A tailored Essentials of Humanitarian Practice (EHP) course will take place in September, ahead of the cyclone season with humanitarian actors from partner agencies.

The goal of the training is to build on participants existing knowledge of the international humanitarian system. They will also come away with a greater understanding of the impacts of climate change in the Pacific, focusing on the resilience of communities and various mitigation and adaptation strategies. The course offers a greater understanding of the humanitarian imperative, the challenges faced by ‘vulnerable groups’ in the Pacific and the need for protection and inclusion of all affected people in emergencies.

Heidi Winder, RedR Australia’s Regional Manager in the Pacific explains that the EHP course is about increasing local capacity to respond during a humanitarian crisis.

“The course will cover how the international humanitarian system works, including the different sectors of response and the role of various actors in the Disaster Management Cycle (preparedness, response, recovery), and how National Disaster Management Offices best coordinate with that system.”

“Participants will gain exposure to Disaster Management Acts, Policies, Frameworks and coordination structures adopted throughout the Pacific, which will help to improve coordination during a response. Ideally, RedR will diversify the humanitarian roster to enable these participants to deploy throughout the region when disasters strike.”

Kirsten Sayers, CEO of RedR Australia says this training is the first step in increasing the number of Pacific Islanders on the RedR Australia Roster who can deploy during disasters throughout the Pacific.

“This training course is the first step for us at RedR Australia to deliver our EHP course to people based in the Pacific. Our long-term goal is to on-board Pacific Islanders on our roster to deploy locally during a crisis and completing EHP is a critical component in this.”

“COVID-19 has brought many challenges, including travel restrictions between Australia and the Pacific. We are fortunate to have a strong network of experts, including those in our regional office in Fiji, who are able to coordinate and deliver a high-quality training course.”

This training has been made possible with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Click here to find out more about our EHP course and other RedR Australia training courses.