National NGO Program on Humanitarian Leadership (NNPHL)

NNPHL provides dynamic training opportunities that help learners take on leadership responsibilities during humanitarian crises.

The community gathers for a Concern Worldwide Nutrition clinic at a health facility in a rural area of Aweil, South Sudan.

About the Program

From conflicts to natural disasters, humanitarians are at the forefront of providing life-saving aid to populations in need. Negotiating access to these populations and ensuring that aid is delivered in a manner that respects humanitarian norms and international law is no easy task. This work requires strong leadership and strategic vision. Yet, few humanitarian professionals have access to leadership training programs.

That’s why Concern Worldwide, in consortium with International Medical Corps (IMC) and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) and with technical support from Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health developed the National NGO Program on Humanitarian Leadership (NNPHL), formerly called the Program on Humanitarian Leadership (PHL). The program, funded by the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and launched in 2016, offers dynamic and relevant training opportunities that help learners build their skills, knowledge, and confidence to take on leadership responsibilities in humanitarian organizations in order to improve the delivery of services to those in need of humanitarian assistance.

Since the program began, NNPHL has received more than 10,000 applications and trained 300 humanitarians from 51 countries through the NNPHL Leadership Training, a blended training program for national and local humanitarian practitioners that utilizes innovative pedagogies to combine a rigorous academic curriculum with practical experiential learning including coaching and individual assignments. Now with additional funding from BHA, NNPHL has launched the NNPHL Online Course, an innovative e-learning course that offers leadership training to humanitarians and all those passionate about humanitarian action. The NNPHL Online Course, which has had nearly 6,000 online users, is open to all at no cost and marks the latest initiative by the NNPHL consortia.

As a consortium of operational NGOs and an academic initiative, we have combined our areas of expertise to develop tailored leadership courses and trainings for humanitarians and those interested in humanitarian action. NNPHL’s diverse set of instructors provides a unique look into the world of humanitarian leadership through two leadership development courses.

One is an innovative, blended-learning program for national and local humanitarian professionals called the NNPHL Leadership Training. The second is an open-access, e-learning course—the NNPHL Online Course—which introduces leadership approaches and explores other challenges faced in humanitarian and disaster settings. Learn more about this no-cost online course here.

Emergency flood response in MozambiqueConcern's Kirk Prichard unloads carpets for a distribution in Talamarang, a village in Sindhupalchok district, one of the hardest hit areas by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015.
Ambulance training in Sierra Leone.Pikin To Pikin staff member Victoria Squire leads a School Management Committee (SMC) training session in Makali Community, Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone.

Upcoming Workshops

  1. NNPHL Online Course

    Online

    The NNPHL Online Course is taught by seasoned professionals and addresses a variety of topics including Adaptive Leadership for Humanitarians, Theories of Leadership, Introduction to Gender and Humanitarian Action, and Challenges in Humanitarian Security.

    This e-learning course is open to anyone regardless of one’s experience, professional level or engagement with NNPHL (e.g., previous NNPHL applicants, and NNPHL Leadership Training alumni are able to take the e-learning course). No application is required. The online course is available at no cost.

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