The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs

• NINT 5301 - Program Management in International Humanitarian Crises (Fall 2008)

International humanitarian crises include acute situations affecting large civilian populations, usually involving a natural disaster, war or civil strife, food shortages, collapse of health and other basic services, as well as massive population displacement, and tend to result in excess mortality. This course will work on the skills a practitioner needs to work in an international crises, learning the techniques and tools to formulate and manage programs from humanitarian emergencies to transitional 'post-emergency' situations.

The 2004 Tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Iraq illustrate clearly the suffering of civilians. According to UNHCR there are approximately 33 million uprooted people. The first part of the course will explore initial response to a crisis how it happens, how it is organized and how it affects humanitarian workers. Staff safety, logistical challenges and communication issues will be investigated. Next, the course will address which organizations tend to respond to crisis, and sectors into which this response is usually organized. The course will furthermore introduce analytical frameworks in identifying and responding to different sub-sections of the displaced populations, including female-headed households, children, the disabled and others. The second half of the course will focus on minimum standards set for emergency response. The actual tools used for response will be key reading for this section of the course. After a general introduction, the course will explore the following sectors: health, including epidemiology; communicable disease; environmental health (water and sanitation); shelter and site planning; nutrition and protection. The prevention and management of HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence are two important aspects of emergency response. The course will explain how these are addressed comprehensively in the emergency phase. After this broad overview of humanitarian response, the course will look at overall coordination of humanitarian response.

Concentrations:Governance and Rights, Development