People need special training and gain specific skills for humanitarian emergencies dealing with the effects of conflict, forced migration, global immigration resulting from climate change and other disasters. Regardless of having a professional degree in medicine, nursing, logistics, public health etc., the requirements for working in emergency settings require a specific, special set of skills, knowledge, and resources not usually part of professional training. Also, people doing humanitarian assistance work for many years or decades often do not have a way of documenting the expertise gained from their experiences…. degrees are not a surrogate for these specific skills. Therefore, a small group of volunteers began to formulate the set of “core competencies” needed specifically in humanitarian settings. By engaging partners in the international non-profit world, along with WHO, regional and country-specific governments and regulatory and oversight organizations, we were able to begin to raise both the visibility and specificity of humanitarian work in ways that underscored the professionalism involved. These have evolved from descriptive competencies into a framework that could now be used for a process of codifying or certifying competence in Humanitarian Assistance Work. The small group articulating this new approach to humanitarian core competencies was led by Peter Walker with whom I worked closely leading to publications and a growing network of colleagues and organizations around the world that have carried this approach and concept forward.
Mowafi, H, Hein K , Nowak, K: Facing the Challenges in Human Resources for Humanitarian Health. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine (PDM) (2007) 22:274-283.
Hein K: The competency of competencies. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 25(5):196-197, 2010,
Walker P, Hein K, Russ C, Bertleff G and Caspersz D. A blueprint for professionalizing humanitarian assistance. Health Affairs 29:12 2223-2230, 2010.
Johnson K, Burkle F, Idzerda L, Baras R, Hein K. Standardized Training for Humanitarian Providers: The First Step Toward Professionalization of the Humanitarian Community. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
