Carine Chehab on taking the Red Cross Red Crescent Learning network’s humanitarian diplomacy course

– July 19, 2012Posted in: About the Learning network, Academic partnerships, Featured, Humanitarian diplomacy, Learning, Qatar Red Crescent Society
Humanitarian diplomacy is persuading decision makers and opinion leaders to act, at all times, in the interests of vulnerable people, and with full respect for fundamental humanitarian principles. The rapid expansion of the number of humanitarian actors in recent years, working for or with governments at all levels and often in complex situations, makes humanitarian diplomacy increasingly important. The Red Cross Red Crescent Learning network’s course in humanitarian diplomacy aims to extend the knowledge base and develop practical skills of current and future practitioners. 
Carine Chehab was part of the first-ever cohort of students from all over the world to take a brand-new, certificate-level course on the subject, offered through partnership between the Red Cross Red Crescent Learning network and DiploFoundation.

 

Carine Chehab

My name is Carine Chehab and I joined the humanitarian diplomacy course as Strategic partnership and humanitarian diplomacy Officer at International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

I joined the course when it started, in February 2012, mainly because I was really looking for ways — and I still am looking for ways — to build humanitarian diplomacy strategies for the National Societies that are really rooted in experiences and best practices among practitioners, both, within the Red Cross Red Crescent family, but also, outside as well.

So far I’ve found the course content and the discussions with the other participants to be very dynamic, very engaging. Every week we are given a text that we’re meant to analyze and really create a discussion around some focal points and it’s been very engaging and I’ve found that the experiences of others have really shared some interesting insight.

Also in terms of the faculty and the lecturers, they have a wealth of information and experience that I feel very privileged to have learned from through the course.

And I do feel that, all in all, so far, and as I am coming to the end of the course, I’ve really learned some practical applications of humanitarian diplomacy, including humanitarian persuasion and negotiation, that’s really rooted again, in humanitarian principles and mixing a sort of theory and practice in a way that is very approachable. So I do definitely recommend this course for anyone out there who wants to learn more about what humanitarian diplomacy is in reality and where the roots of humanitarian diplomacy really come from in order to practice it, to support vulnerable communities.

To learn more about humanitarian diplomacy course offered by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other activities of the Learning network, please follow this link. In partnership with academic institutions, the Learning Network offers training and study in three key areas: Social and Voluntary Sector Leadership, Global Health and Humanitarian Diplomacy. For more information, click here.

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