Humanitarian action: innovation and training

PAULO PEDROSO

Professor  Iscte Sociology and Public Policy

Researcher CIES-Iscte

JOANA AZEVEDO

Professor Iscte Sociology and Public Policy

Researcher CIES‑Iscte

An International Master's Degree in Humanitarian Action will start in 2025, thanks to the InovHumRe and HumAct projects, through which Iscte explores internal synergies and creates a network of partnerships in Europe, Africa and Latin America.

The projects HumAct – Humanitarian Action: Climate Change and Displacements and InovHumRe – Innovation in Humanitarian Response, which he coordinated, focused on Humanitarian Action but had different objectives. What did each project propose?

Paulo Pedroso (PP) Both projects have a strong articulation with the Master's Degree in Humanitarian Action, of which Joana Azevedo, from the School of Sociology and Public Policy, and Ana Lúcia Martins, from the School of Management, are directors. This process began with the mandate that the Rector granted us to consider teaching and researching Humanitarian Action. We intend to establish international partnerships and add the two projects, InovHumRe and HumAct, for training in teaching and research. We have European, Middle Eastern (Turkey), African, and Latin American partners. In the area of capacity building in higher education, within the scope of the HumAct Project, we have completed 42 months of intense joint work between seven partners: two European – Iscte and National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; three Mozambican – Pedagogical University of Maputo, Rovuma University, and University of Púnguè; and two from Cape Verde – the University of Cape Verde and the University of Santiago.

This made it possible to create a network of teaching, research, and experience exchange, which contributed to the understanding of the Master's Degree in Humanitarian Action at Iscte and converged in a successful application for the creation of the Erasmus Mundus Human Response Master's Degree.

What are the main concerns of this training?

There were three axes of concern. First, the training aimed to feed teaching at Iscte with transnational experiences and approaches on the ground. The second axis was to transfer knowledge between all partners. The intercontinental experience helps us to understand the challenges of humanitarian action closer to the contexts where it exists: Latin American, Brazilian and Colombian colleagues had experience with refugees from Venezuela, Turkish and Greek colleagues had it in particular with refugees from the Middle East and those from Mozambique had experience of natural disasters and the problems of the terrorism in the north of the country. An exchange of experiences was generated. The third axis is the training of partners. There is a paradox in humanitarian action: it takes place predominantly in the countries of the Global South, and teaching and research in the area take place predominantly in the North.

The work with the three Mozambican universities and the two Cape Verdean universities was aimed at creating training in humanitarian action so that local professionals could assume more critical positions in organisations dedicated to working in this area. In Mozambique, this has had immediate results, as partner universities have already created their own master's degrees in this area: the Maputo Pedagogical University will offer the Master's Degree in Humanitarian Management and Action, the Púnguè University in Emergency and Disaster Management and the University of Rovuma in Humanitarian Action and Human Rights. In addition, there are synergies through other collaborations at Iscte and in Erasmus mobilities.

A handbook on Innovation in Humanitarian Response and Participatory Evaluation was created and shared among universities throughout the evaluation cycle

Joana Azevedo (JA) One of the most relevant aspects of the project's development is that Iscte saw the International Credit Mobility (ICM). This allowed us to significantly strengthen the mobility of teachers between the countries with which we wanted to create a network of teaching and research in humanitarian action, and we started to have teachers from Uganda, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and Lebanon in our Master's Degree. Several teachers also participated enthusiastically in the initiatives of these two projects and the ICM mobilities. We also responded to some challenges launched by partners, such as the University of Cape Verde, which held a Free Course on Fundamentals in Humanitarian Action aimed at professionals. There has been a fascinating set of teacher exchange initiatives over the years of the projects. We used these mobilities to prepare our application for the International Master's Degree in Humanitarian Action, which starts at Iscte in the next academic year.

Have these two projects always been articulated with each other?

PP Yes, but they are entirely autonomous. InovHumRe is about Innovation in Humanitarian Action, with innovation being the keyword. Conceptually, it is a project for sharing experiences and focused on the evaluation cycle. Humanitarian action occurs in demanding contexts and has operational difficulties and specific requirements. In Portugal, we found that there needs to be a widespread culture of evaluation. This project focused on developing a culture of participatory assessment, and curricular units were created for this purpose. We also prioritised the development of collaborative materials for the design of interventions: a handbook on Innovation in Humanitarian Response and Participatory Evaluation was created and shared between universities for the entire evaluation cycle. The focus was to analyse different experiences dealing with the refugee population, particularly in Latin America, such as the recent movement in Venezuela and the Middle East with Syrian refugees.

HumAct, on the other hand, is a teaching project that empowers African partner universities by developing new curricular units and setting up a research network for the development of research projects and joint publications. Something that enriched our exploration of the potential of online communication was the development of webinars, in which current issues in humanitarian action were discussed, always with European and African partners. These sessions faced the challenge of agreeing on a time zone between Mozambique, Cape Verde, and Greece—which is not easy—as well as some linguistic challenges. There has always been a speaker from an African and a European context.

The InovHumRe and HumAct projects promised innovative methodologies articulated with the practice of the field. How did this come about?

JA From the beginning, the concern was to be able to complement our teaching in this area with the experience coming from the field, with what was already done in humanitarian action by professionals from international agencies, governments and local NGOs, from whom we have been learning during these three years. With these experiences, we wanted to bring innovative, participatory content and methodologies to teaching that could respond to the current challenges of humanitarian action. That is, the academy should be supported by what is done on the ground to discuss opportunities for articulation. As a result, we have several course unit assignments and the first dissertations of students seeking to incorporate these methodologies and contexts.

The main results of the projects

Regarding the training of humanitarian action professionals, what was the evaluation?

PP There is an important fact conveyed by the Pedagogical University of Maputo project coordinator when she said, "There are things that we already did, but no one knew!". This project, particularly HumAct, brought to Mozambique and Cape Verde a strong stimulus to new partnerships between international universities and local civil society institutions. The project had summer/winter schools, where we greatly encouraged cooperation. We also had a stronger connection to the National Civil Protection Service, but we highlighted what happened in Mozambique and Cape Verde. It resulted in the university's opening to international NGOs, the bodies of the United Nations system and even public services. Universities are beginning to be seen as relevant partners. The Pedagogical University of Maputo, for example, participated in the relief of refugees from Cyclone Idaí (2019), and the University of Rovuma, located in the north, has been working with the refugee camps of the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) and those under the protection of the Government of Mozambique. With this partnership, they also gained visibility.

Returning to Iscte, preparatory work supported this project. Today, a collaboration protocol with the five African universities that participated in the HumAct project exists, which can extend beyond the project.

How were the contents developed for the first postgraduate course in humanitarian action?

JA The process began with an initiative in July 2018 that brought together the four Iscte schools and teachers with relevant skills to create a teaching offer in this area. The first step was to design an interdisciplinary study plan concerning international good practices, where this need for professionalisation had already been identified. At that time, it was already thought that this postgraduate course would be transformed into an International Master's Degree in Humanitarian Action.

In addition to Iscte's faculty, people with experience in the field and intervention in humanitarian contexts at an international level were also invited. We have been strengthening the network of partners, such as the Marquês de Valle Flôr Institute, Doctors Without Borders, the HELPO association (Non-Governmental Organization for Development), the NGDO (Non-Governmental Organizations for Development) platform, the Portuguese Council for Refugees, among others. A cycle of conferences with open debates was opened, with speakers with noteworthy performances in this area (the first cycle of conferences is published in book form by Mundos Sociais).

The Capacity Building projects played a significant role here. At HumAct, for example, the initial theme was climate change and travel, and from this aggregating theme, it was extended to other disciplinary areas. This multidisciplinary approach, which structurally marks the project, was fascinating. Subsequently, working groups were formed to design the contents. These summer/winter schools have identified opportunities for improvement and adjustment. This is ongoing work that still needs to be finished.

We often think that refugees are concentrated only in refugee camps. Still, a substantial number of them are welcomed in cross-border communities, which deserves much reflection

What is the evaluation they receive from partner entities?

PP On the part of the partner universities, there is a desire to continue working together. On the part of Mozambican universities, there is a request for us to continue to support and work on capacity building with them. I believe that, from the student's point of view, the experience of those who came to Lisbon and our evaluation also has a lot to do with openness to new experiences and new visions – I think that was very useful. In essence, the perception we are left with is that this collaborative work ended up causing a change that has multiple reflections. For example, the University of Rovuma recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humanitarian Action. Suddenly, the theme gained excellent visibility, which is very important on two levels: it brings the contexts of training closer to the contexts of action (these programs in Africa are still rare and pioneering) and, on the other hand, creates cooperation networks between teachers and researchers and partnerships that tend to become perennial and enter regular academic work.

JA The enthusiasm is so great that some universities have created a course in Humanitarian Action based on our experience with the curricular unit "Concepts, Fundamentals and Challenges in Humanitarian Action", which is now offered in several programs.

PP These programs were not exclusively Lusophone because they had Spanish-speaking partners, as well as Turkish and Greek; even so, these projects helped to mark an approximation of Iscte to the Lusophone space. Directly and indirectly, we strengthened Iscte's partnerships. African universities also have their own Lusophone partnerships, which reinforce this collaboration. There may be replication work with Guinea-Bissau and Angola from African partners. Cooperation and exchange activities have thus gained capillarity.

It is worth adding that the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, a partner of InovHumRe, for example, came to share the experience it had in "Operation Welcome", in which it collaborated with the Brazilian Armed Forces, in contact with Venezuelan refugees in very remote areas of Brazil. In Turkey, we had as a partner the historic university teaching social work in the country, Haceteppe, the Professional Association of Social Work and an NGO based in Gaziantep, a city that has more than doubled its population due to Syrian refugees. In this border town (120 km from Aleppo), the urban ecosystem has been completely altered, with the pressure naturally exerted on public services, employment, local commerce, etc. We often have the idea that refugees go to refugee camps. Still, a substantial part of them is welcomed in cross-border communities, which deserves a lot of reflection on the impact on host communities, which is sometimes neglected.

The perspective of humanitarian action