HPCR International has joined efforts with the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University to facilitate the emergence of the International Association of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP). The purpose of the association is to foster greater professional development opportunities, engage professionals with similar interests and diverse backgrounds in critical discussions on humanitarian affairs, and promote networking initiatives among individuals around the world who share a common platform of professional experiences, interests, and needs.

PHAP will offer its members a range of online and on-site professional development activities tailored for practitioners working in the field of humanitarian action. These activities will include expanded online modules providing a common baseline of knowledge; on-site core professional trainings designed for mid-career professionals; and Thematic Workshops and Working Groups to engage participants in in-depth dialogue with experts on specific policy challenges. Using online tools, the Working Groups will bring together professionals interested in a particular humanitarian issue to participate in ongoing collaboration and issue exploration.

The professional association looks forward to offering its members a number of distinct pathways for professional development, beginning with one on Humanitarian Law and Policy and soon another on the Management of Humanitarian Response.

During the past two years, HPCR International has offered its alumni the opportunity to pursue the Professional Certificate on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Management by fulfilling a number of online and on-site requirements. To date, these requirements have included the completion of the following five components: 

With the creation of the professional association, this structure of the certification process will be updated to become one of the central components of the new organization, taking advantage of valuable synergies within a larger community of practitioners. A new set of certification levels and requirements will be put in place in the summer of 2010, following policies of the PHAP Training & Certification Committee and Board of Directors. Additional information on the association, the new certification pathway, and the carryover of completed components into the new professional certification process will be available in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, those who completed requirements one through four listed above before June 30, 2010 may opt to earn HPCR International's current Professional certificate on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Management by completing the final presentation requirement before December 31, 2010.

Below are further details regarding the final presentation requirement:

Professional Certificate applicants are invited to prepare a brief presentation to a live online audience of members of the Humanitarian Law and Policy Forum and the professional association. The presentation should address a policy dilemma or a practical challenge the person has faced in applying IHL in their own professional work. For additional information on the live presentation requirement, please contact us at pdptrainings@hpcr.org.

Once all above requirements have been met, the qualified participant will receive in the mail a customized framed Professional Certificate on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Management awarded by HPCR International.

The Professional Certificate is awarded by HPCR International at no additional cost to participants who have completed all requirements listed above.