The humanitarian response sector is eager for its best staff to join the ranks of the professionals – according to a new study which says 90 per cent of aid workers would support the creation of an internationally recognised profession.

The study produced by ELRHA – a network of aid agencies and UK universities - to explore how the humanitarian community could raise standards within aid work through training and certification, aims is to improve the level of service that aid agencies deliver to the people they work with.

The study recognises that the humanitarian sector, which employs more than 200,000 aid workers worldwide, currently has no formal system of training and development.

It also highlights that the traditional route into aid work is an expensive masters degrees followed by self-funded voluntary work, which puts the career path out of reach of many.

It is suggested that around one in eight humanitarian aid workers could potentially achieve a professional humanitarian status.

This professional group would be made up of highly skilled and experienced emergency programme managers, engineers and technical experts working for charities, aid agencies and UN organisations.

Catherine Russ, director for learning and development at RedR and co-author of the report, said: "This new study backs increasing equity of access to vocational and academic qualifications for all humanitarian workers irrespective of where they live and work around the world.

"The report proposes a new system of certification for the sector and, crucially, the establishment of a true international professional association for humanitarian workers."

The study looks at how the process of professionalisation could be achieved by first agreeing a unified structure of necessary qualifications, creating a clear career path and a certification process.

It suggests that in the future individual aid workers would be formally committed to certain standards and a code of conduct – akin to individual doctors taking the Hippocratic oath.

Gareth Owen, director of emergencies at Save the Children, which backed the study, said: “Much like doctors and lawyers, aid workers feel a strong sense of calling to their work. They dedicate their lives to helping people in some of the most difficult and dangerous places in the world.

"But unlike doctors and lawyers, there is no standard set of professional qualifications and accreditation. As a result it is difficult to attract new talent, to develop staff and recognise and reward the best. We want to change all that.”

Share Story: