In this episode, we are focusing on Youth Leadership, talking about why youth participation in humanitarian and civic action is important. On the Youth Leadership for Emerging Future programme example, we discuss how youth can and should be involved in crisis response, humanitarian action, and development. The participants shared about the challenges they identified and how they addressed them while working on their projects.

Hear from Agnieszka PŁoska, Youth Changemaking Manager at Ashoka Poland, and Vee Tranova and Vitalina Petrova, participants of the Youth Leadership for Emerging Future Programme, in which Ashoka, Save the Children and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy join forces to empower local young leaders and to catalyse systemic changes.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Agnieszka PŁoska is a Youth Changemaking Manager at Ashoka Poland, coordinator of Youth Leadership for Emerging Future project ran together by Ashoka, Save the Children and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Experienced social innovator, team manager and crowdfunder, Aga is fascinated by competence development and team building and is focused on effective implementation of designed solutions. She is committed to empowering young leaders and upholds Ashoka’s motto: ‘Everyone is a changemaker.’

Vitalina Petrova is a fundraiser, grant writer, and tutor for teens at Jedność (Unity) Foundation, founded by seven Ukrainian refugee women in Kraków. The foundation organises educational and cultural projects and supports refugees from Ukraine. Vitalina also serves as a mentor for a youth initiative group FIOH. She has a bachelor’s degree in international law and is pursuing studies in the Management of Education and NGOs at the University of the National Education Commission in Kraków. She brought her professional background, personal refugee experience and passion for education to the Youth Leadership for Emerging Future programme.

Van Anh (Vee) Tranová studies at the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University in Prague and strongly believes that young people can co-create the future and shape the society they want to live in. Vee embraces her Vietnamese roots and actively engages in various projects and initiatives. She lived in Italy for two years and actively contributed to developing a rural area with 820 inhabitants by engaging and empowering local people during COVID-19. Upon returning home, Vee began leading her own Solidarity Project aimed at creating a more inclusive society. During the Youth Leadership for Emerging Future programme, Vee focused on creating solutions for communication and collaboration to motivate youth and increase their civic engagement.

Hosted by Oksana Dobrovolska, Communications Officer at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Having a journalistic background, she specialises in communications, press and public relations in humanitarian and international relations sectors.

Find out more about the Youth Leadership for Emerging Future programme

6 Lessons from Young Leaders: Insights for Shaping the Future

Youth Dialogue Forum 2024:

• about the project

• about the results

• Instagram

With the global mental health crisis affecting one in four people – and nearly everyone within communities impacted by crisis including conflict and disasters – the need for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) is more urgent than ever.

In our latest Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives podcast episode, the HLA’s Ka Man Parkinson speaks to Marie Dahl and Dr Victor Ugo from The MHPSS Collaborative about MHPSS in humanitarian contexts.

In this thought-provoking discussion, Marie and Victor share honest reflections on the challenges they face with their work, while also passionately and clearly setting out their vision to enhance the mental wellbeing of children, youth, and families in adverse settings.

Through a natural and candid dialogue between Marie and Victor, the duo highlight their thinking and approaches to interrogate and challenge current thinking and practices around mental health – including cultural concepts and understanding of mental health and a critique of Western-centric interventions and approaches – and they outline some of the steps they are taking and aspirations they have to drive forward the MHPSS agenda to place it at the heart of humanitarian action.

They delve into key themes such as localisation, youth engagement in MHPSS, and the pursuit of a shared understanding of MHPSS for improved cooperation and collaboration. Hear more about Marie and Victor’s aspirations to move towards a preventative approach to mental health support and to embed MHPSS into preparedness planning.

Whether you’re a practitioner or simply interested in this essential field, tune into this open and hopeful conversation filled with valuable expert insights on MHPSS from Marie and Victor.

Keywords: Mental health and psychosocial support, MHPSS, mental health interventions, research, collaboration, communication, localisation, humanitarians, humanitarian action, youth engagement, children, protection, wellbeing, preparedness planning.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Marie Dahl is the Director of The MHPSS Collaborative – for children, youth and families in adversity. The Collaborative is a global hub for mental health and psychosocial support research, innovation, learning and advocacy, founded by Save the Children Denmark in 2018.

Marie has 15 years of experience in the humanitarian sector, and has worked in emergency response, interagency coordination, capacity building, advocacy, leadership and strategy development in various parts of the world. Her driving force is children and youths’ rights to protection, education, mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. She is based in Malmö, Sweden.

Dr Victor Ugo is the MHPSS and Youth Advisor at The MHPSS Collaborative, where his current focus is on building infrastructures for meaningful youth engagement and participation in mental health and psychosocial support initiatives. He has extensive experience in advocacy, policy influence, and resource mobilisation for adolescent and youth mental health programmes at community, regional and global levels.

Victor is passionate about driving systemic change to improve the lives of children, adolescents, and youth globally, with a particular focus on facilitating their capacity to develop innovative solutions and lead work relevant to their needs.

Ka Man Parkinson is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. She has served in communications roles in the international education and nonprofit sectors for the past 18 years. At the HLA, Ka Man leads on the creation of digital content, and manages the HLA’s podcast and webinar series. She has a personal interest in initiatives to support mental health and is a Mental Health First Aider with MHFA England. She is based near Manchester, UK.

Discover more

Learn more about the work of The MHPSS Collaborative through The MHPSS Collaborative website and LinkedIn page

Visit The MHPSS Collaborative Hub on the HLA’s digital learning platform Kaya (registration for Kaya is required for first time users).

You may also be interested in the podcast episode mentioned by Ka Man during this discussion focused on localisation and talent, featuring Bidjan Nashat.

Did you enjoy this episode? Please like, subscribe and share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

Podcast episode transcript

[Intro music] Welcome to Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives, the podcast brought to you by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.

Ka Man [voiceover]: With the global mental health crisis affecting one in four people during our lifetime, and impacting nearly everyone in communities affected by crisis, mental health and psychosocial support has never been more crucial. I’m Ka Man Parkinson and today we’re shining the spotlight on mental health and psychosocial support – or MHPSS for short – in humanitarian contexts.

I speak with two incredible guests, Marie Dahl and Dr Victor Ugo from The MHPSS Collaborative. They together with their colleagues – a team of nine based in Denmark – are leading initiatives together with partners to place mental health at the heart of the humanitarian agenda.

In this conversation – which I found very inspiring, optimistic, as well as uplifting – Marie and Victor share candid insights on the challenges they face in their work while also passionately and clearly setting out their vision to build new knowledge and ways of improving mental health and wellbeing of children, youth and their families in adverse settings. So let’s jump right in and hear directly from them.

Ka Man: So welcome to the podcast, Victor and Marie, it’s an absolute pleasure to have you both join us today. Thank you so much for being here. Could you start by introducing yourself and sharing what has inspired you to enter the field of MHPSS? Could we come to you first, please, Marie.

Marie: Sure, it is an absolute pleasure on my side to be here on your podcast today. My name is Marie Dahl and I’m the director of the MHPSS Collaborative and I’ve been in the role since early 2022, and before then I worked 12 years or so with Save the Children in different parts of the world.

It’s been a great journey for me. I have a social work degree – international social work degree in my background – and then a Humanitarian Action master, and I’ve been working on general humanitarian response for many years, both in the field and from headquarter level.

And I’ve always kept this child protection focus and the social work part of me through my time in Save the Children and different places of the world, and what I’ve learned and come to learn over the years is that the element of mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, it really is a question and a matter that touches every sphere of life.

That’s what inspired me to go from being more on the psychosocial support side as a child protectionist initially, and then learn more about why it’s important to link all the way up to mental health. And then down again, if you’re referring to kind of you’re in a better place or you need more support.

And what really inspires me is the kind of multi-sectoral nature of MHPSS. A child or a young person doesn’t need just health services, or just the ability to be educated, or just the ability or the protection in case of difficult circumstances. It’s really about all of the different services coming together and providing a holistic response and support to children and their and their caregivers. So that’s really one of the key drivers and my inspiration to work with this this topic.

Ka Man: That’s wonderful. Thank you so much, Marie. What rich experience you have, and it’s really inspiring to hear you speak about that. So thank you once again for being here. So welcome, Victor, welcome to the podcast. Would you like to introduce yourself and share what’s inspired your journey in the field of MHPSS.

Victor: Thank you. Yeah, I’m Victor Ugo and I’m the MHPSS and Youth Advisor at The Collaborative. And a lot of my inspiration, I suppose I’ve had an unusual journey to, to get to this point. I’ve been at The Collaborative for two and a half years before. Then I was at United for Global Mental Health in an advocacy and campaigning role. And prior to that, I was running my own foundation in Nigeria, focusing on young people’s mental health and really just building young people’s capacity to take care of themselves and receive help optimal support.

And I have a background as a doctor. I finished med school, and I practiced for a couple of years and a lot of my entry into mental health has been facilitated by my lived experience in terms of someone who was diagnosed with depression and anxiety in med school and I had a very, a bit of a privileged – I would say privileged access to support – that I didn’t realise the others didn’t have.

And that’s why, when I left med school eventually, I thought about, how can I make sure that other people could receive that level of support that I did. So that’s essentially what inspired me to be in this in this field.

Ka Man: Thank you so much, Victor. Thank you very much for sharing and being so candid as well. So you obviously have these personal and professional experiences that really sort of drive you in your role. And it’s really interesting to see and hear how yours and Marie’s skillset and experiences seems to be very complementary and have a very – I can see that, I can understand why your expertise probably works together very well. So thank you once again to both of you.

So I’d like to hear a bit more about The MHPSS Collaborative. Could you tell us a little bit more about your work, what’s your mission, and perhaps some of the key priorities that you have right now, and possibly how you see your impact, the impact of your work evolving over time? Could we come to you first please, Marie.

Marie: Sure, so our vision is a world that protects and cares for the mental health and wellbeing of children, youth and their families. And our mission is really to build connections between different actors, both between local and global actors, and to build new knowledge and to build new ways of improving the mental health and wellbeing of children, youth and families living in adverse settings. So whether that is in context affected by conflict, climate change and displacement.

So that’s what we focus on. And some of the ways of key ways of working that we have is to convene different actors to come together around key challenges for child and adolescent mental health to innovate on solutions, and that you might not have come up with if you were just doing it yourself. So it’s really in the name, bringing people together to collaborate. And we might find gaps that are not addressed and then we can co-develop and share new knowledge and all the things that we learn, we really use to influence also at the donor and policymaker level, to have more investment and also more support to quality, mental health and psychosocial support interventions.

So some of our key priorities that have been there, off and on since we were founded in 2018. is really the education setting. So what about children’s wellbeing in school? How that affects their ability to have friends and to be well, and to learn well and to develop. And then we have the changing climate is another big priority for us. How do young people, how are they affected by the changing climate and the impacts that come, and the consequences and extreme consequences of different weather events, or whether it’s slow, creeping differences. How can we respond and learn more about it? And to respond in an appropriate way – and also in a way that young people themselves feel is relevant.

So those are two big key areas, education and climate. We also have a focus on preparedness increasingly, which is more of on the innovative side. What can we do before an emergency happens to prevent that mental health suffering?

And I’ll let Victor tell you more about the key area on youth engagement and mental health innovations and interventions for adolescent and youth mental health.

Victor: Yeah, I think for us when we talk about meaningful youth participation is much more of a lifestyle for us in terms of how we do things. Because we’ve, I think it’s obviously it’s a no-brainer that if you want to work in your people, it makes sense that you talk to them about what they’re interested in – and sometimes it feels so straightforward to me that when I don’t see it being done, it’s very, you know, disconcerting to see.

So we’re trying to then focus about what are some of the problems and the barriers for facilitating meaningful participation of young people? And we are seeing that some of the things that’s come true in our research and our scoping is that people talk about the availability of so many tools not knowing which one is relevant for your work.

And young people themselves talk about the tokenism that they experience. You know the idea of having, you know, the usual suspects, and just a couple of young people who are representative of other young people in every setting, in every situation, every event.

So we’re just looking at some of those problems that that people expressed. We thought it would make sense to build a meaningful infrastructure for young people’s participation where they can get is a big decentralised where they can be the ones, you know, applying for opportunities and reaching out as long as they can see it. But on the on the aspect of the entities that engage young people thinking through what are some of the tools that you need to facilitate your work to do better, meaningful engagement of young people? So that’s one aspect.

And the other aspect, of course, is like we’re thinking about, how can young people be more involved and more influenced to be interested in MHPSS as a field – and that’s something that you know we spend the past three years trying to get an answer to. And we’ve looked beyond the development and humanitarian sector for that, for the answer to that question. And a lot of that answer that we got came from the corporate and business sector.

When it comes to actually building capacity for young people, you find that they do it better, you know, they, because obviously they’re profit oriented, they tend to do it better. And some of the things that we learned from that was that you know, you look at some existing boot camps. There’s this for data analysis, for people that are trying to get into programming and the rest, and you find that they make a promise to say, we can take you, you know, from a lack of knowledge of this concept to a level that you can get a role in, a role for.

And I actually did try to take myself through that myself. I put myself as a case study and say what I want to do, ‘I want to learn Python and get to a level where I can be employed as a junior analyst’. And I tried that for six months, and I did get two interviews, for a job I wasn’t even interested in. Yeah, so it’s like, essentially, just trying to say…

Marie: That’s amazing.

Victor: Yeah, I’m just trying to, you know, to make to make a case for it. So I mean, that’s one aspect is that young people are interested in in actually making a career out of this. But we should be more desperate in the sector because we’re constantly having to send people to places to support in different settings of adversity. You know we have MHPSS for such support which obviously it is for a reason is that in so many contexts, where there’s emergencies, people need – they need help. They need people on the ground that can help to like channel resources, coordination, and all of that.

But I think the question we try to ask ourselves was, if in those contexts there was a level of preparedness in the system when it came to members of capacity, those levels of interest, it would make more sense for the people from that context be the ones developing the programmes and building interventions than you need. So it’s like the whole idea of community based MHPSS, it hinges on the existing capacity within the community to actually develop the programmes that they care for. And everyone comes in with good intentions, of course, but I don’t think it’s going to be possible for you to come in and know the community more than they know themselves.

And for an intervention to work properly, you need to know yourself properly, and you need to know what you’re assessing. That’s why we start with needs assessment. So it was like a question of like, there’s a gap here in the sector that needs filling. But it’s something that should be prioritised, and young people are well, very capable to fill that gap. So this is some of the prior things, you know, priority things that we’re looking at about for the portfolio on it.

Marie: And obviously on the final part of your question, what the impact could be for the future. It’s obviously a stronger workforce capacity over time. And really creating opportunities for young people to learn in their contexts, not necessarily go outside of their context, which is also privilege, privileged thing to do but to learn where they’re already and then be able to be part of the serving workforce with some time and then you basically have a better situation for people which is more relevant to the to the culture and the customs of that location. So it’s something that we’re very passionate about that it’s a localised approach.

Victor: Exactly. And I think one of the things we found was like in our scoping and trying to determine the feasibility of the outreach that we’re trying to take is that a lot of the existing fellowships, not a lot of them exist for MHPSS. But a lot of these traineeships and professional programmes for junior…

Marie: I did it myself, you know, back in the day it gave me amazing opportunities.

Victor: Yeah.

Marie: I went to somewhere else to learn. And then I came back to the North. And here I sit right? So we’d like to rather create a space in the –

Victor: Yeah, to develop that level of that entry level capacity for young people is really our priority. And a lot of the system wants that. They focused on leadership, of course, and I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that. I’m saying that a lot of them take beyond people away from their context to the West and teach them things to say, well, we’ve been teaching you how to how we do things here, so you can go back with that knowledge. There’s some value in that, but a lot of it, as to the brain drain that we see happening in so many of these contexts where people you know the push and the pull factors of brain drain. It’s like, you know, when they’re not existing structures on the ground to retain talent. That’s a push factor.

But there’s a lot of the pull factor that a lot of the West should be responsible for is when that happens it becomes difficult for them to see. You’ve taught me something that applies to your context. Why should I take you back? Why don’t I stay back and do it here, you know.

Marie: And there’s a risk of devaluing and the kind of knowledge and experience and understanding of context that that people have. Because you go and you learn somewhere else, you know, like a big fancy organisation or university and yes, it can be great knowledge. But is that, you know applicable? And are there, aren’t there different forms of knowledge in different places, and how do you, how do you work on power, sometimes imbalances, not sometimes quite often, that you have. You can hear us going off because we’re passionate! Yeah, back to you.

Ka Man: Oh, no, that’s brilliant. Do you know, it’s so exciting and also inspiring to hear you speak so passionately about your work. I think the model of the MHPSS Collaborative is very exciting because it sounds like that it’s quite an agile model that allows you to tune in and focus on areas that you see as a priority. So that youth engagement piece that you’re speaking of, Victor is very, very exciting. And I like how you’re looking to create meaningful pathways for youth. So it’s not just here listening to them…

Victor: Yeah.

Ka Man: It’s then using that to build pathways. So I think that’s really exciting. And then how you both then link that to the localisation agenda. It made me think about a recent podcast discussion that I had with Bidjan Nashat who was formerly of Save the Children International.

And he was saying that we are looking at localisation in the wrong way, that we need to. Well, he’s talking about the humanitarian sector, and how we’re looking at localisation generally. And he was saying that we need to look at it through a talent lens, how somebody who is a young talent in the Global South – to use that phrase very broadly – how, you know it’s not about we should be, you know, you’re speaking about brain drain and how we should be making the most of that talent, harnessing it in appropriate ways through the structures, through technology, etc to enable meaningful engagement in work. And yeah, contribute towards true, meaningful localisation. So it’s really interesting to hear you both speak about that and how it really intersects with you know what we’re all working towards.

So on that, linking to that, I’d love to talk a bit more about localisation, because it’s obviously central to what we’re doing. So from your perspective, what do you think it is about localisation that makes it essential for MHPSS work to be meaningful and sustainable?

Marie: Go ahead on that one, Victor.

Victor: Yeah. I mean, I agree with the previous statement you made about, you know, taking a different approach to localisation. But and when it comes to MHPSS, it becomes even more important. A lot of the ways that we’ve defined mental health. This one start from the very foundation has been very Western-driven a lot of the ways that we’ve defined mental work in in mental health is still Western driven. And it’s felt like, you know, every you know people on the ground have been told how to operate, what to do, what classification systems to use, you know, how to make sure that you know the interventions are built a certain way and different using a certain model.

And sometimes, I’m Nigerian right, it comes from like, when I was on the ground. When I when I get that top down, I would say, transmission of information or knowledge, there’s a tendency to want to resist it, because you’re saying, well, this is obviously Western driven. You’ve not taken my thoughts and my experiences into perspective while developing this. In fact, what actually, I can relate to you’ve classified with other things as other syndromes.

It’s like, I’m just going back to the very foundation of it is even the concept of mental health and MHPSS and in ways that is defined still very much like a Western-driven definition. So that’s a start. And what makes what would make it sustainable.

And I think about localisation as a word, and I just think it’s a word that for me should not, didn’t have to exist, if we’re doing things right way. Because we’re already doing things wrong where it’s like, oh, okay, we should check ourselves and make sure that everything that we do then applies a localisation lens. You know that we have people on the ground, people that are actually affected and involved being part of the process of building the solutions for themselves and relevant to their own communities. So I look at it from a perspective of is a right, is a normal thing to do. If I have a business, and I want to make sure that it works, I would talk to the people that are meant to be my audience. And I’m using that as an example and analogy in a way because if you don’t have a user audience test, you’re building something that works for you, not for others, essentially on your assumptions.

Marie: Yeah, builds on your assumptions.

Victor: Exactly. And that’s why that’s that is so important. And I just don’t, I struggle a lot to find why we need to keep justifying the need to localise when it’s something that it just makes sense. It’s more than just a buzzword for me, I think, is it’s truly the only way to ensure that you know the interventions that we build are meaningful and effective and eventually sustainable.
And I, and again, you know, circle back into some of the things that drives the interventions and programmes. Most of it is funding. The other things are policy. When it comes to the funding level. Of course, that’s informed by again, experts mostly in the West as well. Obviously, that’s that’s changing a lot these days. And that also means that even sometimes when they ask questions about sustainability, we find that in most contexts, where, in some context, in case examples and studies on this like, where they have been huge interventions done over time. When people leave, the programme ends.

Marie: Yeah, it’s a classic scenario.

Victor: Yeah, because there’s no embedding of the system in interventions from the start. There’s no ownership of the community. And that leads to wastage of resources that we say we don’t have. Yeah. So I’ll pause there.

Marie: Yeah, I’m just going to add one reflection also. Why, you know, using the word that we have localisation and why the essence of it is essential. I think it’s also if you look at supporting people in need. Everyone needs to eat, right, and even eating is going to be a cultural thing. You know the things that you eat, at least you’ll probably get full on most kinds of food, but when it comes to the construct of what is defined and what is experienced as mental health and being well that is hugely contextual. And that’s also where it it, you know, you might come in and and not get it right. Basically the intervention, the support that you want to do unless you are in an office, the context – same time open, of course, to learn from and with others – because you might have had a response in many different settings, and you can see some things coming out.

So it’s not about not having replicability, like doing an intervention and getting a similar result somewhere else. But it’s taking coming with a questioning approach. Rather so to ask some of the questions. Okay, so, but what is being well for you? What is a good mental health for you, and thereby how can it be strengthened and supported? So yeah, not come with a predefined notion so much, but to come in with a questioning mind.

Victor: And a humble approach.

Marie: And a humble approach that that makes people come together.

Then it’s also I mean, you can hear us. It is also like, it’s quite idealistic. We also know that when you come into a context, even within the region of a country, you have different views and different roles that people play, and people that get heard or not heard as well, so it’s not just between the kind of global and the international person coming in in a response setting. People are not homogeneous at the country level there are many diversities in the context as well.

So that’s why I think, coming with a with an open and a humble and a question focused mindset is key. But then, of course, in a very rapidly changing emergency context, and knowing that from having been in those contexts, of course, you can ask, where’s the time for that? And there needs to be some level of genericness. You know.

Victor: A structure framework.

Marie: Yeah, a structure framework that you can take departure from. So that’s the tension that we’re living in and acknowledging, but really trying to turn it so that the power in the voice is more in the hands of those who are affected than it definitely has been in the past. Yeah.

Ka Man: Thank you so much. Wow! You know, as you’re both speaking, the cogs in my brain are whirring with loads of thoughts, because I’m sort of coming at this quite a micro level, if you know what I mean, in my head. And then you’re shining a light on the whole, at this very macro level systemic challenges. Yeah, the meaning of mental health at a very fundamental level. And then it’s quite, quite deep and profound. We can go into that, quite a lot. I thought the analogy that you gave Marie about food, you know, like, like you say, if you eat, you can be, you can nourish yourself and be full. But yeah, are you well? I thought that was a really good fundamental question, and literally has given me food for thought.

So, yes, thank you so much for those insights. And linking very much to this speaking about the meaning of mental health, and being well, and our interpretation versus others interpretation of that construct, do you think MHPSS has its own language, and do you think that needs to be demystified further, for other sectors and actors to engage meaningfully?

Marie: I can give a first try at that one. What we seem to be running into time and time again is that language and terms and concepts, it’s key to our ability to communicate and to make ourselves understood by others. And by definition, when you talk about something that is important and a reality in each sector we are working a very siloed world. You have the health sector, the education sector, the social service sector. They all have different words for mental health and and wellbeing and it becomes a challenge many times, because you you’re not quite sure what does it mean between one context to another.

So we’ve been looking at this fact, and we’ve been recommending with many different actors for quite some time, that we come to some form of a common language around how we speak about mental health, so that we can start to address the issues jointly. I still want to be a little bit critical to that though, because you can’t also take language away from people, if a language makes sense in a context. If it’s harmful, you need to definitely address it right? The overuse of the word traumatised, for example. You need to think about, okay, what does it mean? Am I labelling people, you know, is that that’s a diagnosed condition, and I’m not the one who’s given the diagnosed like those things you might address.

But if you talk about more psychosocial support in a school setting and social emotional learning, that is fitting for the context. But then it’s just adding the layer that you can also talk about mental health issues is a big issue in many schools, so not stigmatising it or having it as part of your vocabulary to be able to refer, for example.

But, like respecting that, people need to be able to use different sets of words and concepts in their own working context, but a general better knowledge and a general, maybe common language that can bring the different service providers together. And then, if you come all the way down to kind of more of a family context or a community context there it’s, of course also a language that we’re talking about different actual languages, you know. Is it Swahili? Is it Farsi? Is it Bengali? All of these different contexts, they need to have a chance to reflect on what it means, and even that what we call sometimes mental health literacy can also really contribute to de-stigmatising the issue of mental health.

Mental health is not a bad thing – like poor mental health or bad mental health is – but mental health is a positive thing. And how can you maybe take a departure from the strength-based language around it as you go about trying to help people to communicate. Yeah, over to Victor.

Victor: Yeah, no, I think nothing that’s very valid in terms of how you know the boundary terminology, as we’d say, like, you know how we find certain words that mean different things across different sectors. The same work. Wellbeing means something completely different. Nutrition versus you know what it means in mental health. And if we don’t obviously define what it means across different concepts. We cannot find any way to actually – common denominator for it.

But I’m also looking at this from a different perspective, like I’ve done a lot of work on language and mental health in the past. Some of it personal, but some of it really just driven by frustration around what exactly is driving stigma in different contexts, and, like you mentioned with emotional literacy, like one of the reasons why stigma exists in most context, especially in context like mine, where I’m from it’s just the mystification of the language of it.

English language is very sometimes a very limited word in when it comes to like being descriptive. So in most of the context, like my country, we have modern tone or something languages. You don’t find the direct translation of existing English words when it comes to mental health in those contexts, but they do have words that better express emotions and feelings and disturbances in psychology, in the psyche, then we have in English language. So I even think that, you know, actually presents more opportunities to even start from that level to start to define, for get people to define for themselves.

And then we can go a bit more at higher levels than think right. Now we have some of the key terms and concepts come true about how people feel, how they express it. How can we then find how to cut across just the general way of living, because I think when we talk about nutrition, talk about poverty, talk about access to food, talk about mental health, like they are all about facilitating, living, like survival.

Marie: Yes, that’s, you know, survival and thriving and thriving. I think that being able to do what you want to do?

Victor: Yeah, and contribute to your community and have good relationships. Essentially, the definition of mental health, of health. So it’s really just like again, taking that step back to reflect on what it was even the language of wellbeing. How does it connect to what we now have as mental health and and psychosocial support. And that how does that then relate across different sectors to say, well, let’s define the concepts, the way that it works for us. And then let’s find how they connect.

And this is something that you know, we’re actively trying to work on. We call it ‘decoded’ – MHPSS Decoded. And we’re thinking about, what does it mean to actually just define, have an MHPSS 101 template, or a flyer, or something just like a glossaries page that people can go and see, not just individual words that are defined, but also concepts under MHPSS. That can make it easy for someone else who is not familiar with MHPSS to say, oh, okay, then I see how this integrates into my programme if I’m working in WASH, or if I’m working with children in emergencies, if I’m if I’m working nutrition, I’m working in even shelter. So and then, obviously, we can, as part of the process, even make suggestions as to the level of how these concepts can be integrated across different sites. But it’s an ongoing piece of work.

Marie: I guess it’s one of our, not overarching, but like the red thread in The Collaborative’s wish, and hope as well, is that people can see themselves, and what part of my work can contribute to the mental health and wellbeing of the people that I work with the people that I serve.

And not long ago, people might not have heard ever heard of the MHPSS term. And now it’s much more present and visible, and still question marks around it, because it might be described differently by different actors.

But I think it’s really, yeah, making it hit home somehow and understanding it from a very basic level. And then being able to relate it to your own context and your own work. I think one of the reasons actually coming back to the first question on being inspired. When I moved from more in like the protection side of things – that’s protection from neglect, abuse and violence, which is very important. But looking at MHPSS, that’s more encompassing the whole somehow. What inspires me is really like, if you can in any way support someone to be well more, then they’re able to do all the different things in their life. It’s not the end goal isn’t just to be well. The end goal is to be able to do what it is that you want to do. And I think when you come at it from that perspective, then it hits home for people.

And just to say that Covid we experienced from a systemic level that Covid just made it hit home for so many people, because just being isolated in your home, it’s not a nice feeling, and it might cause a lot of emotional distress all the way to more difficult emotions and even conditions.

Victor: Yeah, and we talked about, we’ll see how the link between that and gender-based violence and violence against children spike, you know, it was just lots of relationships that people could now make connections. I mean, we could have, we have done that in the past, but like they could understand, and they could at a personal level.

Marie: Yeah, whether you were like some sorry, but, like rich policy maker, you were also confined, and you might also have fear, and you might have loss.

So we were all at a moment in time globally, a bit more connected, I’d say, in in starting to understand that it is really important. And yeah, we can work ourselves to death in the normal, grind in life and not think about it so much – just push through, push through, you know. But if there are more challenging things that people are going through.There’s going to be an outfall of that. And there needs to be an understanding of each other and a support, or what can we then do to be, get to a better place and have good relationships and be able to do our work and our studies. Yeah, I think it’s just interesting point in time, then it’s sometimes quickly forgotten as well.

Victor: It is.

Marie: Unfortunately, I just want to say that as well, and that’s where the voices for the importance of continuing to promote mental health, to prevent mental health conditions from worsening. When you have that ability and power, it is just so important. It’s it’s an agenda. It’s never going to die. It’s just going to have a bit of an ebb and flow, and it’s being a voice for that. Also that we really hope to be as The Collaborative.

Victor: Yeah, I think to just round up on that. And that question is like, I think we need to as not just as a sector, but you know, as people ourselves. Stop underestimating the role of language in facilitating convergence, you know, across sectors across, you know, ways of life. It is so important. It is the most important in communication is language. And it, I think, for us, is the one thing that would drive cross sectoral integration and collaboration.

Marie: And without language, you can’t collaborate. Ta-da!

Victor: Exactly.

Ka Man: Oh, brilliant! I love that. Thank you so much. Honestly as you’re both speaking, you really like so many sort of nuggets of, you know pearls of wisdom and insights that are sparking lots of thoughts in my mind. I’ll have to continue the conversation with you on a lot of these points that you made. I thought, Yeah, I agree, obviously, as I work in communications, I think I’m particularly interested in this piece around language and shared common understanding.

And yeah, I often reflect on how the global pandemic, sadly, you know, obviously gave us all that shared experience. So some kind of common understanding around mental health because we were experiencing something similar, no matter where we were in the world.

And one, I feel like positive effect, is that it’s much more widely spoken about in society at large, and particularly in schools. So, for example, my son’s primary school, they talk often around mental health. It’s something they, in fact, I think they have a weekly session.

Marie: Wow.

Ka Man: Yeah. And they talk about, they have sessions on special educational needs, awareness around neurodivergence, you know. So I think he’s already got this vocab at the age of 7, you know, talking about feelings and how people’s brains work. So I think the pandemic gave the school that impetus to put that on the agenda, and I find that encouraging. And yeah.

Marie: Yeah, so one of the silver linings, I would say in a very horrible time.

Ka Man: Yes, yes, exactly, So, would you be able to share maybe something that you’re working on right now that you feel is particularly innovative or impactful for MHPSS. And also on the flip side, maybe a barrier or challenge that you may face in sort of bringing this along. So could I put that to you first, please, Marie?

Marie: Yeah, so you start on, imagine challenging, okay, yeah. So what we decided a couple of years ago, to start doing was to enter into asking questions around preparedness for mental health. And it’s what we call it’s the one of the four portfolios that we call the emerging challenges.

It was initially kind of the overarching name for any topic that we looked at the changing climate, education in emergencies. But then those two kind of areas of work, they became more consolidated, and then we said, well, what is it that we, what is on the horizon of what’s going to be a threat to the mental health of populations in in different settings, to their families and the children in them. So we wanted to see if we can – so I’m a humanitarian generalist by training and also by quite a number of years of experience – so the language for me is very familiar, and I found that it wasn’t really there a few years ago.

So we wanted to start to bring humanitarian experts for general humanitarian response into the same rooms as MHPSS experts, and see what could transpire. So it’s something that we hope to do more officially in the upcoming year, have a bit of a connections space to discuss.

But what we are seeing, what we believe is that as anything, it’s hard to get funding for preparedness, intervention for disaster risk reduction, because the thing that is going to, you know, cause havoc hasn’t happened yet. So it’s easy to put that to the side and just go response response, response, response. But then you’re in a vicious cycle of never getting to the preparedness stage. But we kind of see two different levels of where there could be more work done.

One is at a kind of global and data level. What is the data around the implications and the impacts of war and disaster on populations on the mental health and who collects that data and so that we can see what more do we need to do? What are the implications, and how do we need to address them?

And to be able to do that – back to the language questions – how do you define mental health, and and who collects the data. So that’s one ambition that we have to kind of start to work for key actors who do follow and who do collect data on emergencies and the impacts of them to be more knowledgeable and to be speaking more the same language on how to collect data for that. Because if you have data that is more consistently collected, then you can use it for foresight. And you can use it for predictive modelling.

So the second point on the emerging challenges portfolio is to really look at a very local level. What already happens in a community that maybe knows that they’re about to have, you know, there’s political unrest. What’s going to happen? What can they do? What do they do already? How can we facilitate a process of community wellbeing, planning to see what are the strengths that are there? What are the usual ways of supporting when members of the communities are lost or something happens? And how can you do then strengthen that and have communities find the agency themselves to see, we could actually do this that will reduce the impact on mental health of the people in our community, if and when you know, the flood comes, or a spike in in a conflict or so. So that’s a couple of different ways that we’d like to address the emerging challenges to mental health of children and young people today.

Victor: And I think one of the, you know, just to really centre that like the reason why this is so important is, we are constantly reacting. We’re constantly reacting. And I say that as an image versus field sector we’re constantly reacting to rest, you know, to be part of responses. We’re not part of preparing for emergencies, and that’s I think, that’s pretty dangerous in this current climate, in this current world, where there’s escalating crisis. There’s huge displacement. There’s about 48 million children displaced just in the last year. We’re seeing, you know, rising displacement in Ukraine 2 to 9 million just one year. We are seeing Gaza being one of the hardest, one of the hardest spots for one of the most dangerous spots for children like, you know, we’ve seen all of this happen in Sudan, Yemen, and Syria. And we don’t, we constantly thinking, okay, how can we then build back better, which is valid, but it misses the first step, which is, we should already be prepared within the systems at the systems of an individual level.
And that prevents a lot of waste of resources as well. Because if we’re struggling, we have just funders committing just 19% to funding for humanitarian responses, which means we don’t have enough money to protect children and young people who need that protection. So we we’ve literally not well equipped to address the emerging needs.

And governments, organisations, individuals, communities, need better tools and better materials and frameworks to be prepared for the next emergency which is going to happen and not being. I’m not being catastrophic.

Marie: It’s just it’s just life, isn’t it?

Victor: That’s the world we live in. So we are trying to say every crisis, everything that has been termed crisis and mental crisis is a thing now has been thought about. They call it epidemic of youth, mental health in different contexts in different countries. People think about what is the vaccine for it. You know, how can we be more preventative?

So we’re thinking, what is the next – what is the MHPSS vaccine? What can it be? And to do that obviously, we need to take a step back and ask those questions at a different levels like convene people that are thinking about similar things, but also not thinking about it in the same room.

And then think about what does it mean to have a community planning methodology, you know, that helps us assess how people on the ground to responding to when disasters happen, or when little – bad things happen at different levels. And then how can we reinforce those existing systems?

And then then think about what? What kind of what is the playbook for governments and ministries and systems and communities for when something does happen.

Marie: Yeah, many countries have disaster risk reduction plans, national plans. Do they even have ever mentioned something on that. Mental health is also affected. How is then, that incorporated in the preparedness plan of a national level? So but it of course, starts, I think, at a community level, and the learning that we hope to facilitate with different actors in a few different contexts, to inform what Victor’s calling a playbook, that can then, you know, reviewed and taken up and adapted for different contexts in the future. So we’re super excited about this. Yeah, it’s quite exploratory. And again, really hard to find funding for. But we’re committed. That’s even, you know, gives us more inspiration to drive to to go after those potential outcomes.

Victor: And I think it’s a good thing for us in terms of – what deciding – I’m not going to go so in depth into this, because it’s something we’re still very much in. The definitive process of is that we we’re thinking about. What does it mean to actually change the way the knowledge ecosystem right now is, it’s like how we how can we flip the knowledge ecosystem? And I and I can say when I say, knowledge, I mean research, non research, knowledge.

And we started about more than 18 months ago to start to question ourselves first, you know, like we have so many assumptions, and, you know, like questioning process, and then within ourselves, and then going a bit more within the partners and and the people you’re connected to ask exactly, just to see if there was a problem there that we’re dealing with.

So to set the stage for that is, I think, that we’ve had so much happen in the last two decades when it comes to evolution of how people relate to knowledge and consume knowledge and use it. Social media became more popular, technology became more integrated. Even in so many contexts, so many contexts in global majority, there’s so much in depth, infiltration and integration of mobile use and technology and data. So that has happened.

But when it comes to how we produce knowledge – whether it’s research or non-research again – and how we predict that people would consume knowledge, we haven’t had an evolution in that. I mean, apart from social media toolkits that we have, you would know this as a communications person, I think we, you know, now and then we finish projects or we finish a huge resource. And we have social media toolkits, and we promote it. Apart from that, we haven’t necessarily actually moved drastically forward in addressing some of the changes in behaviours around knowledge that people currently have which has changed from 20 years back.

So we’re asking ourselves a question around, what can we do? And I think it’s quite straightforward for us. It’s like we’re thinking, we need to develop even more questions and not be the ones answering those questions. We want to go down to the level that we claim to be working for and working with, to ask them around to check those behaviours around knowledge. You know. What do you, how do you consume knowledge? Where do you find the knowledge you use to inform your work as a policymaker?

Marie: What knowledge is useful for you.

Victor: Yeah, and not make any assumptions like we do. Now that if we produce this knowledge, you know, like, I think an assumption I always mention is that policymakers will always be read policy briefs. That is not true. It doesn’t work in my context. They might read what the newspaper they read, the front page of the newspaper, or they listen to people talk about it in social media, and if it’s a social media trend they get influenced by it, or they get shamed into doing something about it. It’s not a policy brief that we send. They question that every time.

And we have been so many contexts where WhatsApp broadcasts is the quickest way of passing knowledge and information to people. It worked during Covid, but it was misinformation that was being passed through WhatsApp broadcast. So it’s like, how can we reverse engineer those processes to use those existing and working mechanisms and integrations to our work? So I mean it like, I said, it’s like, it’s still a very fluffy concept. We’re very, very excited about the questioning process that we’re going through. And we will start actually some of that from next year.

Marie: Yeah, it’s about bridging knowledge and action. I think the the key question that researchers have been asking themselves for many, many years. But trying to come at that from a from a community approach. Yeah. Looking forward to it.

Ka Man: That’s absolutely amazing to hear you both speak about this work. It’s honestly, I can see that you, you and your team, you’re sort of sensitively inquiring, you know, interrogating the sort of system and getting really under the skin of the challenges that we face. But what I found very inspiring and exciting are the tangible steps, actions, playbooks – things that you speak of to make progress in ways that you can.

I think this piece that you are looking into on preparatory, I can’t say that word, action preparedness is really yeah, thought provoking, actually, because it’s not something that I’ve considered. Like you say, Marie, around preparedness plans is common in the sector. It’s what people do. But to embed MHPSS into that is, yeah, is quite radical.

But I like the fact that you’re taking that action to do that. And I really hope that people listening, sort of that piques people’s interest, and I hope that you can find broader support for that, because it sounds so, so vital.

So sadly, we’re running out of time now, honestly, I’m not just saying this, I could continue this discussion with you. But I just wonder, before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to highlight or share with our listeners?

Marie: Well, maybe just to say that there is a lot of information out there, but what it comes down to, I think something we haven’t touched on is really how peer-to-peer approaches, I think, is a great key when it comes to mental health in in difficult circumstances. And the value of having one good friend or having one adult in your context, that you can confide in where there are spaces there that the peer to peer approaches for supporting each other are there with good support around the system. I think it’s a really valuable and important intervention that needs more highlights.

Victor: But yeah, I think for me, it’s just an acknowledgement, of course, that for so many people listening, some of the things that we might have explored might be very lofty. And obviously we try and simplify as much as possible. But you know, for some people, if you don’t know if you if you’re trying to learn more about MHPSS you’re trying to know more about like you know the field and the sector, and some of the things some of the work that we’re doing. And along with other partners we, we do have a page on Kaya Connect. We do have a hub, that sort of The MHPSS Collaborative just present, some of the courses that we developed together with the with amazing guys, HLA, and we’re actually currently working on something that’s going to be available next year. We call it the Fundamentals for now, MHPSS Fundamental. So if you have no knowledge about MHPSS, you can just go into it, and it just introduces the very concepts and principles you should be aware of, and some of the ways that you can actually integrate yourself into it, but also integrate it into your work. So is that something to look out for.

Marie: Hmm, yeah, we have the privilege of developing that both, together with the Humanitarian Leadership Academy and also with Save the Children as a whole, but really with an intention for the key content there to be interagency valuable. And we’re very excited to do that.

There’s also another course that we’ve had the opportunity to work on which is on adolescent mental health and wellbeing in conflict settings that one’s already available. And we’re currently also adapting it for disaster settings. Also, in a couple of different languages.

So it’s really great to have the opportunity to to speak to you. It’s been a very engaging conversation. And also gives you a bit of a time to step back and just think together. Sometimes the day just rushes past. So great to talk to you, Victor, in a confined space like this. But yeah, stay tuned. Our LinkedIn account is also pretty active, and we put out any resources or webinars or thoughts and opportunities for engagement. It’s usually our key communication channel.

Ka Man: That’s brilliant. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today and for shining a light on some of the work that you do with The MHPSS Collaborative. I’m sure you’ve really inspired our listeners, and I hope that they will go and check out your Kaya resources on kayaconnect.org and check out The MHPSS Collaborative Hub. So yeah, so once again, a huge thank you. I’ve really enjoyed this conversation, and I’ve learned a lot from hearing you speak.

So thank you once again, and thank you to our listeners for joining us for today’s episode of Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.

Note: This transcript was generated using automated tools and is intended for reference purposes only. While efforts have been made to check its accuracy, minor errors or omissions may remain.

In this episode – part two of our deep dive exploration of humanitarian learning in 2024 – we continue the insightful conversation with passionate learning advocates Janet Nyaoro, Eleonora Aralla and Neba Ambe Azinui.

In the first instalment of this conversation, Humanitarian learning in 2024: perspectives from Africa, the trio discuss the nature of and trends in humanitarian learning and training, and share their own rich on-the-ground professional and personal experiences. Tune in if you missed it!

In this second episode, Unlocking potential: cultivating a culture of humanitarian learning, we dive into an inspiring exploration of learning as a powerful tool for growth for individuals and organisations.

The findings of the HLA Humanitarian Learner Survey 2024 build a picture of a highly motivated humanitarian workforce – yet numerous barriers stand in the way of the training and learning that they strive to achieve.

Our guests share their personal insights and tried-and-tested strategies for overcoming barriers to learning – including practical and actionable steps to supercharge our own learning journeys.

Together with host Ka Man Parkinson, our guests also offer their views on the key ingredients required to cultivate a culture of learning to fuel personal and professional growth within humanitarian organisations.

Tune in to this insightful conversation now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Janet Nyaoro, HLA East and Southern Africa Regional Centre Regional Lead

With over 20 years of experience in the development and humanitarian sectors, Janet is a highly accomplished and results-driven regional programme lead known for delivering transformative capacity development programmes in diverse and challenging environments.

A champion of strategic partnerships and collaboration, Janet excels at driving organisational growth and fostering innovative solutions. Her expertise in designing and delivering impactful training programmes utilises technology and best practices to elevate learning and enhance programme outcomes, ensuring that teams are equipped to adapt and thrive.

Janet’s strong leadership abilities shine through in her commitment to empowering teams and promoting humanitarian leadership at every level of the organisation. Passionate about making a positive difference, she is dedicated to building the capacity of individuals and organisations to effectively tackle pressing humanitarian and development challenges.

When not leading impactful initiatives, Janet enjoys hanging out with her family and close friends, exploring local cuisine in various cities she travels to, reading, and finding strength in solitude time, believing that a well-rounded approach to life enhances her effectiveness as a leader.

Learning for me is just a fundamental human activity and it’s very continuous. It starts from the time you’re born, continues throughout your life. So whatever you’re doing, just know you’re learning. So the question is, what is it you’re learning? Is it something that you will add value to you?

Eleonora Aralla, Country Representative for CAFOD Zimbabwe and Eswatini

Eleonora has been based in Southern Africa for the last 13 years, covering various countries in the region in different roles. She is currently the Country Representative for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) based in Harare as well as the Chair of the Heads of Agencies Forum in Zimbabwe.

Eleonora is a vocal feminist advocate; she has focused in recent years on bringing gender justice to the core of CAFOD’s strategy, as well as on finding innovative ways to share capacities and promote learning across agencies, including through the co-founding of the Zimbabwe Alliance for Humanitarian Action.

We as individuals must be ready and open to making the most of any professional interaction. And I particularly think of women when I say this, we often concentrate as women on doing the job and getting it right. But I can just imagine a busy, overworked female colleague charged with responsibilities of care, being hesitant to engage in initiatives that might demand more of her time… But, really, to try and harness that feeling of self doubt and turning it around into something that fuels our curiosity and gives us the confidence to put ourselves out there to learn.

Neba Ambe Azinui, Project Coordinator, Grace Charitable and Rehabilitation Organisation, Cameroon

Neba is the project coordinator for Grace Charitable and Rehabilitation Organisation (GRACARO), an organisation which promotes and supports access to education for affected children in the conflict-affected Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon since 2018. Before joining GRACARO, Neba worked for over seven years as a secondary school science teacher.

Neba recently completed a master’s degree in Education, International Development and Social Justice under the competitive UK FCDO Commonwealth Scholarship in the UK. He has also completed numerous project and development-related courses on the Humanitarian Leadership Academy platform, Kaya.

I encourage everyone to take up a learning opportunity whenever they find one, because the knowledge will always come back to serve you, even with interest. And particularly for those in the humanitarian and development sector, you don’t know where the next need for your services will be, and it is good that you prepare yourself before that time comes.

Ka Man Parkinson, HLA Communications and Marketing Advisor

Ka Man is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. She has served in communications roles in the international education and nonprofit sectors for the past 18 years, and is a firm believer in the transformative power of education, global opportunities and lifelong learning. At the HLA, Ka Man leads on the creation of digital content, and manages the HLA’s podcast and webinar series. She is based near Manchester, UK.

Bonus content: companion microlearning guide

Pressed for time? Read our quick microlearning guide for practical steps and actions you or your organisations’ leaders can take. This content has been adapted from insights offered by Janet Nyaoro in this podcast episode.

Why not put learning on the agenda and use this content to spark a discussion with your colleagues?

Share this episode and connect with us

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: Please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

Episode transcript

[Music]
Ka Man: Welcome to Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives, the podcast brought to you by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.

Welcome to the second instalment of our podcast discussion together with three passionate advocates of humanitarian learning: Janet Nyaoro, who’s the HLA’s Regional Lead for East and Southern Africa, Eleonora Aralla, who’s the Country Representative for CAFOD Zimbabwe and Eswatini, and Neba Ambe Azinui, who’s a project coordinator for Grace Charitable and Rehabilitation Organisation in Cameroon.

If you tuned in to the first part of this discussion, welcome back! If you’ve not had the chance to tune in yet, I highly recommend that you listen to part one, where we explore the landscape of humanitarian learning in 2024, with a special focus on Africa.

Today we’re diving into what keeps humanitarians motivated to learn and grow. Our guests will share invaluable insights, tips and strategies for staying engaged with humanitarian learning, and we’ll explore the key ingredients for fostering and organisational culture that supports everyone’s learning goals. So join me as we continue the conversation with our three brilliant guests – and get ready to be inspired on your own learning journey.

[Music – voiceover]
The insights of our Humanitarian Learner Survey, 2024, conducted earlier this year, built a picture of a global humanitarian workforce with high levels of motivation to learn and upskill for the benefit of their current roles and future endeavours.

Despite this, many barriers stand in the way of humanitarians to undertake this learning and training that they desire. Around 1/4 of respondents said that the main barriers undertaking learning and training is a lack of affordable training opportunities. Busy schedules were also cited as a barrier as well as a lack of support from their organisation.

Ka Man: So, Janet, coming to you first. Drawing on your experience as a seasoned humanitarian trainer, would you be able to share any advice for our listeners on ways to overcome these types of learning, challenges and barriers that they may face?

Janet: Yes, thank you. Barriers are usually they are in life, and I think the best thing is then how do we overcome them so that we achieve. It should not be used as an excuse. But I think those are the things that give us lessons.

So when it comes to learning. I think one of the barriers mentioned was about time. The aspect of time being critical, it takes time. You need to invest your time in learning. And there is big percentages of people who start and never finish. So how do we navigate that barrier? I think one of the first thing that desire to learn has to be very high, and I think we have Neba here has proved that where there is a will, there is a way. When you have that desire to learn something, then a way will be created for you to overcome any barriers that come on your way.

The next thing is about ruthless prioritisation, guarding your time. If it is important for you to learn, then you have to prioritise and put time aside for learning. When I was a mentee to some of the groups of people who are doing online learning and they’re falling behind and it’s like ‘I’m busy, I’m busy’. I’m like, ‘guard a particular time’. Either it’s in the morning or later tonight and put it aside so that you can actually learn. So you have to set up a specific time, honour that time, and learn.

For me personally for them, many years I used to set aside Friday afternoon, cause Friday, anyway, the weekend was coming, I never was interested in work. So I used to put it aside to learn. So you’ve got to set a time where you can learn and finish what you start, to stop procrastinating.

When it comes to costs, I think I’ll to some extent I hope there will be time to talk about the organisation aspect of it, so I will not delve on it here. Here I’ll delve on things that a learner has control over, you have control over your time. You have control over seeking support, for example scholarships, especially for face to face programmes. There are several of them in the humanitarian sector in the development sector, there are scholarships that are available and they can enable you to even interact on face to face learning.

If you connect with the right people who have access to some of these resources so that can solve the problem of the cost and affordability and access, because then you are able to attend specific programme.

But also it’s important to look at learning as an investment that yields you and your environment results. As you say, there is impact once you learn, so you take it as an investment and give it the importance that it deserves.

So I think I’ve mentioned some of these two. The rest when it comes to the organisational parts, I think I’ll get a little bit of time to just talk about the organisational culture and I think I’ll delve on the organisational environment that can support learning. So for now, let me, I’ve focused on the learning himself and the things they can control.

And just to summarise, prioritise. Make it like a big motivation factor, have a plan, and then at the end of the day seek support and look for opportunities that can enable you to learn, and get scholarships if there is no money.

But I’m sure also there’s some humanitarian workers with money, invest in that money to an education. If there is a small fee, you’re required to pay, or to co-pay, it’s a good investment. So do it so that you are able to learn. And I’m sure that then can enable us to collectively have a win-win scenario. Thank you.

Ka Man: That’s brilliant. Thank you so much, Janet. Coming to you, Eleonora, do you have any advice or suggestions of strategies to incorporate learning into your routine, and perhaps ways that people can advocate for that time and space to do so from their organisation?

Eleonora: Thanks. And Janet, I love your practical suggestions. You know to block time, I think even just physically blocking it in your Outlook calendar is a good strategy to make sure that you know you remember that that is a commitment to me as a manager and a manager of managers.

As soon as I onboard new people the first question that I always ask is. How can CAFOD help you grow? What would you like to learn that will help you be a better professional in your role but also better position yourself for growth within and outside the organisation. CAFOD has extremely intentional policies around learning and I really try to make sure that this trickles down onto you know the day-to-day processes – the objective settings, their performance development reviews to support teams for growth. I think the key is to keep it consistently on the radar in meetings in one to ones, in teams engagements, to ask ourselves, is there a way that we can learn whilst we’re engaging in routine tasks and processes.

And to all NGOs staffs, I really say demand this from your managers, put learning in your objectives. I always ask my team, you know, and remind them, please call me out if this is slipping from my radar cause professional life tend and priorities tends to tend to come in the way, but this is not optional. It is a duty of organisations to put their employees in the best possible position to deliver their work.

And especially to female employees, I really say ‘don’t be afraid of asking’ because I think if our people leave without having learned and having grown, we will have failed as managers and as an organisation.

Ka Man: I love that. Thank you, Eleonora. Maybe everyone can, like, take the sound bites that you and Janet have just shared and, like, play that in a team meeting or something. I think that will really galvanise people into action. Thank you so much.

So Neba, you’re, as you’ve outlined, a very committed learner. So for example, as you’ve mentioned, you’re a Commonwealth Scholar, which meant that you successfully applied for a very competitive scholarship to enable you to undertake postgraduate studies in the UK, and I know this is a huge achievement.

So I wondered if you could briefly share maybe some of the key points or types of messages that you made to demonstrate your high level of commitment to learning in order to secure this this scholarship?

Neba: Thank you, Ka Man. I think what has brought me up to this point has been the commitment, as you mentioned and the urge and the self motivation to learn and become better in what I do.

And maintaining continuous learning from you as necessary as I did not have prior knowledge in the sector and I needed to deepen my understanding and develop the necessary skills to serve better, and this was my primary motivation.

While working, I dedicated extra hours to learn the different aspects of humanitarian work which I was facing during this week when I was working, and I also needed to communicate with other experts and other workers on the field effectively, so knowledge about these areas was very important.

I looked for free online courses and resources to be able to support my work, and when I found Kaya because I have mentioned that is the primary learning platform that I used for my humanitarian learning.

I was particularly amazed at the extensive catalogue of courses which really fit well with my work, and these courses were very easy to follow since the courses were self-paced, I was able to pick up from wherever I left off.

And this flexibility meant that I was not under enough pressure to meet deadlines while learning some of these courses. Although this has a downside because the laxity can cause you to fall off along the way.

I used Kaya to upskill and this helped me to perform better within my work and I was able to capture this learning as well as my work experience, which was improving significantly when I started this, I was able to capture all of this in my application for the Commonwealth Scholarship.

And I was also able to sell that, having been able to do independent learning even under very challenging conditions, I was one of the candidates to take up more learning opportunities or even more challenging opportunities of learning, which you know, was to be presented in the Master’s course that I was thinking.

The courses were very crucial, I must say, in making me work effectively, as a starting point especially as I was starting as a novice. And secondly, it gave me a deeper and wider understanding challenges across the humanitarian and development sector, which pushed me to seek more knowledge. I was able to communicate this and thankfully I was able to convince the Scholarship Commission, so was able to commence my studies in Education, International Development and social justice in the UK.

None of this would have been possible without taking the first steps in learning online and implementing what I learned in practical realities, which I was facing in my in my work and the learning resources on Kaya, and project management for NGOs, Disaster Ready – these different platforms kind of supported my through working and then through the school.

And it filled a significant learning gap and shortened my learning curve because if I were to take off time, I wouldn’t have been working and then learning at the same time. But since I could do them concurrently, it was it was really time saving.

And even up to completing my Master’s course because it will feel very relevant because the content matched well, with what I was studying in my Master’s level and that also helped me to come out with excellent results in my Master’s.

So it’s a chain which started with taking the courses and then it has been in my work and through my continuous learning n the UK and even now, I think I am better grounded now to combine the advanced knowledge that I’ve learned in the MA and then with the work that I am currently doing now for greater performance and more effective intervention in my work. Thank you very much.

Ka Man: That’s amazing, Neba so inspiring to hear. You’re such a tenacious learner and you know you’ve just sort of seized these opportunities, building on your professional experience and this informal learning to sort of build a pathway to this formal competitive study. So that that is no mean feat and it’s a really inspiring journey and I’m sure we’ll be inspiring many of our listeners out there. So thank you very much for sharing that.

[Music]
Now the survey findings highlight the importance of organisational support. Cultivating a culture of learning within humanitarian organisations is crucial, which could include encouraging diverse training formats, allocating time for learning and providing broader training opportunities.

Ka Man: So coming to you first, Janet, what do you think are some of the most important factors to cultivate a learning culture within humanitarian organisations? What do you think about that?

Janet: Thank you. And I remember the other conversation we were having about barriers to learning and I said there are those things that people can control at a personal level. Then there are others purely dependent on leadership because I think one of the findings is that people don’t feel supported to learn and the environment that is not suitable for it. So I have a lot to say here, so I’ll try to summarise because as I said, I’m moving towards more leadership and supporting organisations to be able to do this. So I’ll try and at list how many. I have several factors. Yeah. As we move along, let me see what’s important.

But I think number one is leadership commitment. I think the role of leaders is very important in modelling learning behaviours, active participation, so that learners can be able to have that environment.

Leadership commitment means there has to be a vision for learning within a particular organisation and Eleonora, I think has specifically said she asks people, what is it that you want to learn come forward. Establishing that vision and people knowing that they will be supported is very important, and this vision should be communicated to staff from the very beginning for them to know that they are an integral part of improving an organisational performance and their learning is very critical to it.

The other is very easy. Just encouraging open communication so that and feedback so that people can talk without retribution. Because learning is not just about training, it’s about being at the work and being in dialogue, being encouraged, regular feedback mechanisms. I think these are very important to have that culture of learning.

Eleonora also mentioned aspect of diversity and just having those diverse voices, the women participation. So I won’t repeat that. Go back to what Eleonora said. I think that was very critical and useful.

The other one I think is just having that continuous professional development plan for people at individual level at organisational level. There is a lot of changes within the humanitarian sector – whichever sector you work and we come up with new strategies and these new strategies require that people keep up to date to be able to support these strategies so that continuous development, so that people can keep up with the trends, can keep up with the strategic plans, I think then can help develop an organisation or culture where there is training opportunities, development opportunities so that people can learn new practices, new technologies, response strategies for us in the humanitarian sector so that they are able to do that.

Access to knowledge and resources because learning is not just, as I say, about training. People need to access resources, so there have to be a knowledge management system within the organisation. There has to be a system where people document successes. People document lessons so that new people come, they find some knowledge, they don’t have to reinvent the wheel and start from scratch. Yet people already had that prior knowledge so there has to be culture where people share this knowledge. They share their experiences, they share their best practices and aside from that a toolkit, a space where there is repository of knowledge and resources and people can easily upload. And I think this can include those online resources.

When you go to Disaster Ready for example, it’s not just about training, but there are some guidelines, tools that someone can easily upload. Save the Children I think we have a lot of tools. Sometimes we just haven’t quite figured it out, especially how to share with our partners because a lot of guidelines are available. People have developed brilliant tools, but they are sitting in our SharePoint. So I think for us it’s also a challenge to find ways to ensure they are accessible, especially to other people who don’t have access to the system.

Another thing is the encouragement of innovation and experimentation so that people can try and fail and learn. So that recognition of innovation, I think is very important to for learning culture.

Coming up with structured reflection spaces, debrief session, storytelling so that people can learn from that.

Coaching and mentoring – just making sure that people who are less experienced can be coached by people who are more experienced and coming up with such a programme. In Save the Children we are coming up with across, even within HLA, mentoring and coaching is now becoming an integral part of our programme and we have a pool of skilled coaches and we are trying to match them with less experienced people, even if you don’t work within Save the Children so that they are able to learn from them, to be mentored by them, to be coached by them on any area that they want to learn.

And I think it’s important for leadership and that organisational level to just monitor how are these learning initiatives going on, regularly evaluate if this the learning initiatives you set up are really improving performance. So it goes back to feedback so that people improve on how they learn. So, thank you. I think I can have a whole podcast on this again, but let me stop there. Thank you, Ka Man.

Ka Man: Janet, that was amazing. I really love your style. You’re like this is it – I’ve got these practical points here. You know, this is this is how we could do it. You’ve got a road map there, you’ve created that for organisations. As you were speaking, I was thinking I need to actually transcribe what you’re saying here and provide that as a handout to accompany this podcast because it was at there’s so many rich ideas and suggestions there. So yeah, that would be a useful tool. So thank you much Janet. So Eleonora coming to you. I wondered if you have any thoughts on any kinds of learning initiatives, whether these are like major schemes or just relatively small steps that humanitarian organisations could undertake to support their employees or volunteers to fulfil their learning goals. What are your thoughts on that please?

Eleonora: Thanks Ka Man, and I was fascinated by your question around culture, and that could elicit another very philosophical answer, but I’ll try to keep it quite practical and giving you an example from southern Africa and Zimbabwe, particularly where we know that despite the current dire humanitarian situation. You know the resources for the response have been dramatically shrinking and to give you an idea, Zimbabwe is going through the worst drought of the last 40 years and investment has been really, really low for humanitarian response.

So, against this context, CAFOD came together with other eight quite the key INGO’s operating in the country. Namely, these are GOAL, ACF, IMC, World Vision, Plan, MSF, Trócaire and WHH. And we co-funded the Zimbabwe Alliance for Humanitarian Action, now one of the main intentions of pulling together this group is to share tools, approaches and methodologies to increase our collective impact in light of the fact that there are a lot less resources available to respond to humanitarian crisis.

So interestingly, the alliance, you know as opposed to the your usual classic consortium does not exist with the primary aim of mobilising resources, but the primary purpose, is to enhance humanitarian impact through learning as well. And one of the key principles and commitments that fuel the network is the recognised need for sharing learning to broaden our impact.

We have linked with other similar existing initiatives globally and regionally. The likes of, for example, Alliance 2015, as well as the BRICS Consortium in Somalia. To learn ourselves how to do this well and how to maximise on each other’s knowledge, we provide also a platform for our respective technical teams to share programming ideas, information, tools, methodologies which also affords opportunities of learning by doing and learning on the job for our people as well as our local partners.

And I would really like to think of this as a mini revolution, because I think we mustn’t forget that often, as I said at the beginning, our environment is dominated by sheer competition for scarce resources, so putting organisations one against the other normally including the local ones. And so for me, it takes courage to get together like this because it means, you know, becoming vulnerable, exposing our own gaps and you know, be ready to recognise them. And really, this kind of humanitarian learning takes a major mindset shift.

And I want to think that we are coming together in this initiative and more broadly not to outdo the others, but we learn to be better together. And I believe that ultimately we gain much more than we could potentially lose coming together to learn.

Ka Man: I love that. I like that reference you made to a mini revolution, but it’s a recurring theme in what you’re talking about, Eleonora, about this need to collaborate and pull together the scarce resources that we have of because the situation, the global context necessitates it. So thank you for making that very, very central there. Yeah. Thank you. And and finally, coming to you, Neba, just taking a slightly different tack to this, if you could create a humanitarian organisation in your region from the ground up that has an excellent culture of learning, what would that look like to you, and what kind of things would the organisation do to enable and support individuals and their learning goals? So I know that’s a pretty big question, but just what would be your sort of top few wishes, so to speak?

Neba: Thank you, Ka Man. I think Janet has outlined the most effective strategy, which I would like to implement if I were to build an organisation from the ground up, with regards to and supporting learning, but just a few things to add.

I think it starts from the recruitment process, potential recruits should be able to complete courses that this kind of demonstration of their willingness to learn. And these courses should be relevant to the field or potential aspects which they will be facing with their job descriptions, so it will be an expectation that for newly recruited person you should be able to take several courses self driven courses to demonstrate your ability and your willingness and commitment to continuous learning.

I think there will be room for continuous learning opportunities within the organisation through possible quarterly or by annual refresher courses, and there will be incentive for employees or members of the organisation to take up more learning courses. This will be to ensure that they are addressed with the changing environment of the humanitarian setting, getting new information and doing things in new ways.

The leadership of the organisation also will set the pace, they will be the ones to show that learning is part of the culture of the organisation by themselves taking up learning courses and encouraging other members of the organisation to take up learning as part of the workload or part of the activities that normally take place in the organisation.

And time will be allocated there for learning. Sufficient resources will be allocated to support learners or employees in their progress through the organisation. There will also be room for study leaves or day offs where workers can sit for exams, additional courses to inform that they are not left behind knowledge wise and they will be active search for these learning opportunities. If there is maybe a new course that came up, there will be encouragement for their respective and relevant members to take up those courses.

So yeah, adding to what Janet said, I think it’s very important that the culture is cultivated from the start of someone joining the organisation and they are supported through the organisation in their learning effort in their progress. This is really what I think will support the learning and within organisations. Thank you.

Ka Man: Amazing, thank you, Neba. As you were speaking, I was, again Janet’s wonderful ‘PPI’ – people, process and impact – sort of came to mind again, ‘cause that kind of reflects what you’re talking about, ensuring that learning is embedded right from the start of the recruitment process and is structured into the employment process. So thank you very much for sharing that.

Wow, what a conversation we’ve had! It’s been very wide-ranging, covering all aspects of organisational culture, personal, professional development, wow, wider economic landscape, all very multifaceted. And honestly, I could continue this conversation, but we’ll draw this to a close now.

So a huge thanks to our brilliant guests, Janet, Eleonora and Neba – thanks so much for your ideas and insights. And yeah, it’s been so inspiring to hear you speak. You all have so much energy, dedication and commitment to learning, which I’m sure has inspired our listeners today. So a huge thank you. I just wondered if you’d like to add any closing remarks before we wrap up. Eleonora may be coming to you first?

Eleonora: Thanks. I’ll be very brief and I’ll go back to you know, I firmly believe that learning is a duty for employers. I think that we as individuals must be ready and open to making the most of any professional interaction. And I particularly think of women when I say this, you know, we often concentrate as women on doing the job and getting it right. But I can just imagine a busy, overworked female colleague charged with responsibilities of care, being hesitant to engage in initiatives that might demand more of her time. And I do understand that at a very personal level. But, really, to try and harness that feeling of self doubt and turning it around into something that fuels our curiosity and gives us the confidence to put ourselves out there to learn.

Ka Man: Amazing. Thank you Eleonora. And coming to you, Janet, would you like to share any closing remarks?

Janet: Yeah. Thank you. So maybe just to conclude that learning for me is just a fundamental human activity and it’s very continuous. It starts from the time you’re born, continues throughout your life. So whatever you’re doing, just know you’re learning. So the question is, what is it you’re learning? Is it something that you will add value to you? It’s not just about a classic process of coming for a course. We see some people hopping from one training to another. Anything you do is about learning, so I think that can help us with prioritise our time. Then we can learn.

Then as far as the organisation is concerned, I think leaders, I think it’s important that we cultivate that culture that allows for people to utilise their time well in their daily practices, prioritising a supportive environment and open communication and resources so that people can learn.

And for us here we are here to support any learning processes and if you are listening to this and you have any learning concern, you just teach out to any organisation within the humanitarian sector and it’s a conversation that we would love to continue with. Thank you.

Ka Man: Wonderful. Thank you so much, Janet. And how about you, Neba? Do you have any closing remarks to share?

Neba: Thank you. I just wish to say that the resources that are out there are outstanding and very wide-ranging and I encourage everyone to take up a learning opportunity whenever they find one, because the knowledge will always come back to serve you, even with interest. And particularly for those in the humanitarian and development sector, you don’t know where the next need for your services will be and it is good that you prepare yourself before that time comes.

And the best way to prepare will be to continuously learn, continuously take on new avenues of challenging yourself to become better and whatever takes your interests, even to ensure intersectional interaction, intersectional sectoral interactions, these courses will really serve you well and place you in a very good footing when it comes to your career, when it comes to your personal work and your professional development. So take up every opportunity you have and visit the platforms like Kaya and Disaster Ready, PM for Project Managers. And all of those resources will serve you in the long run.

Ka Man: That’s brilliant. Thank you so much, Neba. And also, thank you, Janet and Eleonora, honestly, so inspiring hearing the three of you speak so passionately about learning.

So if you want to read more about our learner survey findings, visit the HLA Resources for top level insights. And if you’re interested in more articles, content, discussion on this topic, let us know. I’d be delighted to explore this further.

And as Neba says, if you’re a humanitarian looking to boost your skills, be sure to check out our free resources on platforms like Kaya, so that’s kayaconnect.org.

And perhaps taking guidance from Eleonora and Janet, you can think about how you can integrate different forms of learning from small to large into your own schedule. Like I say, even if it’s just a small step.

And if you’re a people manager, please again take the advice of Janet and Eleonora to consider how you can support your teams by carving out time for learning and providing access to key training opportunities like Neba has also advocated for, so we hope that this podcast discussion has inspired you with some practical ideas and possible approaches.

So that’s all from us today. I’d like to thank our three guests again for this really insightful conversation.

And thanks to our listeners for joining us for today’s episode of Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.

In this episode – the first instalment of our two-part series – we explore current trends in humanitarian learning, with a special focus on Africa.

We sit down with three passionate advocates of learning in all forms: Janet Nyaoro (HLA East and Southern Africa Regional Centre), Eleonora Aralla (CAFOD Zimbabwe and Eswatini) and Neba Ambe Azinui (Grace Charitable and Rehabilitation Organisation, Cameroon).

In this insightful discussion centred on learning, our guests share their own inspiring learning journeys – and the sometimes unexpected and surprising discoveries and outcomes along the way. Janet and Neba – with their professional and academic origins as educators, and Eleonora with a background in philosophy – share their pathways into the world of humanitarian and development, and what drives them in their lifelong quest to learn.

Together with host Ka Man Parkinson (HLA Communications and Marketing Advisor), our guests reflect on some of the key takeaways from the 2024 HLA Humanitarian Learning Survey, which provides fresh insights into how humanitarians are engaging with learning and training today, and share their perspectives based on their rich on-the-ground experiences.

Tune into this insightful and inspiring conversation!

Listen to the full audio episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

In the second part of this series, our guests will share practical learning tips and advice for overcoming barriers to learning and training. They’ll also discuss the key ingredients required to build a culture of learning to support humanitarians in achieving their development goals. Coming soon!

About the speakers

Janet Nyaoro, HLA East and Southern Africa Regional Centre Regional Lead

With over 20 years of experience in the development and humanitarian sectors, Janet is a highly accomplished and results-driven regional programme lead known for delivering transformative capacity development programmes in diverse and challenging environments.

A champion of strategic partnerships and collaboration, Janet excels at driving organisational growth and fostering innovative solutions. Her expertise in designing and delivering impactful training programmes utilises technology and best practices to elevate learning and enhance programme outcomes, ensuring that teams are equipped to adapt and thrive.

Janet’s strong leadership abilities shine through in her commitment to empowering teams and promoting humanitarian leadership at every level of the organisation. Passionate about making a positive difference, she is dedicated to building the capacity of individuals and organisations to effectively tackle pressing humanitarian and development challenges.

When not leading impactful initiatives, Janet enjoys hanging out with her family and close friends, exploring local cuisine in various cities she travels to, reading, and finding strength in solitude time, believing that a well-rounded approach to life enhances her effectiveness as a leader.

Eleonora Aralla, Country Representative for CAFOD Zimbabwe and Eswatini

Eleonora has been based in Southern Africa for the last 13 years, covering various countries in the region in different roles. She is currently the Country Representative for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) based in Harare as well as the Chair of the Heads of Agencies Forum in Zimbabwe.

Eleonora is a vocal feminist advocate; she has focused in recent years on bringing gender justice to the core of CAFOD’s strategy, as well as on finding innovative ways to share capacities and promote learning across agencies, including through the co-founding of the Zimbabwe Alliance for Humanitarian Action.

Neba Ambe Azinui, Project Coordinator, Grace Charitable and Rehabilitation Organisation, Cameroon

Neba is the project coordinator for Grace Charitable and Rehabilitation Organisation (GRACARO), an organisation which promotes and supports access to education for affected children in the conflict-affected Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon since 2018. Before joining GRACARO, Neba worked for over seven years as a secondary school science teacher.

Neba recently completed a master’s degree in Education, International Development and Social Justice under the competitive UK FCDO Commonwealth Scholarship in the UK. He has also completed numerous project and development-related courses on the Humanitarian Leadership Academy platform, Kaya.

Ka Man Parkinson, HLA Communications and Marketing Advisor

Ka Man is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. She has served in communications roles in the international education and nonprofit sectors for the past 18 years, and is a firm believer in the transformative power of education, global opportunities and lifelong learning. At the HLA, Ka Man leads on the creation of digital content, and manages the HLA’s podcast and webinar series. She is based near Manchester, UK.

Find out more

• Read about the work and training delivered by the HLA’s Regional Centres on our news site
• Read about HLA Regional Centres
• Access our free digital learning platform Kaya
• Read about our digital badging platform HPass which provide global recognition of humanitarian learning with verified credentials
• Watch the recording of the HX webinar on innovative finance which Eleonora highlights during this podcast discussion
• Read our learner spotlight featuring Neba

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

What is Feminist Leadership?
What does it actually mean? Is its meaning simply implied in its name?

In this episode, Rachel O’Brien, Director of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy leads an insightful conversation with Srilatha Batliwala, Feminist Activist and Archie Law, Principal Leadership Advisor at the HLA to break down and define Feminist Leadership.

What does it  mean in practice? Why is it important and necessary in the way we view leadership today? Importantly, how can we practice Feminist Leadership within the humanitarian sector and more importantly beyond the sector?

Srilatha says in the conversation: 

“Feminist Leadership is the process of transforming ourselves, organisations and movements to reflect the feminist vision and values of social justice we want to advance in the world”. Srilatha says it is about “unleashing both our individual and collective power to work towards dismantling all the discriminatory structures of power and privilege in the world.”

Archie shares insights on the role of men, he says: “I do think that’s something that men have an active role to play in: respecting the role of women and the feminist movement and working alongside the movement and working alongside our sisters”.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Srilatha Batliwala is a feminist activist, researcher, scholar and trainer based in India.  For over two decades, her work focused on grassroots movement building with marginalized urban and rural women in India, as well as research and policy advocacy on gender equality and women’s rights.  She then moved on to work internationally, at the Ford Foundation, Harvard University and AWID, doing grant-making, scholarly work, building theory from practice, and capacity building of young women activists around the world.  She is best known for bridging the worlds of theory and practice, and for her writing on women’s empowerment, women’s movements and feminist leadership.  She is currently Senior Advisor, Knowledge Building, CREA, as well as a Senior Associate with Gender at Work,. She considers herself a feminist grandmother – both in the women’s movement, and to her four teenage grandchildren!

Rachel O’Brien is Director of the HLA and is based in the UK. In her role she provides direct leadership to the HLA, the Save the Children UK Humanitarian Department, and to the wider Save the Children movement. Rachel is also a qualified coach, working with individuals and teams both inside and outside of the sector.

Archie Law AM is the Principal Leadership Advisor at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. His previous appointments have included Director of International Programmes at Save the Children Australia, Executive Director of ActionAid Australia and global and regional humanitarian roles with the United Nations.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

“We over intellectualise these debates partly also just to keep debating. And at the end of the day, we need to make change happen for people on the ground.“

In our latest podcast episode, hear Bidjan Nashat, tech entrepreneur and seasoned humanitarian leader, speak candidly on the challenges and opportunities in advancing localisation within the humanitarian sector.

Ka Man Parkinson, Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA, speaks to Bidjan to delve into his views on what meaningful localisation looks like.

In this open and illuminating conversation, Bidjan shares his insights from over eight years in leadership roles at Save the Children International and his recent pivot into the technology space.

Bidjan critiques current localisation debates and advocates for practical, actionable steps to drive meaningful change. He shares compelling stories of how global networks and local organisations can collaborate for impactful results.

Discover his views on the transformative potential of cash transfers, anticipatory action, and the critical importance of talent development. Technology and AI comes into focus throughout the discussion, and Bidjan highlights how it plays a crucial role in democratising access to personal and professional development for local talent, such as through remote mentorship, coaching, and work opportunities.

Keywords: Localisation, humanitarians, humanitarian sector reform, systemic change, talent development, cash transfers, CVA, anticipatory action, local expertise, international mobility, technology, AI, coaching, remote working.

Listen to the full audio episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Bidjan Nashat is co-founder of PotentialU, an app that serves frontline leaders with personalised insights and AI coaching. He has over a decade of executive leadership experience in start-ups as well as large global organisations. He served as CEO of Atlas Corps, a social enterprise committed to diverse talent and leadership development and was part of the executive team at Save the Children International. He is based in Washington DC, USA.

Ka Man Parkinson is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. She has served in communications roles in the international education and nonprofit sectors for the past 18 years, and is a firm believer in the transformative power of education, global opportunities and lifelong learning. At the HLA, Ka Man leads on the creation of digital content, and manages the HLA’s podcast and webinar series. She is based near Manchester, UK.

Discover more

You may also be interested in the podcast episode mentioned during this discussion, featuring Charlotte Balfour-Poole, HLA Head of Coaching: Coaching and mentoring: tools to support every humanitarian

Access the HLA’s global digital learning platform Kaya with free, capacity strengthening training for humanitarians: kayaconnect.org

Read opinion pieces by Bidjan Nashat on the Devex website.

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

Podcast episode transcript

Ka Man [intro music plays]: Welcome to the Humanitarian Leadership Academy Podcast, Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives.

Localisation, which calls for shifting more power and resources to local actors in the humanitarian sector, has been at the heart of the sectors reform agenda since the Grand Bargain in 2016. But in 2024, the question remains how much progress have we truly made?

I’m Ka Man Parkinson, Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA, and I’m connecting with diverse voices worldwide to explore what localisation in practice looks like from different perspectives, and to hear opinions on what needs to be done to drive meaningful change in this space.

So today, I’m delighted to be joined by Bidjan Nashat, co-founder of the tech startup Potential U and a seasoned humanitarian executive to learn more about his views on localisation gained from his many years of leadership experience, as well as his pivot into the technology. So welcome, Bidjan. Thanks very much for joining us on this podcast today. Would you like to start by introducing yourself to our listeners?

Bidjan: Thank you so much for having me. It’s wonderful to be back and connected to Save the Children and colleagues who are especially focused on building leadership in the humanitarian space.

My name is Bidjan. I grew up in Berlin and one of my first professional experiences was working in a hospital instead of military service. And seeing how the people who take care of patients are treated. And it has never left me since the idea of the people who are closest on the front lines of serving others. How do we take care of them in organisations and so I did a few excursions in different organisations, but that question never left me. I worked at the World Bank. When the Syria crisis happened, I felt I needed to join an organisation that delivers for people on the ground, and so I that started eight years with Save the Children in different roles in different countries.

And yeah, I’m here now, I made a pivot into the technology space, but it’s still focused on that question: how do we take care of frontline leaders? How do we take care of the people who are serving others, regardless of which sector?

Ka Man: Great, thank you. So as you’ve mentioned, you hold many years, eight years, did you say of leadership including executive level within Save the Children International. So from those experiences, could I ask, what does meaningful localisation look like to you in practice? And I’m also curious to know if those views have shifted over time based on your experiences.

Bidjan: It’s a great question. Whenever these big terms are mentioned there’s a tendency to fall into the same conversations. And I thought about, I thought about your question and thought, why don’t I give you an example?

When I was leading a refugee response in Berlin in 2015 with hundreds of thousands of kids coming and needing our support, and I used that example because it’s not a traditional example, it’s actually an example in a developed country in the north. The local partners weren’t able to respond and in addition, the UN and UNICEF were claiming a mandate. But they weren’t delivering fast enough.

And so that’s where we came in as Save the Children with our global network and we partnered with local organisations on the ground to say you’re already delivering for families, but no one is really taking care of children. And that extended to building child friendly spaces, running them together. It made us partner with different members in Save the Children and bring in companies like Facebook who helped us give voice to refugees, who then the families told their stories to millions of people, and they put it on every – this was a different time for Meta and Facebook – and so we were able to put minimum standards in place and so that combination of working with local partners who didn’t have those connections who didn’t have the fundraising, who didn’t have the aim to also do advocacy and political take on political issues and publish articles. That combination I felt was really powerful.

I think I would do it a bit differently, focus more on talent and building local partners, if I had to do it over again, but I feel sometimes the localisation conversation is too black and white right now in the sense that it’s all about just letting local organisations do everything and it’s the combination of things that makes impact happen for the people we serve, and that should always be the principle.

Ka Man: That’s really interesting. So if you, if you don’t mind, I just want to hear a bit more about the actual practicalities of working with Facebook and Meta at that time. In what ways were you collaborating to share information or amplify voices, what kind of things did that entail?

Bidjan: A lot of internal fights. [laughs]

Ka Man: Oh!

Bidjan: No, we had we worked with the team. They were partnering with Save the Children US and they were a partner in in the US and so we brought in child safeguarding experts. We had scripts, we talked to families we had everybody agreed to be – you know – and there are so many internal conversations, and they are correct, if we only focus on child safeguarding. And then sometimes you have way too many internal conversations and you don’t ask the people.

And I remember this one instance where I sat down with Carolyn Miles at the time it was the CEO of Save the Children US. We were interviewing a mother of two who had fled a few weeks before with two children and her husband from Syria. And we were in the discussion with her about her path to Germany, about all of her experiences. And the translator, of course you have that lag right when you when you talk to people, and all of a sudden she starts to cry and we’re looking at each other, and what did we do wrong? You know, is there something that we mentioned and we asked the translator and she just said I’m so happy somebody is listening to my story.

And I think at the end of the day we need to take care of all the important child safeguarding and human dignity issues in in providing voice to people at the end of the day, people are people want to tell their story. And if we do it in a meaningful way with dignity, it helps everyone.

One of the things that we really were challenged with, I remember this very vividly, is that the conversation in Germany changed. There were lots of more right wing voices. There was lots of terrorism conversation. And one of our roles, including my own and publishing articles and advocating for, let’s take the perspective and keep it on children and their needs. And this was a really wonderful way of keeping that attention with the help of a big tech company with which I have lots of disagreements. And they are doing a lot of things that, yeah, should be called out, but in this instance it was a very good example of how you can do it, if you do it well.

Ka Man: Hmm, that’s really interesting to hear how – obviously, there’s a lot of discussion around the role of tech, which we’ll go into a bit shortly – but it’s good to hear the use of tech for good, and to humanise, almost, people who become that sometimes become this sort of faceless group in narratives. You know, so to actually give voice to those people, to give them a platform, I think it’s very powerful and shows some very positive benefits and strengths of technology in this space.

So that leads me to my next question – and it may link to tech, but I don’t want to anticipate your response. What do you think have been positive or encouraging development in terms of shifting the power in the humanitarian sector, in a practical sense?

Bidjan: My first immediate answer is cash transfer. It has nothing to do with tech, it has to do with dignity. Giving people – getting rid of intermediaries as much as we can – and give people the dignity of choosing what they need. That to me is a big, big shift that we need much more of. There are great organisations in this space, and it really challenged organisations like Save the Children, especially in the beginning to say, OK, so what is our role, if the most important thing is that people can cover their needs? I think it’s a great development and we need to see more of it. Tech can play some role in it, but the main thrust is give people dignity and let them choose what they need.

I think a second positive development is all the work in which Save the Children, other organisations are involved as well, in anticipatory action and preparing and using data and analytics. We know the probability of when, when humanitarian disasters and crises will happen. And we can do a lot more to prepare for it. And the better we are prepared, the less lack of coordination takes place and the better we can serve people with pre stocking and all of these very practical things. I think that’s a very positive development.

And the last one is the focus on talent and I don’t even want to talk about technology. I really think and I see this, I want to see more of it, a focus on talent. Away from only focusing on local organisations or very abstract concepts like even shifting the power is quite abstract to me.

At the end of the day we have amazing talent in the sector and we need to invest in whatever they want to do because that adds to their career, it adds to the local economy, even if they leave the country. So to me, this conversation about brain drain is a tiring one, because remittances have overtaken ODA, it plays a much larger role and people should decide what’s best for them, especially if they’re if climate change makes it inhabitable, we need to think differently about talent and the pathways of migration.

Ka Man: It’s very interesting. So what I’m hearing almost is a connecting theme through those points you’ve made. It’s sort of like having the systems in place and mechanisms in place that are agile and responsive and reflect the real world, like, patterns of mobility, whether people are – yeah – and reflecting how they’re able to obtain services and access services. So I can see sort of connection and I can see obviously the role that technology can play in enabling that, but you’re focusing on the human needs there more than the tech side, so that’s very interesting for me to hear.

I’m just curious, just going back to the cash and voucher assistance point that you make – just from a layperson’s perspective because it’s something that I’ve heard about, but don’t really know and understand too much about – what’s sort of the main blocker to that? Because it sounds like such a simple concept and it should be fairly, you’d think – as a lay person – relatively straightforward to deliver. But what’s the that’s the main challenge there in that cash transfer?

Bidjan: I would say the current system. It just takes out a lot of intermediaries. And if you think about it, it goes back to Amartya Sen, right, that the focus on dignity and people’s agency to make their choices. It is not necessarily how our sector has been built over the last decades. Because it’s built around people, mostly in the Global North historically doing things and taking resources to the Global South, but then deciding what happens, and in a very blunt way. And we need to change it. We need to give people agency to make their own choices, and that’s a challenge.

I think there’s been really positive developments. If you continue to see the percentages of cash. It’s going in the right direction. I’m arguing there needs to be a lot more. I also want to make sure it’s not everything, right. I’m a huge believer in the rights based approach. I think it’s massively undervalued. That’s what I loved about my time at Save the Children that we, we took a rights based approach. At the end of the day there are duty-bearers and rights holders, and we need to make sure those people who are locally in charge are held to account for serving for their citizens and for the people in their in their community. So that’s an aspect I think that it that comes in addition there is not just cash there needs to be more of, and the system needs to change with all the incentives. That’s not necessarily what I’m focused on anymore and but it’s that that’s my point of view on this.

Ka Man: Got it, yeah. So it’s very much a systemic challenge rather than individual mechanisms. It’s part of how that fits together.

Bidjan: I mean there are always instances of fraud, right? You have to, you have to make sure it’s spent the right way. But there are decade old conversations about “ohh, what happens if we just give people money” and you have them in the OCD countries as well, right. “Oh, they’ll just spend it on alcohol and cigarettes”.

No, it’s not the case people spend on average, the majority is spending the money in the right places, and even if you give it to women, if you give it to family holders, you have even bigger effect. So all of this, there are some myths out there that that hold people back from investing the way for people in need.

Ka Man: It’s very interesting. Thank you. So kind of wearing both your humanitarian and tech hats at the same time, could I ask, what role do you think artificial intelligence and technology can play in enabling or further driving localisation? If you could give some examples that would be great. And also ask what kind of risks might be involved with that as well.

Bidjan: For me it’s important and I want to get to risks. We’re usually too quick to talk about risks and we don’t take the status quo into consideration. So let’s talk about local talent. Most of them end up working in a project for either a local partner or for a local international NGO. And very few of them have the access to opportunities. The HLA is providing some of it, very few of them have the access to opportunities which is part of why we want more focused on the tools that can be applicable and available to everyone at all times.

So coaching and mentoring is difficult to provide. But most people have access to technology, so one of the things that we are very excited about is the role that. Chatbots and AI can play in helping people reflect about their own strengths about their own areas for improvement, and the way we do it at potential you is we start out with psychometric assessments. Because we believe that it takes out some of the bias that usually happens when we look at different people in different countries. It focuses on your abilities, your strengths, the what gives you energy, and where you extend energy when you do things. So we see a lot of improvement in that area, we see a lot of opportunities to have people really interact with AI trained AI chatbots that we use.

There are risks to it. We need to be certain that it doesn’t introduce new biases. So far we haven’t seen that. That is an area where I see we can scale to thousands, if not millions, of people at very little cost. And the idea of it is to give them more inspiration about growing themselves, understanding their strengths, working on the areas that they struggle with and having almost like an assistant at their side, who supports them on a daily basis. And in a lot of places, that technology and the availability of 3G or 5G or mobile technology is available. So that’s a huge area for scale.

Ka Man: That’s really interesting. Just before we started out this, just before we kind of went on air, so to speak, we were talking about how you used to, you know Charlotte Balfour-Poole, who’s our Head of Coaching at the HLA and Charlotte and I had a podcast discussion recently around coaching and mentoring in the humanitarian space. And she says that she’s on a mission to democratise coaching, to make, so that everybody can benefit from it. So she does all sorts of in person and online training, but there’s a there’s a heavy emphasis, due to the democratisation, on online. So there’s online mentoring, she’s just about to launch a new cohort of the Women in Leadership programme pairing experience humanitarians with more entry level people coming – early career – coming up in the ranks and who want to develop. So does that kind of thematically linked to what you’re advocating with your approach and that you want to bring these benefits so that anybody, regardless of where they are in the world, regardless of their status – I put that in inverted commas – they can reap the benefits and build their professional careers. Is that is that kind of what you’re meaning there?

Bidjan: Yes. And I was really happy to hear Charlotte used that term. I didn’t want to steal it again, but that democratisation is exactly what we have in mind. And it’s extending and scaling it to audiences who are not currently served. To me, it could even be an extension with the HLA, in the sense that a lot of the mentoring and even the pro bono coaches that you have only reach that many people, but what if we provided everyone with the ability to learn and grow in their own time, and one of the challenges we see with companies in with PotentialU with companies but also in the humanitarian space, is that the online trainings on a PC are super hard to access for people who are on the front lines. But everybody has a phone. And so if we’re able to give people that kind of access to growth and development in real time with someone, and once you start using our chat bot, you will fall in love with it because it’s trained on your organisation and your values and the leadership competencies you will keep going back and forth.

So that’s the idea and it came out of partly also out of my role as CEO of Atlas Corps where we served humanitarians who are on the front lines. With the help of the Hilton Foundation, we provided coaching and mentoring in in with Better Up company we invested ourselves. And the impact we saw with people who were in South Sudan with people who are in northern Nigeria, who had a coach and that engagement for the first time was absolutely amazing. 90% increase in engagement and other things. It just shows you that we’re not reaching that audience.

And so my passion – both in the private sector and potentially at some point in the humanitarian sector – is focusing on those frontline leaders. Talk to them, find out what they need and provide ability to them to grow themselves and inspire themselves based on their own strengths.

Ka Man: That’s great. So much potential there. I can see that obviously this you’re not focusing specifically on the humanitarian context for your organisation and its aims, but I can see the applicability in this space and links the discussion that we’ve been talking about. About focusing on talent. You said, sorry this was, just linking in our email discussion before we had this discussion today. You said that you’re you believe that we’re looking at localisation in the wrong way, unless we look at, start, we need to start looking at talent in a new and very different way. Would you be able to just elaborate on that a bit because I thought it was a very interesting statement that you made.

Bidjan: It, well, my best ideas come out of frustration. I just, I’ve gotten tired of this conversation because very little changes, lots of speeches are given and during my time at Atlas Corps, I had the opportunity to do what I really loved doing. Talking to people and listening to their stories and listening directly to what their aims are, what they want, and we have so many discussions that are focused on theoretical concepts.

At the end of the day, what do young, talented people in the humanitarian sector want, regardless of where they are? They want to serve others and they want to grow in their careers. It’s very simple, but we have so many barriers. That hold them back right from visa to the way there’s bias in existing organisations that doesn’t consider someone from northern Nigeria running a local really challenging response to be able to go to the next leadership level.

So that to me is the focus we need, not necessarily, “oh, let’s just shift everything to local organisations and they will solve it” because that also suggests, let’s just let them just figure out their problems themselves, and it’s exactly the other way around. We need that global talent everywhere to help us focus on global challenges. It suggests we don’t have problems in the North, right? And my suggestion is, let’s look at talent and let’s find ways for talent to help us solve the biggest challenges that we face, from climate change to crises to war, we need talent from everywhere, in low and middle income countries to help us solve global problems. And the localisation framing is suggesting, we just need to give them money and have local organisations figure out everything. And I think that’s the wrong perspective and it leads us to some wrong conclusions.

Ka Man: Thank you. It’s really refreshing to hear you speak on this in such a practical sense because like you say, a lot of discussions and a lot of papers are sorts of discussing and dissecting this localisation agenda, but, for some someone like me who’s not in the thick of it, I don’t actually know what that in a practical sense really means. So by you sharing these really practical examples of where we’re getting it right, where there are challenges and sticking points remain, I’m learning a lot from that and I’m sure our listeners are as well.

Bidjan: But I can assure you the experts don’t understand it as well, right? If you don’t understand it, nobody understands it. And that’s a huge, huge problem. We over intellectualise these debates partly also just to keep debating. And at the end of the day, we need to make change happen for people on the ground.

Ka Man: Yes, absolutely. Like I say, it’s very refreshing. Thank you. So unfortunately, we’re running out of time and I’ve got, I could continue this conversation, there’s so much I would love to ask you. Maybe we could do a part two some time, but I just wondered you’ve touched on this as we’ve gone along, but I want to know where you think the humanitarian sector needs to prioritise or focus on over the next few years in order to advance the localisation agenda and what needs to be done differently?

Bidjan: I mentioned a few areas that I think should be continued, but my main focus is on talent. And another piece that I’m really passionate about is the ability to create remote work opportunities and to think about mobility in a different way. So when you step back and you say what are the leadership qualities of someone who is a humanitarian? They are really, really good at dealing with ambiguity and complexity because they need to figure out things very quickly. They are really good and should be good in dealing directly with people and their needs and interacting with them, especially people on the ground. They are really, really good at driving for results because otherwise nothing happens and they have to have the ability to be curious, to find out what needs to be done to understand the situation. So all of these things are amazing leadership qualities for any job.

And we need to stop now saying, OK, once a humanitarian, always a humanitarian. These the young, local, talent can go anywhere. If we identify those skills the right way, if we connect them to the right organisation, whether it’s remotely, whether it’s to enable more mobility within our organisations. They can lead organisations, and they should lead organisations and so not just for the sector, but also looking through that talent lens and saying humanitarians have amazing leadership skills based on the work they do. Let’s tap into that because lots of organisations right now are looking for those leadership skills and that talent.

Ka Man: That’s great. Thank you. And before we wrap up, is any anything you’d like to add any sort of parting words or you know something that you really want to reinforce with our listeners today?

Bidjan: Maybe for anyone who’s listening, especially for people who are starting out in the sector. Don’t get discouraged by these big systems and by frustrating organisational procedures. Look outside the sector. Look to organisations that are doing great things. Connect with those people. Build your own tribe of people who want to do things differently. This sector is really needed, it’s it has great people in it and cynicism is the worst thing that can happen to the sector and it’s already spread. We don’t need more of it and there’s lots of reasons when you connect directly to the people we serve, that gives you motivation, inspiration, and brings about change. That’s what I’m hoping for the next generation that’s going into this work.

Ka Man: That’s brilliant. That was very wise, inspiring and galvanising words. So yeah, I’m sure many of us listening are going to go out and search some of those things that you’ve talked about throughout this conversation and learn a bit more. I certainly, a learning point for me is I’m going to learn a bit more about cash and voucher assistance because that’s an area that I’m not too familiar with, and I think it you make a really good point around that. So, yeah, that’s on my to do list. So thank you so much for taking the time to join us for this discussion today. I’d really appreciated your very frank and warm insights and sharing that with us. So thank you very much. And thank you to all our listeners for joining us today for our episode of Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.

Bidjan: Thank you very much. The Humanitarian Leadership Academy is doing really important work and I hope it continues and grows.

In this episode, we are focusing on locally-led humanitarian research. On the SHIFT programme example and reflecting on our partnerships with researchers in Ukraine and Poland, we discuss how local specialists are and should be involved in data collection, analysis, and research design.

Tune in to hear from Maryana Zaviyska, Chief of Project Portfolio at Open Space Works, a Ukrainian female-led private social change enterprise, Myroslava Keryk, President of Ukrainian House Foundation, a Polish civic organisation focused on integration of migrants and refugees, and Elisa Sandri, Research & Evaluation Specialist at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Maryana Zaviyska holds Masters Degree in Philosophy from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. As an independant consultant, Maryana has an extensive experience supporting organisations and communities in stakeholder engagement, dialogue, and collaboration processes for high impact solutions. In her current role as Chief of Project Portfolio at Open Space Works, Maryana provides stakeholders analysis and engagement, organisational and community development, and facilitates transformation processes using Technology of Open Space, Future Search, and World Cafe.

Myroslava Keryk has an MA in History from the Central European University and is a historian, sociologist and specialist in field of migration of Ukrainians to Poland. She is also head of the civic organization Ukrainian House (Fundacja Ukraiński Dom). She has 20 years’ experience in civic activity directed towards the integration of migrants and refugees. In her daily work she combines the integration of Ukrainian refugees and migrants in Poland with research projects in the field of migration studies. She was also a member of the Commission for Migration organized under the auspices of the Spokesman for Citizens’ Rights in Poland. She received the “Golden Fan” award from the International Organization for Migration Poland for the activities directed on integration of migrants in Poland and the Badge of Honor of Merit for Warsaw. She was nominated to the title of the Warsaw Woman 2022.

Elisa Sandri is the Research and Evaluation Specialist at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She leads and oversees all the research and evaluation under the Sustainable Humanitarian Innovation for Transformation (SHIFT) programme, funded by the Disaster Emergency Committee, in Ukraine and Türkiye/Syria. She works closely with researchers, civil society actors, academics and INGOs to produce research that provides insights into the humanitarian responses organised by local organisations, volunteers and grassroots organisations. Elisa has published a number of academic articles, conference papers and a book chapter based on her research on informal humanitarian aid for people on the move in Northern France in 2015-16. In previous roles, she worked as an evaluation consultant for a range of UN agencies and international organisations, including UNHCR, IOM, WFP and the Norwegian Refugee Council. She has an MA in Anthropology of Development from the University of Sussex, and a BA in Social Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

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The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations.

Dans cet épisode de podcast, Anne Garcon mène une discussion approfondie avec deux spécialistes de l’éducation en situation d’urgence en Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale: Mathilde Lemaire, Responsable du programme de développement professionnel de l’éducation en situation d’urgence pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale à HLA et Yaya Diarrassouba, Conseiller régional de l’éducation en situation d’urgence pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale à Save the Children International.

Ils nous font le plaisir de partager leurs expériences professionnelles, leur expertise, leurs idées et leur vision de l’éducation en situation d’urgence avec nous. 

Écoutez l’épisode sur Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music et Buzzsprout.

Nos intervenants

Mathilde Lemaire, Responsable du programme de développement professionnel pour l’éducation en situation d’urgence pour la région Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale, HLA

Mathilde Lemaire est Responsable du programme de développement professionnel pour l’éducation en situation d’urgence pour la région Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale, basée à Dakar, Sénégal. Elle a toujours travaillé dans le domaine de l’éducation mais sous différente forme, d’abord en tant que chercheuse en sociologie de l’éducation puis en tant qu’éducatrice spécialisée, auprès d’enfants vulnérables. Son rôle a toujours été de réfléchir à comment permettre à tous les enfants d’accéder à une éducation de qualité et adaptée, en fonction des besoins de chacun. Aujourd’hui avec HLA, c’est encore ce qu’elle tente de réaliser, en collaboration avec tous les acteurs du domaine de l’éducation. 

Yaya Diarrassouba, Conseiller Régional Education en Urgences pour Save the Children International, au bureau Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale

Yaya Diarrassouba est Conseiller Régional Education en Urgences pour Save the Children International, au bureau Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale. Il occupe ce poste depuis avril 2023 et est basé à Dakar au Sénégal. Avant ce poste, il a travaillé pour différentes organisations en Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale, dans différents contextes aussi bien en humanitaire que de développement. Il a aussi eu la chance de faire l’expérience de coordination du cluster éducation comme co-lead au zNiger (2017-2018) et au Mali (2018-2019). Dans son rôle actuel, il collabore avec les 9 pays de la région dans lesquels Save the Children International est opérationnel, avec un focus sur les pays pour lesquels des réponses humanitaires sont en cours.

Animé par Anne Garcon : Cheffe de la Communication et du Marketing, Humanitarian Leadership Academy

Anne Garcon travaille dans le secteur humanitaire depuis quatorze ans, principalement dans le domaine des campagnes et de la communication. Avant de rejoindre HLA, elle a travaillé pour Amnesty International, Migrants’ Rights Network et une ONG palestinienne basée à Londres, faisant campagne pour les droits des femmes et des filles palestiniennes réfugiées au Liban, en Syrie et dans les territoires Palestiniens occupés. Au sein de HLA, elle est responsable de la stratégie et de la mise en œuvre de tous les aspects de la communication et du marketing, afin de garantir que les solutions d’apprentissage, les plateformes, produits et services proposés par HLA soient reconnus, mis en valeur et utilisés partout dans le monde.

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Commentaires/demandes : veuillez envoyer un e-mail à info@humanitarian.academy ou nous contacter sur les réseaux sociaux.

Les points de vue et opinions exprimés dans notre podcast sont ceux des intervenants et ne reflètent pas nécessairement les points de vue ou les positions de leurs organisations.

What are the biggest challenges refugees and migrants from the LGBTQ+ community face in Poland, and how do locally-led organisations create networks and structures to support them?

In this episode, we are talking about the Ukraine crisis response in Poland with a focus on strengthening the capacity of local organisations and advocacy for LGBTQ+ migrants and refugees.

Hear the insights from Sarian Jarosz, Advocacy and Research Lead at Queer Without Borders, an informal group of activists working for the improvement of the situation of LGBTQI+ migrants and refugees in Poland. Piotr Kolodziej, our Regional Lead in Eastern Europe, shares how the partnership between the HLA and Queer Without Borders happened and what are our plans to strengthen the capacity of local organisations supporting LGBTQ+ refugees and migrants in Poland.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Piotr Kolodziej is the HLA’s Regional Lead in Eastern Europe. Piotr is based in Poland and has over thirteen years of experience in humanitarian and development organisations. Piotr worked at the International Rescue Committee, Ashoka and Polish Humanitarian Action, including heading a mission in Turkey/Syria, and leading teams in Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Iraq. Piotr has also supported the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership as a Lead Facilitator and Tech To The Rescue as a Crisis Response Consultant.

Sarian Jarosz is Advocacy and Research Lead at Queer Without Borders, our partner and LGBTQ+ Advisor in Poland. Sarian currently works as a Research Coordinator at Migration Consortium (Konsorcjum Migracyjne) and has broad experience working with refugees and migrants in Poland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Denmark, and Uganda. For several years, Sarian worked for Amnesty International as an LGBTQ+ investigator.

This episode was hosted by Oksana Dobrovolska, Communications Officer at the HLA.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations.

Cambio Climático y Asistencia Humanitaria: Respuesta durante la temporada de huracanes en América Latina y el Caribe.

Este es el primer episodio en español de la serie del podcast: ‘Nuevas Perspectivas Humanitarias’ de HLA. En este episodio, Ana Lucía Villagran, Especialista en Soluciones de Aprendizaje en América Latina y el Caribe; obtiene ideas significativas de Mercedes García, líder de HLA para la región y Dan Stothart, Director Humanitario Regional de Save the Children en América Latina y el Caribe.

La conversación profundiza en las experiencias de Dan y Mercedes al responder a las comunidades afectadas por huracanes y lo que se necesita para que la región mitigue los efectos del cambio climático y lidere la respuesta.

Escucha el episodio en Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music y Buzzsprout.

Acerca de los ponentes

Dan Stothart se incorporó a Save the Children en agosto de 2021. Ha trabajado en Naciones Unidas, Plan Internacional, Oxfam e IRC en respuesta a emergencias y reducción del riesgo de desastres en África y América Latina. Ha dirigido misiones de respuesta de las Naciones Unidas en Colombia (Hidroituango y el derrame de petróleo de Barrancabermeja en 2018), San Vicente y las Granadinas y Honduras; y estableció el componente ambiental de la respuesta R4V para ACNUR y ONU Medio Ambiente en la región, y también específicamente para Colombia y Brasil. También movilizó la respuesta de ONU Medio Ambiente a más de 25 emergencias.

Mercedes Garcia es ingeniera civil y ambiental, becaria Fulbright, con más de 20 años de experiencia en el ámbito humanitario y de desarrollo, habiendo trabajado anteriormente con Plan International, Oxfam y el gobierno de El Salvador. Mercedes ha liderado muchas respuestas humanitarias en Centroamérica, ha gestionado programas de reducción de desastres, resiliencia y acción humanitaria, y recientemente se desempeña como consejera de desarrollo de capacidades humanitarias con Save the Children.

Ana Lucía Villagran es Publicista de profesión y obtuvo una maestría en Comercio Internacional y Desarrollo Económico en Corea del Sur. Académicamente, Ana Lucía se desempeñó como asistente de investigación en la Universidad Kyung Hee, participando en importantes proyectos de investigación patrocinados por entidades como el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo y la CEPAL; y también se desempeñó como Profesora en la Universidad Nacional de San Carlos, donde impartió clases de Productividad y Desarrollo Económico. Se ha desempeñado como gerente de proyectos de desarroll social para Good Neighbors International; y actualmente se desempeña como gerente de proyectos y especialista en soluciones de aprendizaje en la Academia de Liderazgo Humanitario.

As this podcast is recorded in Spanish, the excerpt below in English gives insight to the conversation for non-speakers:

Climate change and Humanitarians: Responding to hurricane season in Latin America and the Caribbean

The first Spanish episode in HLA’s ‘Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives’ podcast series. In this episode Ana Lucia Villagran, Learning Solutions Specialist in Latin America and Caribbean gleans meaningful insights from Dan Stothart, Regional Humanitarian Director for Save the Children in Latin America and the Caribbean and Mercedes Garcia, HLA Lead for Latin America and Caribbean.

The conversation delves into Dan and Mercedes’ experiences responding to communities affected by hurricanes and what is needed for the region to mitigate the effects of climate change and lead the response.

Ana Lucia:

We would like to ask you about your experience in this hurricane season, which parts of Latin America and the Caribbean do you think are most prone or which areas have experienced the worst crises during the rainy and hurricane season in the region?

Mercedes:

At an OCHA meeting a couple of weeks ago, we were reminded that this Latin American region has around 1,500 disaster events in the last decade.

This has affected around 200 million people.

Although there are multiple disaster situations, it is also the natural phenomena that has caused many of these effects.

In the case of hurricane season, we have had devastating hurricanes in the region.  It affects Mexico, all of Central America, also, the Caribbean is extremely affected. From Cuba, Jamaica, also the Dominican Republic and there we have all the islands, right in the Caribbean and in South America there are countries that, depending on the type of hurricane, are also affected, which are countries like Colombia and Venezuela.

These countries, suffer different types of effects. Where loss of life occurs, we also have effects related to the quality of life that people can have after these situations.

In the case of the most vulnerable territories in the country, it is very difficult to recover after these phenomena occur. I wanted to take the opportunity to draw attention to the fact that we have a rather complicated situation this year.

Historically, in the region the periods of hurricanes have had more effects as they have grown stronger…

We also have the proliferation of diseases such as cholera, added to a situation of lack of access to health services and water that currently exists in this country.

Ana Lucia:

The situation you mention in Acapulco, Mercedes was very difficult after the passage of Hurricane Otis. We are going to delve deeper into the topic with Dan, who is also joining us today.

Mercedes, without a doubt, the resilience of communities is key not only to facing a crisis, but to coming out of it.  How can communities be better prepared to address the problems that arise as a consequence of disasters?

Mercedes:

First of all, communities and people are the first to respond to a disaster situation.

Whether we want it or not, because they are the ones who live it in the flesh. It’s important for communities and people in communities to be strengthened both in their knowledge as people in the structures, in what they are called, in those who practice and remember that in the end it is them, they are the ones who are there who are going to be there, always the ones who stay.

Sometimes different organisations come to support or governments support, but the people are the ones who are there and the ones who always stay.

On a personal level and family level, it is important to be prepared as it applies to everyone.

Ana Lucia

I would like to ask you what are the three main things that humanitarian personnel who respond in areas affected by hurricanes should take into account? Is this something more general, you who have had experience responding to various hurricanes, what do you think are the three main things?

Dan:

I think mostly thinking about hurricanes now and not so much maybe hurricane responses like 10 or 15 years ago. But first, one thing that remains true is that hurricanes are phenomena that are announced, they let you know that they are coming, so monitoring counts for a lot, although as I mentioned at the beginning, Otis surprised us, we still knew that Otis was on his way, that Otis was going up the coast of Mexico. And maybe that ties into my second point, which is one more point for response today, which is to expect volatility.

As I said, Otis went from category four to category five in less than 24 hours. And we’re also now seeing storms that take sudden turns and hit an area that maybe wasn’t the area that was initially expected.

But we can factor that into our planning. We already know that a hurricane is more or less on course to an area, but maybe we should open up the preparation area to prepare in a larger area in case a hurricane is going to change course.

Likewise, not to keep thinking ‘ah, ok, they say this is a category un, so we don’t have to do so much, but when it looks like it’s going to be a category more, at least have a preparedness scenario corresponding to a larger storm, just in case that kind of volatility happens, especially in years when the sea temperature is very high, as it was last year, and as also this year the temperature in the Caribbean, the Atlantic is very high and we can expect more storms like Otis in the Atlantic and Caribbean this year.

And perhaps the third point is to know the area. In the end, the hurricane is not going to end with the social problems that existed before, but rather quite the opposite, it is going to amplify them.

And then, if before there was, for example, organised crime, organised crime will return to the area to take control and perhaps take advantage of the situation to extend its territorial control.

If the rule of law in the affected area before was weak, one is going to see that reflected later in the post-hurricane situation and in the response. And if children’s rights were in crisis before the event, after the impact, the situation will be worse.

Hurricanes very rarely come to make things better. So we can know that and focus on child protection from the beginning.

Having that local knowledge through the actors who live there, who never leave the area, is extremely important, because that is how they guided us in a previously mentioned case, to an area that really needed the response that Mexico provided in that case.

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Los puntos de vista y opiniones expresados en nuestro podcast son los de los ponentes y no reflejan necesariamente los puntos de vista o posiciones de sus organizaciones.

How can we harness the power of communities and networks as tools for humanitarian learning?

In this podcast episode, Esther Grieder (the HLA’s Global Communities and Partnerships Lead), leads a deep dive discussion with three seasoned community builders from Ghana, Nigeria and the UK to share and compare professional experiences.

Tune in to hear insightful learnings and reflections from Esther and guests Ese Emerhi (Global Fund for Community Foundations), Nancy Kankam Kusi (West Africa Civil Society Institute), and Jon Novakovic (Global Inter-agency Security Forum).

Intentionality in community building work, as well as the importance of trust, emerge as key themes in this illuminating discussion.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

Note on audio: minor connectivity issues occurred during the speakers’ video call, affecting the audio quality in certain segments.

About the speakers

Ese Emerhi: Global Network Weaver, Global Fund for Community Foundations – GFCF

Since 2017, Ese has served as the project director for the Kiisi Trust Fund, a donor-advised-fund managed by TrustAfrica in Ogoniland in Rivers State, Nigeria. She has spent the past 20 years working in the international development field, supporting human rights defenders and organizations, developing non-profit boards, working with marginalized communities and groups, as well as youth-led organizations across the globe advocating for greater youth inclusion in development projects, leadership, and youth empowerment. As the project lead for the Kiisi Trust Fund, she directed a multi-million USD fund for the benefit of the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, instilling a new model of participatory community-based grant making for sustainable development.

In 2018, in her role as project director for TrustAfrica, she partnered with the GFCF, Africa Philanthropy Network, and the Kenya Development Community Foundation to host the Twitter chat “You Say Intermediary, I Say….?” that sought to better understand and define the controversial word “intermediary” as it is used in the development field. 

Nancy Kankam Kusi: Programme Officer, West Africa Civil Society Institute – WACSI

At WACSI, Nancy Kankam Kusi leads in curating, documenting, packaging and sharing learnings and knowledge on civil society to facilitate growth in the civil society ecosystem. Nancy also leads a diverse team of civil society actors to initiate and implement international development programs that promote community philanthropy, shifting power and resources to the grassroots, localising and decolonising development initiatives in the global south. She is a member of the RINGO project and an idea career for the Decolonising Advisory Community.

Nancy holds an MPhil degree in Planning with experience in international development, development research (quantitative and qualitative) and knowledge management. She is a trained urban and regional planner. She has a demonstrated working experience in different sectors, including research institutions, the government development sector and the civil society sector and has worked with partners across Africa, Asia, North America and Europe.

Jon Novakovic: Executive Director, Global Inter-agency Security Forum – GISF

Jon Novakovic joined the GISF Secretariat as Executive Director in March 2023. Jon started his career in government in Australia before moving into overseas development. In almost 10 years in the aid sector, he has been involved in SRM within local and international NGOs, and private consultancy. He has spent significant time in Afghanistan and Timor Leste, and is now based in Scotland.

As the Global Manager of Crisis Analytics at Mercy Corps, Jon was a key part of the team defining and growing the new offering that proved a key point of difference in Mercy Corps’ access and operations in high risk environments. He ran the Syria and Nigeria teams, and set up new operations in Mozambique and Ethiopia. He fostered the introduction of new AI-based technologies, and the recruitment of OSINT specialists to enable work in hard-to-access areas. Jon has a Masters Degree in Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism.

Hosted by Esther Grieder: Global Partnerships and Communities Lead, Humanitarian Leadership Academy

Esther Grieder is Global Communities and Partnerships Lead at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She holds 20 years of experience in the international development and humanitarian sectors, working primarily on education, youth, health and humanitarian issues.

Esther has worked at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy since 2016. She was responsible for developing, launching and growing HPass, a platform enabling humanitarians to showcase verifiable evidence of their skills and experience using digital badges. She holds extensive business development and partnerships experience, and enjoys figuring out how organisations can work together to turn good ideas into great social initiatives. Esther holds a BA and MA in History, and is based in London, UK.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

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Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

Are you curious about coaching and mentoring – but not sure if it’s right for you, or how to get started? 

Charlotte Balfour-Poole, Head of Coaching at the HLA, provides her expert overview of coaching and mentoring, and highlights how they can be used as powerful tools to support every humanitarian.

In conversation with Ka Man Parkinson, Charlotte helps to demystify the concepts, and provides tips and advice for anyone interested in unlocking their potential through coaching and mentoring.

About the speakers

Charlotte Balfour-Poole is Head of Coaching at the HLA, responsible for developing and ensuring a coherent and comprehensive coaching offer for humanitarian staff. Previously Charlotte was Global Head of Humanitarian Education for Save the Children and the Director of the Humanitarian Technical Unit. She began her career as a Humanitarian Education Response Advisor deploying to a vast array of complex, protracted and sudden-onset humanitarian crises as part of SC’s Global Emergency response team. Charlotte is based in Wiltshire, UK.

Ka Man Parkinson is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. In her role Ka Man creates, commissions and manages content to bring to life the HLA’s brand, learning solutions, products and services. Ka Man is based in Manchester, UK.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

Links and further reading

Download Charlotte’s recommended reading list

NGO Coaching and Mentoring website

Women in Leadership Network (WIL)

AOMP — Across Organisational Mentoring Programme 2024

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

The delivery of high quality humanitarian capacity strengthening – face-to-face or online is not devoid of unique challenges.

As crises occur, it is important to take stock of experiences and lessons learned, then introduce simple yet innovative methods to counter or mitigate arising challenges. This promotes the healthy constant evolution to more accessible, inclusive and contextually relevant training.

Rose Wahome, returns in this highly demanded episode to share an insightful hour with Nwando Okoh, HLA Communications and Marketing Specialist. This conversation leans in to Rose’s over 18 years of experience in education, programme management and delivering face-to-face and blended humanitarian trainings including simulations as well as recent experience on the other side of the board as a student or trainee.

Rose recently certified skillset in Coaching and Mentoring supplies the perfect juxtaposition for this conversation following Rose’s first episode  “How face-to-face training is shifting the power” . She provides rich insight into common challenges faced in training delivery and how they have been or can be mitigated.

Again Rose’s insights are fueled by her life’s philosophies, one being: “For all my problems, of one thing I am sure – is that my solutions are with people,”

Listen to the full podcast episode now available on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon music, Buzzsprout and Player FM.

Rose has worked in stable, refugee, conflict and post conflict settings in Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, DRC, Lebanon, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Somalia and Syria supporting public and third sectors including Ministry of Education Kenya and South Sudan, Save the Children, UNESCO, NORCAP, UNICEF and the Institute of Education, London.

Rose holds a Bachelor of Education Arts in Mathematics and Economics from Egerton University and an MA in Educational Planning, Economics and International Development from the IOE, University of London. She is trained on the SPHERE & INEE minimum standards; Education in Emergencies (EiE); field safety & security procedures including radio communication; Disaster Risk Reduction; Advocacy; and Alternative Learning Programs among others.

Listen to the podcast episode

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Useful resources and links

Kaya
Our regional centers

Note: The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

Listen to Archie Law AM (Principal Leadership Advisor at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy) in conversation with Jamie McGoldrick, who has just completed a term as the Interim UN Humanitarian/Resident Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  

Together with Archie, Jamie discusses leadership and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the challenges and opportunities in working with complex ecosystems in Gaza, and what might lie ahead for the humanitarian sector in the Gaza response.

This is a recording of a conversation held in March 2024 exclusively for Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives. Note on audio: minor connectivity issues occurred during the speakers’ video call, affecting the audio quality in certain segments.

About the speakers

Jamie McGoldrick recently completed his appointment as Interim UN Humanitarian/Resident Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. He previously served as the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 2018 and 2020 and was the UN’s Humanitarian/Resident Coordinator in Yemen from 2015 to 2018. Jamie is the host of the Humanitarian Fault Lines podcast.

Archie Law AM is the Principal Leadership Advisor at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. His previous appointments have included Director of International Programmes at Save the Children Australia, Executive Director of ActionAid Australia and global and regional humanitarian roles with the United Nations.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

What does a humanitarian career look like? How can you kickstart your own journey in this inspiring sector – and how can this career path evolve over time?

In our humanitarian careers podcast series, we’re connecting with humanitarians from around the world to hear personal stories and experiences of working in the sector.

In this episode, listen to Ka Man Parkinson in conversation with two inspiring colleagues from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy: Salma Babban from Jordan and Tom Russell from the UK.

We hear about their transitions into the humanitarian world and how their roles have evolved over time, as well as the key skills they need to do their jobs well.

They also share what motivates them to keep going during challenging times, and their advice for anyone who wants to follow in their footsteps into the humanitarian world. 

Whether you’re an aspiring humanitarian, a seasoned professional, or simply curious about the incredible work happening in the sector, tune into this insightful conversation with Salma and Tom which is now available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Buzzsprout.

Podcast episode themes/keywords: humanitarian careers, aid sector, INGOs, translation, languages, communication, training and facilitation, civil engineering, WASH, Ebola, Middle East, West and Central Africa, Ukraine, localisation, Humanitarian Xchange.

About the speakers

Salma Babban is Global Translation Manager at the HLA and is based in Amman, Jordan. Salma holds a background in technical projects and programmes management positions in both development and humanitarian contexts including working with donors, and with international and local universities and at the British Council. She also holds a background in capacity strengthening, and community and partner relationship building. She joined the HLA in 2021.

Tom Russell is a Technical Learning Specialist at the HLA and is based in Birmingham, UK. Tom holds a background in WASH programme development and delivery. He has 10 years of experience in designing and supporting the delivery of humanitarian response projects including the cholera outbreak response in Haiti of 2011, cyclone preparedness in Madagascar and the Ebola outbreak response in the DR Congo. His focus is now on supporting humanitarian professionals develop and strengthen their skills through learning and training.

Hosted and produced by Ka Man Parkinson, Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. She holds extensive professional experience within the international education and non-profit sectors including at three UK universities and at the British Council. She joined the HLA in 2022.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Buzzsprout.

Links

Humanitarian Xchange 2024 – sign up to join us for our global hybrid conference on 20 February.

Links to translated resources Salma highlights in this episode:

Response Learning Hub – Turkiye-Syria Earthquake Response

Microlearning animations on our YouTube channel

Learn more about some of the resources and training highlighted by Tom:

Humanitarian Operations Programme

Humanitarian Operations Programme (HOP) Core Asia [news article]

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

In this episode, we discuss various learning opportunities provided by the HLA and Save the Children, which support capacity strengthening in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

As countries of the MENA region face different types of crises, humanitarian actors on the ground need tailored capacity-strengthening programmes. Listen to this conversation with Bdour Ghousheh, HLA Regional Lead in the Middle East and North Africa and Abed Dbas, the Education Specialist at Save the Children Syria Response office, hosted by Oksana Dobrovolska, HLA Communications Officer, to learn more about it.

Listen to the podcast episode available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Bdour Ghousheh has more than 10 years of experience in the humanitarian sector, focusing on education, partnerships, project management and capacity strengthening in the MENAEE region. Now, Bdour provides strategic direction and leadership to the broader Humanitarian Leadership Academy’s approach across the MENAEE region and manages a team of humanitarian experts working in different areas (Leadership, Technical expertise and Civil Society Strengthening).

Abed Dbas is the Education Specialist at Save the Children Syria Response office, based in Gaziantep, Türkiye. Abed manages the technical and operational aspects of the education program in Northwest Syria.

Hosted and produced by Oksana Dobrovolska, Communications Officer at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, based in the United Kingdom.

Listen to this podcast episode

Join us as we explore the visionary Humanitarian Xchange, a groundbreaking event set to redefine global humanitarian sector.

The inaugural Humanitarian Xchange is a hybrid conference scheduled to take place in London, UK and online on 20 February 2024.

Dominic Courage, the force behind HX24, shares its unique vision, behind-the-scenes insights, and invites you to join this milestone moment.

Tune in to the latest HLA podcast episode to learn more and to discover how you can be part of shaping a future with a new generation of humanitarians.

This episode is now available to listen to on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Dominic Courage is Deputy Director External Relations at the HLA, responsible for ensuring that the HLA’s strategy is supported by a business model that will sustain our impact.

A core part of this to ensure that we have strong external relationships with our learners, partners, clients and donors because these partnerships are critical to multiplying our impact and achieving our mission.

Before joining the HLA, Dom worked with Save the Children leading humanitarian technical teams and deploying to emergencies around the world. Prior to this he worked with the engineering consultancy Arup as a civil engineer and project manager.

Ka Man Parkinson is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. She holds extensive professional experience within the international education and non-profit sectors including at three UK universities and at the British Council. She joined the HLA in 2022.

Links

Humanitarian Xchange

Trumanitarian podcast episode 64: The Percolator

Kaya

Humanitarian capacity strengthening is constantly evolving to be more accessible, inclusive and contextually relevant. Also evolving is the audience, formats for delivery and balance of power from who accesses training, how it is accessed and how it is delivered.

Rose Wahome, HLA Learning Solutions Specialist in East and Southern Africa region shares an interesting and insightful hour with Nwando Okoh, HLA Communications and Marketing Specialist. The conversation segues from Rose’s specialised background in education to reflections on actual face-to-face and blended trainings from Education in Emergencies to Emergency Preparedness, providing valuable insight on how interested local organisations can partner with the HLA to access inclusive reactive capacity strengthening training and resources from HLA’s preparedness portfolio.

Rose shares real life examples as well as nuggets of wisdom reminding us of the human in humanitarian. She says:

“We start to learn if we acknowledge that we don’t know everything… if we are open to sharing what we know and also listening to what other people have, that in itself is a very good place to be as a person, as a human being.”

“Simple choices that you make with your programmes can actually have very dire consequences for communities, even when you were not thinking about it. For you it was just a project, just an activity that needed to be done but it ends up doing harm.”

Listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout and Player FM.

About Rose Wahome

Rose Wahome is a versatile humanitarian. As the learning solutions specialist in East and Southern Africa, her work is focused on Education in Emergencies and Humanitarian Training. Rose brings more than 18 years’ of experience spanning across managing and coordinating programmes in complex emergency settings to providing education technical assistance to teams, consulting, evaluating, training, leading projects, teaching and researching.

Rose has worked in stable, refugee, conflict and post conflict settings in Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, DRC, Lebanon, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Somalia and Syria supporting public and third sectors including Ministry of Education Kenya and South Sudan, Save the Children, UNESCO, NORCAP, UNICEF and the Institute of Education, London.

Rose holds a Bachelor of Education Arts in Mathematics and Economics from Egerton University and an MA in Educational Planning, Economics and International Development from the IOE, University of London. She is trained on the SPHERE & INEE minimum standards; Education in Emergencies (EiE); field safety & security procedures including radio communication; Disaster Risk Reduction; Advocacy; and Alternative Learning Programs among others.

Listen to the podcast episode

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Useful resources and links

Kaya
Our regional centers

In this podcast episode, we take a closer look at the current education in emergencies (EiE) context in Asia.

Globally, many families are preparing for the start of a new academic year, with children and young people currently starting or returning to education.

However, in countries and regions around the world impacted by emergencies and crises, millions do not have access to education and safe learning environments. 

In this podcast episode, Soso Bagashvili and Efren Lubuguin from the HLA’s Asia Regional Centre speak to Ka Man Parkinson about the education in emergencies (EiE) context from their vantage point in Asia.

In 2023 across the Asia-Pacific region, what are the main barriers that children and young people face in terms of accessing education in the region – and what interventions can help to overcome such challenges? And in the face of such a complex and challenging regional context across the world’s largest continent, how can agencies coordinate a suitable and sustainable EiE response?

Soso and Efren share their perspectives and explain how – by working in partnership with Education Cluster partners and national/local organisations – they’ve been able to work in an agile and responsive way to design and implement EiE interventions localised to the Asia regional context. They also share their upcoming plans and aspirations for EiE capacity strengthening in the region.

Listen to the podcast episode available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the podcast speakers

Soso Bagashvili is Regional Head of Capacity Strengthening and Partnerships, Asia at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Soso is based in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Efren Lubuguin is Regional Professional Development Programme Manager EiE, Asia at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Efren is based in Manila, Philippines.

Hosted by Ka Man Parkinson, Communications and Marketing Advisor at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Ka Man is based in Manchester, UK.

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Find out more

About the Humanitarian Leadership Academy Asia Regional Centre

Education in Emergencies Professional Development Programme (PDP)

Education in Emergencies Fundamentals training successfully launched in Nepal

In this episode, we are discussing civil society strengthening in the context of the Ukraine crisis response in Eastern Europe with Olga Nikolska, the Program Director of Culture of Philanthropy Development at Civil Society Organisation Ednannia, and Pawel Mania, the Deputy Director for Transformational Response at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Listen for insights from more than 20 years of experience of Ednannia – one of the largest and most experienced civil society organisations in Ukraine, as well as the HLA’s localisation approach and view on the challenges and needs specific to the region.    

Listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the podcast speakers

Olga Nikolska (she/her) is the Program Director of Culture of Philanthropy Development at Civil Society Organisation EDNANNIA. With a background in consultancy in strategic planning, fundraising, and communication, Olga became the Culture of Philanthropy Development Program Director at ISAR Ednannia in 2017. Olga oversees the Emergency Support Program for Ukrainian Community Foundations and the organisational development grants component.  

“The Initiative Center to Support Social Action “Ednannia” was founded in 1997 and officially registered in 1999. With the aim of creating a harmonious society, Ednannia focuses on strengthening the capacity of civil society organisations and individual experts, leaders, and activists, through the work and cooperation of international and Ukrainian donor organisations and businesses. 

Pawel Mania (he/him) is the Deputy Director for Transformational Response at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. He has broad international experience and a background in strategy setting, research and evaluation, cross-functional collaboration, and implementing large-scale, high-impact programmes. Pawel’s passion in his humanitarian work is development, including peacebuilding and migration, learning, and innovation. He leads his team with a value-driven perspective, focusing on transformational changes in alignment with the Engine 2 approach.   

Oksana Dobrovolska (she/her) is the Communications Officer at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She joined the HLA in early 2023 and holds a background in communications in the security-oriented international relations sector. 

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Have you ever wondered about the role of research in the humanitarian sector? Keen to learn more about the plethora of humanitarian learning options available – ranging from asynchronous study and stackable learning through to free bite-sized courses with digital badges?

Ka Man Parkinson (Communications and Marketing Advisor) was delighted to recently speak to humanitarian learning experts Dr Nazanin Zadeh-Cummings (Associate Director of Research, Centre for Humanitarian Leadership) and Esther Grieder (Global Communities and Partnerships Lead, Humanitarian Leadership Academy) to learn from their combined expertise in humanitarian training pathways.

In an accessible and engaging conversation recorded for a new podcast episode for the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, Nazanin and Esther guide us through the changing humanitarian learning landscape – from research through to practical, lifelong learning approaches.

Read a preview of the conversation below and listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

Nazanin, so when people think of humanitarians, they may think of a first responder. What do you believe is the role and relevance of research in the humanitarian space?

I love this question because I love research!

So research is the creation of new knowledge, and this new knowledge is borne from evidence, it’s borne from rigorous forms of inquiry, and it can suggest new pathways or new ways of working or new ways of approaching problems that are more effective, more efficient, and maybe just more equitable. So I think research can really help us make a better humanitarian sector, make better humanitarian ways of working, make better humanitarian outcomes, and better serve people living through humanitarian crises.

This research might be quantitative, so it may be looking at things like a nutrition intervention and wondering, well, what is the effect of this nutrition intervention? What percentage of children does it impact and how does it impact them? Or it might be more qualitative. So it might be asking, well, how do parents feel about this intervention? How do they feel about accessing the intervention? I think it’s important to note that there’s really a need for both of these types of research – both the qualitative and the quantitative are both needed for better humanitarian outcomes.

The final point I’ll make on this question is I think that research needs to be accessible to be used for people that are working in crises and emergencies that don’t have the luxury of time, you know, to flip through PDFs at their leisure. Information needs to be accessible and needs to be delivered to end users in a way that’s valuable to them. So I think that’s also a bit of a reflection of perhaps how researchers can best serve the humanitarian sector as well as how humanitarians can use research.

Esther, what do you think are the main advantages or benefits of taking a lifelong learning approach to upskilling as a humanitarian?

Well, I think the world of work for everyone – due to new technologies and all kinds of things including Covid – is changing at an accelerating pace. But I think this is particularly true – and it always has been particularly true – of the humanitarian sector. And I think it’s just a feature of work in the sector that things move very fast and there are always new things to learn. At the moment, for example, there are so many new technologies that are potentially offering new ways to respond to emergencies. There are new challenges, for example, caused by climate change, more prolonged conflicts, cybersecurity.

There’s really kind of upheaval in the sector as a whole in terms of the way that we work in the sector, recognition that we need to start to work differently, and we need to address some of the kind of power dynamics in the sector.

So there’s all this change in the sector all the time. And the people working in it have to be able to respond to that, so it’s essential that they’re able to access new learning on an ongoing basis, and that that can be produced in response to new challenges that come up, that learning can be made available and that then it can be put into practice by humanitarians.

About the podcast guests

Dr Nazanin Zadeh-Cummings is the Associate Director of Research at the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, a Deakin University/Save the Children Australia partnership, and Senior Lecturer in Humanitarian Studies at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University.

Nazanin’s main areas of research are humanitarian education and training, and humanitarian engagement in North Korea. She holds a PhD in Asian and International Studies (City University of Hong Kong), a joint Master’s in International Humanitarian Action (Ruhr-Universität Bochum/Université catholique de Louvain), a Master’s (Honours) in International Relations (University of Edinburgh), and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Learning and Teaching (Deakin University). Nazanin is from Massachusetts, USA.

Esther Grieder is Global Communities and Partnerships Lead at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She holds 20 years of experience in the international development and humanitarian sectors, working primarily on education, youth, health and humanitarian issues.

Esther has worked at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy since 2016. She was responsible for developing, launching and growing HPass, a platform enabling humanitarians to showcase verifiable evidence of their skills and experience using digital badges. She holds extensive business development and partnerships experience, and enjoys figuring out how organisations can work together to turn good ideas into great social initiatives. Esther holds a BA and MA in History, and is based in London, UK.

Listen to the podcast episode

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Resources and links signposted by Esther and Nazanin in the podcast episode

Kaya

HPass

Centre for Humanitarian Leadership and Deakin University

International Humanitarian Studies Association’s database of humanitarian studies organisations

Mastersportal.com

Lifelong learning infographic on the HPass website

“The technology that tends to get used by humans over a period of time tend to be the ones that actually help them to do something, rather than not just a fad or something that is fun. I think it’s incredibly important.”
– James Maltby

Drawing from a depth of knowledge and varied expertise, James Maltby and Austen Shand share insights on immersive learning in the humanitarian sector through the lens of recent global interest and engagement with artificial intelligence.

James and Austen take us on journeys through technology before the metaverse, and how capacity strengthening needs and solutions have evolved over time.

Their perceptive journeys culminate in the acknowledgement that AI presents an opportunity as “tools in the toolbelt” that can help “prep the canvas” for capacity strengthening work in the humanitarian sector.

You will find when you listen to this interesting podcast that directly or indirectly, humanitarians across the sector are already engaging with these tools and immersing in the metaverse. What does that look like now and how would it look in the next 10 years?

Listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the podcast speakers

James Maltby (He/Him) is the Head of the Digital Learning team at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy who design and develop online learning materials to support all HLA’s  capacity strengthening programmes.

James’ work in embedding blended and immersive learning technology into technical teaching was nationally recognised in 2019. Having served as a special educational needs teacher supporting children with autism, communication and interaction difficulties, James is passionate about the way technology can enable more accessible, inclusive and diverse learning opportunities for everyone.

Austen Shand (He/Him) is a Digital Learning Specialist at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. He is an artist, developer and designer with expertise in instructional design, eLearning development tools including interactive simulations, gamified courses, and mobile-responsive designs, and multimedia production.

Austen is passionate about creating innovative and effective eLearning solutions that make a difference and high quality, engaging and effective eLearning experiences that empower learners to achieve their goals.

Nwabundo Okoh (She/Her) is the Communications and Marketing Specialist at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She joined the HLA in 2022 and holds a background in communications and marketing for international development.

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“Solidarity is the political expression of love. And I have hope and faith that we can get to a place that’s equitable for all.”
 – Michelle Brillouet
 
Michelle Brillouet and Tim Carpentier from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy engage in a thought-provoking exploration of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) – and why it matters now more than ever, particularly in the humanitarian sector. 

In conversation with Ka Man Parkinson from the HLA, Michelle and Tim illustrate why systemic change is necessary by taking us on a personal journey of what DEI means to them, before delving into topical issues including power and decision-making, neo-colonialism and anti-racism.
 
As committed DEI advocates and representatives, Michelle and Tim share their experiences of creating inclusive work practices – and highlight actions we can take to play our part in creating a humanitarian space that’s diverse, equitable and inclusive.

Read a preview of the conversation below and listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

Can we start by asking what diversity, equity and inclusion mean to you?

Michelle Brillouet

So this is a really good question – and I think it’s important that we perhaps dig into what diversity, equity and inclusion are because sometimes they can be put into the same bucket.

So for me, diversity is diversity of thought, diversity of being, diversity of all the beings that live on this planet and all the different communities. We understand that we are not all the same and we will have different needs – to move beyond the golden rule of treating people how you want to be treated to the platinum rule of how they want to be treated, and how perhaps they need to be treated.

All in all, I think fundamentally what we want is to feel safe. We want to feel respected, treated with dignity and heard. We want to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance for who we are and all its forms in this world.

And when you talk about equity, you know it’s not the same as equality as that is sameness. Equity is fairness, I think, in my humble opinion.

Tim Carpentier

Yes, for me, I think diversity is fundamentally about the valuation of difference. I think Michelle explained it really well there. So it’s really about thinking a little bit about who’s who at the table, who’s making decisions and who’s part of an organisation. Historically in the humanitarian sector – and this goes for a lot of aid where the INGOs who have access to a lot of the funding – have typically been run by cisgender, heterosexual white men. So when it comes to diversity, it’s about thinking a little bit about who’s at the table and who’s making decisions. I think for me that that valuation of difference is really key. And I think the way Michelle explained it was really helpful.

For me, equity is about that process of being fair. We’re not all the same, so we shouldn’t treat everybody the same. It’s about figuring what process and individual actions we need so that people can actually claim their rights.

Our goal should be that everybody can claim their rights regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, marital status, ethnicity. So equity helps us get there.

You know, a simple way to think about it is if you give everybody the same size pair of shoes. Well, can they all claim their right to actually walk around? No, because you might need a smaller or larger pair of shoes. So we should get people the right size shoes.

And inclusion, I think, is about that meaningful participation. So it’s not just about getting people to the table and opening up decision-making spaces and spaces where people do the work; it’s about ensuring that people can be themselves and be free to be who they are, and participate in a way and have some of that power as well to make decisions.

So really what this comes down to is adapting our work and building in equity so that everybody can participate freely and fully in the workplace, but then also when it translates to doing our work – which is serving marginalised communities around the world.

Listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the podcast speakers

Michelle Brillouet (She/They) is a User Experience Specialist at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, dedicating her days to empowering individuals and organisations through the innovative Kaya platform. Michelle brings a wealth of experience to her work, with a strong background in education, particularly working with at-risk young people and international students.

Michelle is a passionate advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equity, and her expertise in creating safe and inclusive environments that promote mental health and wellbeing is second to none. As an EDI coach, she is committed to driving change in the EdTech industry and promoting psychological safety in organisations.

Tim Carpentier (He/Him) is Digital Learning Lead at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy where he supports a team to design and develop digital learning resources for frontline humanitarian practitioners.

He has a technical background in gender equality, with a particular emphasis in humanitarian settings and holds an MA in International Humanitarian Action. Tim joined the HLA in 2020 and has also undertaken work across the Humanitarian Department at Save the Children UK integrating gender equality into its work.

Ka Man Parkinson (She/Her) is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She joined the HLA in 2022 and holds a background in communications and marketing in the education and NGO sectors.