paradigmatic ways of thinking, and the sector has to transcend modernity’s gaze in order to engage in the radical new age of humanitarianism that is urgently required.

Eco-Mutualism: A New Age of Humanitarianism

Drawing on Michael Bartlett’s work on the ages of humanitarianism, the report expands on his work, first adding two new forces that have shaped humanitarianism over the ages i.e., interdependency and modernity. Secondly, it adds a new age of Eco-Mutualist Humanitarianism that can unleash new leadership, new energy and engagement throughout humanitarian ecosystems. The report explains Eco-Mutualism and how it can re-energise the humanitarian sector.

Part Two

Leadership

The report moves into the leadership space, recognising that any radical change demands new leadership. It sets out the four dominant discourses of leadership that appeared over the past century, mapping these to humanitarianism over the ages. This gives insights and a shared language as to what leadership is, and how the different discourses and approaches apply to humanitarianism.

Eco-Leadership Formation to deliver Eco-Mutualist Humanitarianism

The report shares insights from our research, theory and practices of Eco-Leadership, offering a clear way forward to deliver Eco-Mutualist Humanitarianism. This approach changes the very co-ordinates of how leadership is thought about, developed and taken up in practice. We also share five months engagement and research in the sector that reveals alignment and support for our Eco-Leadership approaches. We finish with a manifesto of Eco-Mutualist Humanitarianism, to capture the essence of the approach and then conclude the report.

Report by the LSE Department of International Development, commissioned by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy and Save the Children

This report is a contribution to understanding the importance of having localisation at the core of any crisis response. On behalf of Save the Children UK and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA), the research was carried out by postgraduate students at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) between October 2022 and March 2023.

The report inquires into the research question, ‘to what extent does the Ukrainian refugee crisis response in Poland represent a transformational localised response?’