Humanitarian Academy

Mini MBA

Mini MBA AI and Humanitarian Action: working with Claude and Gemini

Exactly three months to work with Claude and Gemini without risk to people: effective requests, data protection, reports, proposals, data, translation, source checking and use policy. Demanding, practical, free.

  • 3 months · 12 weeks · 144 hours
  • 3 exams · 2 certificates + 1 diploma
  • 3 numerical case studies
  • Verifiable diploma
Start the course
  • Free, unlimited access
  • 12 weeks of in-depth lessons
  • 60 quiz questions and a bank of 90 exam questions
  • 3 numerical case studies and 3 demanding exams
  • Diploma in your name, verifiable online

What you will learn

  • Use Claude and Gemini methodically, knowing their limits, protecting data and respecting the humanitarian principles.
  • Produce accurate reports, proposals, analyses and messages faster, through systematic checking.
  • Frame AI in an organisation: verified sources, security, automation under human control, use policy and adoption plan.

Course information

Level
Advanced: month 1 (strategy and programmes), month 2 (resources and operations), month 3 (leadership and diploma)
Study time
144 hours over exactly 3 months (12 weeks: lessons, worked numerical exercises, case studies)
Format
Online, at your own pace, free and unlimited access
Assessment
Months 1 and 2: 25 questions + case study, 50 min, 80%; diploma: 30 questions on the whole programme + case study, 75 min, 85%
Credential
Named, numbered certificate of achievement, verifiable online (QR code)
Reference frameworks
ICRC and Brussels Privacy Hub · Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) · UNESCO

Enrol in the Mini MBA

Choose your pace. Your enrolment sets your start date: each monthly exam opens at the end of the corresponding month, and the diploma at the earliest exactly 3 months after you start.

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Participants' exchange space

Questions and answers under each module, field experiences, team announcements and the list of participants so you can connect. Enrolled members only, moderated.

Open the exchange space

💼 Programme management jobs

Put this course into practice: the latest jobs in this field.

See all 1079 Programme management jobs →

Prepare for the written test and interviewA model written test in this field, interview questions with sample answers and the STAR method.See the model test →

Three months, three exams, one diploma

Each month has four weeks of lessons and ends with a timed exam including a numerical case study. A month's exam only opens at the end of that month after you enrol: the diploma is awarded at the earliest exactly 3 months after you start.

Month 1

Exam: 33 questions · 50 min · 80% to pass

Month 1 certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Explain how generative AI assistants work and their limits, including hallucinations.
  • Write complete requests and iterate until the result is usable.
  • Classify information and protect personal and sensitive data.
  • Apply the humanitarian principles, ethics and transparency to the use of AI.
  1. Week1Understanding generative AI assistants: Claude, Gemini and their limitsWhat a generative AI assistant is · "Hallucinations": errors stated with confidence · Claude and Gemini: overview of features · What AI does well, what it does badly · Context window, memory and knowledge date · Choosing between Claude and Gemini
  2. Week2Writing good requests: role, context, task, format and examplesWhy wording matters so much · The five elements of a good request · Giving examples and documents · Iterating: the conversation is a workshop · Standing instructions: Projects and Gems · A request library for the team
  3. Week3Protecting data: what you never give an AI, and how to anonymiseWhy this is the most important week · The reference principles · What you never give a consumer assistant · Consumer plans and professional plans · Classify, then anonymise · Good everyday habits
  4. Week4AI ethics and humanitarian principles: do no harm, bias, transparencyThe humanitarian principles and AI · Bias: where it comes from, how to spot it · Decisions about people: the line not to cross · Transparency and accountability · Copyright, plagiarism and integrity · Environmental cost and equity of access
  5. Graded case study : The first month of AI at the NGO Sabil National NGO with 85 staff, three field offices, fictitious country · 33 questions including a case study · 80% to pass
Month 2

Exam: 33 questions · 50 min · 80% to pass

Month 2 certificate · Opens at the end of the month, after the Month 1 certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Produce accurate reports, sitreps and minutes through systematic checking.
  • Prepare consistent and honest proposals that comply with donor rules.
  • Analyse quantitative and qualitative data with AI without exposing personal data.
  • Translate and communicate with communities with review proportionate to risk.
  1. Week5Reports, sitreps and minutes: writing faster without losing accuracyThe right workflow · The situation report (sitrep) · Meeting minutes · Checking: the four-check method · Adapting to each audience · What not to do
  2. Week6Project proposals and fundraising: AI as a drafting assistantAnalysing a call for proposals · Theory of change and logframe · The narrative: from first draft to the organisation's text · The budget and its justification · Donor rules on AI · Beyond proposals: the donor relationship
  3. Week7Data analysis and MEAL: spreadsheets, qualitative data and checking calculationsWhat AI brings to MEAL · Formulas and scripts: the fictitious data method · Checking calculations and statistics · Qualitative data: rigour and traceability · Feedback and complaints mechanisms · From results to recommendations
  4. Week8Translation and communication with communities: speed, quality and accountabilityMachine translation today · Review proportionate to risk · Glossaries and terminological consistency · Writing for communities · Interpretation, voice and images · Rumours and false information in communities
  5. Graded case study : The Wadi report and proposal Cash transfer and water programme in two districts, fictitious country · 33 questions including a case study · 80% to pass
Diploma

Exam: 39 questions · 75 min · 85% to pass

Diploma certificate · Opens at the end of the month, after the Month 2 certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Search for, cite and check sources for monitoring or context analysis.
  • Deal with disinformation, fake content and AI-boosted fraud.
  • Organise sustainable productivity and automation under human control.
  • Write a use policy, govern, train and steer an AI deployment.
  1. Week9Research and monitoring with AI: finding, citing and checking sourcesThree research modes · Assessing cited sources · Effective monitoring · Context analysis · Limits and pitfalls · Citing correctly
  2. Week10Information, disinformation and security: what AI can and cannot doA new risk for acceptance · Spotting fake content · Responding to a disinformation campaign · AI in support of security analysis · Phishing and fraud boosted by AI · Security of AI accounts and tools
  3. Week11Everyday productivity: Gemini in Google Workspace, Claude Projects and automation under controlGemini in Google Workspace · Claude day to day · Saving time on routine tasks · Agents and automation: promises and safeguards · AI and your career · Staying up to date without burning out
  4. Week12Deploying AI in a humanitarian organisation: policy, governance, training and final projectWhy a use policy · The content of a use policy · Governance and tool selection · Training and support · Measuring results and costs · The final project: your adoption plan
  5. Graded case study : The AI adoption plan of the Nour network Network of national and international NGOs, 300 staff, four fictitious countries · 39 questions including a case study · 85% to pass

Who is it for?

Staff of national and international NGOs, UN agencies and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement who write, analyse or communicate: programme officers and coordinators, MEAL teams, information management, grants, communications, human resources, logistics and finance, office managers and members of management. No technical skills are required; professional experience in the sector is recommended.

The certificate

With at least 80% in the month 1 and month 2 exams, then 85% in the final exam, you receive the Humanitarian Mini MBA diploma in your name, with a unique code recruiters can check on Humanitaires Jobs. A free Humanitarian Network account is needed to take the exams.

Key concepts

The vocabulary you need to master for this course and the exam.

Show the 18 concepts
Large language model (LLM)
Model trained on large amounts of text to predict the most likely continuation of a text; the basis of Claude and Gemini.
Token
Unit of text processed by the model, often a piece of a word; used to measure the length of exchanges and usage limits.
Hallucination
False answer presented with confidence: an invented figure, reference or fact.
Context window
Amount of text (messages and files) the model can take into account in a conversation.
Knowledge date
Date beyond which the model knows nothing, unless it searches the web.
Request (prompt)
Instruction given to the assistant; a good request contains role, context, task, constraints and format.
Project (Claude) / Gem (Gemini)
Custom space or assistant that keeps standing instructions and, depending on the plan, reference documents.
In-depth research
Mode in which the assistant consults many sources and produces a structured report with citations.
Pseudonymisation
Replacing identifiers with codes; the person remains identifiable with the lookup table.
Anonymisation
Processing that makes it impossible to identify a person, including by cross-referencing.
Demographically identifiable data
Data, even without names, whose disclosure can put a group or community at risk.
Sycophancy bias
Tendency of an assistant to go along with the person asking the question.
Back-translation
Translating a text back into the original language to spot differences in meaning.
Deepfake
Doctored or generated image, video or audio recording presented as real.
Prompt injection
Hidden instructions in content read by the AI, intended to hijack its behaviour.
Agent
Assistant able to chain actions (reading, searching, filling in, sending) with less human intervention.
Shadow AI
Use of AI tools not approved by the organisation, often with personal accounts.
Data protection impact assessment
Prior assessment of the risks of processing personal data and of the measures to reduce them.

References and recommended reading

The official texts and sector reference works on which the course is based.

Show the 14 references
  1. ICRC and Brussels Privacy Hub (2020). Handbook on Data Protection in Humanitarian Action (2nd edition). www.icrc.org
  2. Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) (2023). Operational Guidance on Data Responsibility in Humanitarian Action. interagencystandingcommittee.org
  3. UNESCO (2021). Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. www.unesco.org
  4. United Nations (Chief Executives Board) (2022). Principles for the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in the United Nations System. unsceb.org
  5. European Union (2024). Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 on artificial intelligence (AI Act). eur-lex.europa.eu
  6. European Union (2016). General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). eur-lex.europa.eu
  7. CHS Alliance, Groupe URD and Sphere (2024). Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability. www.corehumanitarianstandard.org
  8. Sphere Association (2018). The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. spherestandards.org
  9. OECD (2019). Better Criteria for Better Evaluation: revised DAC evaluation criteria and principles for use. www.oecd.org
  10. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (2023). AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0). www.nist.gov
  11. Anthropic (2026). Claude documentation and help centre (features, privacy, plans). support.anthropic.com
  12. Google (2026). Help centre for Gemini Apps and Gemini for Google Workspace. support.google.com/gemini
  13. Anthropic (2026). Claude prompting guide (developer documentation). docs.anthropic.com
  14. OCHA (2026). ReliefWeb: humanitarian reports and maps. reliefweb.int

Frequently asked questions

Mini MBA AI and Humanitarian Action: is it really free?

Yes. The 12 weeks of lessons, the exams and the diploma are free, with no hidden costs. You only need a free account on Humanitaires Jobs.

Mini MBA AI and Humanitarian Action: how long does it take?

Exactly 3 months: 12 weeks, about 144 hours online. You choose your pace: start today (self-paced) or on the 1st of next month with a cohort.

How do I get the diploma?

Three online exams: Month 1: 33 questions in 50 minutes, 80% to pass; Month 2: 33 questions in 50 minutes, 80% to pass; Diploma: 39 questions in 75 minutes, 85% to pass. Each monthly exam opens at the end of that month, and the diploma exam at the earliest 3 months after you start.

Is it a real MBA?

No. It is a 3-month certificate programme of the Humanitarian Academy of Humanitaires Jobs, not a university MBA. The diploma has a number and a QR code, so any recruiter can check online that it is genuine. You can add it to your CV and LinkedIn profile.

Which jobs require these skills?

Today, 1079 open humanitarian jobs in “Programme management” are listed on the site (UN agencies, international and local NGOs), updated twice a day. →

Who is this Mini MBA for?

Staff of national and international NGOs, UN agencies and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement who write, analyse or communicate: programme officers and coordinators, MEAL teams, information management, grants, communications, human resources, logistics and finance, office managers and members of management. No technical skills are required; professional experience in the sector is recommended.

In which languages is the course available?

In French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic.