The Global Health Institute (GHI) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy organized their first workshop on the training and learning needs of humanitarian practitioners in relation to the Syrian crisis, in particular, and the aid efforts in the Arab region, in general. 


Stakeholders from different organizations took part in the workshop entitled "Learning Needs Assessment in Relation to the Syrian Crisis," held at AUB on August 28. 


The one-day workshop sought to validate the results of a recent Humanitarian Learning Needs Assessment in order to meet the needs of local actors and stakeholders who are directly involved in responding to the Syrian crisis. It also aimed at confirming the results of the recently-commissioned needs assessment in terms of perceived gaps in learning and access to learning in the humanitarian sectors, so that work can start by the partners for the provision of what is pressing and needed in terms of knowledge and learning to fill those gaps. 


"The needs assessment and the workshop comprise the necessary groundwork for enhancing the skills and knowledge of organizations and individuals working in humanitarian response," Dr. Shadi Saleh, Associate Vice President for Health Affairs at AUB and Founding Director of GHI, told the participants. "GHI, in coordination with other health units at AUB and the region, is looking forward to working with the Humanitarian Leadership Academy to support that goal." 


The Director of the Middle East Centre of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, Ms. Brigitte Khair-Mountain, highlighted at the workshop that "it is a great opportunity to discuss the results of this assessment as this shall guide many of the learning offerings on the Academy's online platform - Kaya for the Middle East region."
"It will also inform our common work with GHI by validating the gaps in humanitarian learning in the Middle East and prioritizing knowledge-creation and best practices from the region's collective experiences in humanitarian response," she added. 


Earlier this month, GHI signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding with the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, a global learning initiative set up to facilitate partnerships and collaborative opportunities to enable people to prepare for and respond to crises in their own countries. The MoU outlines a framework of collaboration to generate contextual knowledge and contextualize global humanitarian tools and skills. 


Under this agreement, the GHI, through its Academy, will deliver essential humanitarian capacity-building assessments and tools to the Humanitarian Leadership Academy by piloting research, structuring learning pathways, and developing contextualized content through innovative learning modules such as online courses (e-learning, toolkits, case studies, facilitation guides), offline learning (session plans and resources), and blended learning. 


The GHI Academy is the capacity-building arm of GHI which aims at supporting the needs of individuals, organizations, and communities through an innovative delivery of knowledge, training, and professional development. 


GHI addresses global health challenges with a focus on context-specific issues and sustainable impact by employing an interdisciplinary approach. It is part of AUB's Health 2025 Vision, which aims to strategically and functionally align the health portfolio at AUB to better serve the health needs of the population in the MENA region, the Global South, and beyond

Source: NNA