United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Sep 2023
This WEM Face-to-Face (WEMF2F) is part of the WEM blended learning process which includes: (1) preworkshop self-study, (2) attendance at a 3-day live virtual WEM training conducted online from 5-8 September 2023, and (3) the 7 day field-based face-to-face (F2F) WEM training course which was conducted from 15 – 21 September 2023 in Brindisi, Italy at the UNHRD Training Centre managed by WFP.
UNHCR Division of Emergency, Security and Supply (DESS) provided the overall coordination, planning and administration for the WEM. In concert with UNHCR DESS and UNHCR resource persons/trainers, InterWorks LLC helped prepare the workshop materials and provided overall facilitation for the event.
The WEM is a well-designed, fit-for-purpose event, to prepare participants for emergency deployment. It complements well the other online and self-study components to ensure a comprehensive overall experience. Participants at this WEMF2F also had opportunities for individual interviews by ES roster deployment staff during the course of the workshop.
This intensive and demanding course prepared participants for surge emergency deployment focusing on three areas of emergency management: managing yourself, managing relationships, and managing your operational role through all phases of the deployment. The course was interactive and work-oriented, and employed a variety of methodologies, including a 3-day field simulation exercise, presentations and case study, as well as group and plenary discussions. The agenda included sessions on team-building, operations planning, financial and administrative systems, operational partnerships, communication and negotiation skills, security, coordination and information-sharing, telecommunications, and humanitarian protection. This was also the second time to conduct the SELP training in parallel with the WEM. Thus, the trainings included periodic planned interactions between the SELP participants as Emergency Team Leaders, and the WEM participants as ERT multi-functional teams.
The simulation exercise was more practical and gave me and my team a more practical understanding of real emergency situations, thus requiring more pro-activeness while focusing more on the need to save lives and provide basic needs like food and water to the forcibly displaced. There is really nothing to improve on as I strongly believe the facilitators equipped us with the best training. I am really so grateful to the DESS team.
– Workshop participant