PHAP members volunteer to strengthen practitioner perspective in courses

With an average of twelve years of professional experience, PHAP’s members have solid grounding in their respective fields. In an effort to help members share this knowledge, PHAP has been involving the more experienced of them in PHAP’s Thematic Workshops, to the benefit of participants and themselves. Having sessions led by experienced practitioners can lead to interesting angles when discussing issues concerning, for example, international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles, as evidenced by PHAP’s recent training courses held in Dubai.

During the Dubai Core Professional Training on Humanitarian Law and Policy, in March 2013, Mamar Merzouk volunteered to act as a senior member facilitator. Currently based in Dubai and working for the Norwegian Refugee Council to foster relations with Gulf-based donors, Mamar has held several senior positions with both major international humanitarian NGOs and intergovernmental organizations. During the course, he discussed with the 22 participants to what extent the principles underpinning humanitarian action (humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality) are universal and understood in the same way by all humanitarian actors.

In PHAP’s ensuing Thematic Workshop on the Protection of Civilians in Internal Armed Conflicts, the contributions of two experienced PHAP member practitioners complemented those of the speakers. While the speakers brought a legal and academic perspective (Sandesh Sivakumaran, Nottingham University) as well as a military perspective (Clive Dow, British Royal Navy), PHAP members Olivia Kalis, currently with the Norwegian Refugee Council in DR Congo, and Isabella Castrogiovanni, Senior Child Protection Officer with UNICEF, brought the experience of how these legal issues were actually implemented in the field. Together with the participants, they analyzed the different stages of designing and implementing protection strategies, focusing on the specific challenges of the contexts that those present were currently working in, which included South Sudan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

PHAP plans to further develop these opportunities for members to deepen their engagement in the association and contribute to knowledge sharing among members. If you are interested in this kind of high-level volunteering, please contact the Secretariat.