Format: Live instructor-led online training via Zoom / Microsoft Teams

Women's Leadership in Humanitarian Response Training Course

Course Overview

The Women's Leadership in Humanitarian Response Training Course is designed to strengthen the leadership capacity of women working in humanitarian assistance, disaster risk reduction, emergency response, recovery, peacebuilding, and resilience programming. The course equips humanitarian professionals, government officials, development practitioners, non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, and community leaders with practical knowledge and evidence-based strategies for promoting women’s leadership, gender-responsive humanitarian programming, inclusive decision-making, and organizational transformation. As humanitarian crises become increasingly complex due to armed conflict, climate change, displacement, pandemics, and natural disasters, women's leadership has become essential for delivering effective, inclusive, accountable, and sustainable humanitarian interventions. This course provides participants with practical tools for enhancing leadership effectiveness while promoting gender equality, women's empowerment, protection, and meaningful participation throughout the humanitarian programme cycle.

Participants will gain practical competencies in strategic leadership, crisis management, humanitarian coordination, negotiation, policy advocacy, gender analysis, protection mainstreaming, conflict-sensitive programming, organizational leadership, team management, stakeholder engagement, and evidence-based decision-making. The training emphasizes women's participation in humanitarian governance, emergency preparedness, disaster response coordination, resource mobilization, humanitarian diplomacy, safeguarding, accountability to affected populations, localization, and community resilience. Through practical exercises, leadership simulations, collaborative learning, mentoring approaches, and real-world humanitarian case studies, participants will strengthen their ability to lead humanitarian operations, influence policy development, and build inclusive organizational cultures that support women leaders at all levels.

The course further explores emerging issues including women's leadership in climate resilience, digital humanitarian action, humanitarian innovation, peacebuilding, cash and voucher assistance, localization, community-based protection, women's economic empowerment, humanitarian financing, mental health and wellbeing, and institutional gender transformation. Participants will learn practical methods for strengthening leadership confidence, managing diverse teams, building strategic partnerships, influencing policy, promoting inclusive governance, addressing gender barriers, preventing gender-based violence, and fostering organizational systems that support women's advancement in humanitarian leadership. Special emphasis is placed on integrating international humanitarian standards, gender equality frameworks, and leadership competencies into humanitarian planning and implementation.

Upon successful completion of the course, participants will possess the knowledge, leadership skills, and practical tools required to effectively lead humanitarian operations, strengthen institutional capacity, promote gender-responsive humanitarian programming, and advance women's participation in humanitarian decision-making processes. Organizations will benefit from stronger leadership pipelines, improved operational effectiveness, enhanced gender equality, increased accountability, better stakeholder engagement, stronger donor confidence, improved organizational resilience, and sustainable humanitarian programs that leverage the expertise, innovation, and leadership of women across humanitarian and development sectors.

Course Objectives

1. Understand the principles of women's leadership in humanitarian response.
2. Strengthen leadership and decision-making skills for humanitarian operations.
3. Integrate gender-responsive approaches into humanitarian programming.
4. Promote women's participation in humanitarian coordination and governance.
5. Enhance negotiation, advocacy, and strategic communication skills.
6. Strengthen protection mainstreaming and safeguarding practices.
7. Build effective leadership for emergency preparedness, response, and recovery.
8. Develop monitoring and evaluation systems for gender-responsive humanitarian programs.
9. Foster inclusive organizational leadership and institutional transformation.
10. Promote sustainable women's leadership and empowerment across humanitarian systems.

Organization Benefits

1. Strengthens women's leadership across humanitarian programs.
2. Improves organizational gender equality and inclusion.
3. Enhances humanitarian coordination and decision-making.
4. Strengthens protection and safeguarding practices.
5. Improves program effectiveness through gender-responsive leadership.
6. Builds resilient and diverse leadership teams.
7. Enhances stakeholder engagement and community participation.
8. Strengthens compliance with international gender and humanitarian standards.
9. Increases donor confidence through inclusive leadership practices.
10. Promotes sustainable organizational growth and institutional resilience.

Target Participants

• Humanitarian Program Managers
• Women Humanitarian Leaders
• Emergency Response Coordinators
• Government Disaster Management Officials
• Gender Specialists
• NGO and INGO Staff
• United Nations Agency Personnel
• Community Development Officers
• Disaster Risk Reduction Specialists
• Protection Officers
• Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Specialists
• Peacebuilding Practitioners
• Policy Makers
• Project Managers
• Social Development Officers
• Women's Rights Organizations
• Community Leaders
• Human Resource Managers
• Development Practitioners
• Leadership and Governance Professionals

Course Outline

Module 1: Foundations of Women's Leadership in Humanitarian Response

• Principles of humanitarian leadership
• Gender equality and women's empowerment
• Humanitarian leadership competencies
• International humanitarian and gender frameworks
• Ethical leadership and accountability
• Case Study: Women's leadership in coordinating humanitarian response during a large-scale emergency

Module 2: Strategic Leadership and Humanitarian Coordination

• Crisis leadership and decision-making
• Humanitarian coordination mechanisms
• Strategic planning and resource mobilization
• Negotiation and conflict resolution
• Stakeholder engagement and partnership development
• Case Study: Leading multi-agency humanitarian coordination in disaster response

Module 3: Gender-Responsive Humanitarian Programming

• Gender analysis in humanitarian settings
• Protection mainstreaming
• Prevention of gender-based violence
• Inclusive humanitarian programme design
• Accountability to affected populations
• Case Study: Integrating gender-responsive programming into humanitarian recovery initiatives

Module 4: Organizational Leadership and Team Management

• Leading diverse humanitarian teams
• Change management and organizational transformation
• Mentorship and coaching for women leaders
• Communication and influence
• Building resilient organizational cultures
• Case Study: Strengthening women's leadership within humanitarian organizations

Module 5: Innovation, Resilience and Women's Empowerment

• Women's leadership in climate resilience
• Humanitarian innovation and digital transformation
• Economic empowerment and livelihood recovery
• Community resilience and localization
• Policy advocacy and social inclusion
• Case Study: Women-led community resilience initiatives in humanitarian settings

Module 6: Monitoring, Evaluation and Sustainable Leadership

• Leadership performance measurement
• Monitoring gender-responsive humanitarian outcomes
• Organizational learning and adaptive leadership
• Institutional policy development
• Future trends in women's humanitarian leadership
• Case Study: Evaluating leadership impact on humanitarian programme performance and organizational transformation

General Information

1. Customized Training: All our courses can be tailored to meet the specific needs of participants.
2. Language Proficiency: Participants should have a good command of the English language.
3. Comprehensive Learning: Our training includes well-structured presentations, practical exercises, web-based tutorials, and collaborative group work. Our facilitators are seasoned experts with over a decade of experience.
4. Certification: Upon successful completion of training, participants will receive a certificate from Foscore Development Center (FDC-K).
5. Training Locations: Training sessions are conducted at Foscore Development Center (FDC-K) centers. We also offer options for in-house and online training, customized to the client's schedule.
6. Flexible Duration: Course durations are adaptable, and content can be adjusted to fit the required number of days.
7. Onsite Training Inclusions: The course fee for onsite training covers facilitation, training materials, two coffee breaks, a buffet lunch, and a Certificate of Successful Completion. Participants are responsible for their travel expenses, airport transfers, visa applications, dinners, health/accident insurance, and personal expenses.
8. Additional Services: Accommodation, pickup services, freight booking, and visa processing arrangements are available upon request at discounted rates.
9. Equipment: Tablets and laptops can be provided to participants at an additional cost.
10. Post-Training Support: We offer one year of free consultation and coaching after the course.
11. Group Discounts: Register as a group of more than two and enjoy a discount ranging from 10% to 50%.
12. Payment Terms: Payment should be made before the commencement of the training or as mutually agreed upon, to the Foscore Development Center account. This ensures better preparation for your training.
13. Contact Us: For any inquiries, please reach out to us at training@fdc-k.org or call us at +254712260031.
14. Website: Visit our website at www.fdc-k.org for more information.