What you will learn
- Place a humanitarian negotiation within its legal framework, its principles and the organisation's chain of mandate.
- Prepare a negotiation: context analysis, island of agreement, iceberg of positions and motives, network of influence, objectives and red lines.
- Conduct the meeting, manage tension and refusals, conclude, document and follow up the agreement.
Course information
- Level
- Beginner → Intermediate → Advanced (one certificate per level)
- Study time
- 24 hours over 4 days (lessons, case studies, exercises)
- Format
- Online, at your own pace, free and unlimited access
- Assessment
- Per level: graded case study + 20-question exam (30 to 40 min, pass marks 70%, 75% and 80%)
- Credential
- Named, numbered certificate of achievement, verifiable online (QR code)
- Reference frameworks
- Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) · OCHA (G. McHugh and M. Bessler) · ICRC
A 3-level certification pathway
Progress from Beginner to Advanced. Each level ends with a graded case study and a timed exam, and leads to its own verifiable certificate.
Level 1Beginner
Exam: 20 questions · 30 min · 70% to pass
Beginner certificate
By the end of this level, you will be able to:
- Explain what humanitarian negotiation is and its legal framework.
- Distinguish the roles of negotiator, mandator and support team.
- Identify what is and is not negotiable.
- Day1Understanding humanitarian negotiationWhat is humanitarian negotiation? · Legal framework and principles · Negotiator, mandator and support team · The negotiator's posture Scenario: When the letter is not enough
- Graded case study : The bridge checkpoint Access road to three isolated villages · 20 questions including a case study · 70% to pass
Level 2Intermediate
Exam: 20 questions · 30 min · 75% to pass
Intermediate certificate · Opens after the Beginner certificate
By the end of this level, you will be able to:
- Prepare a negotiation with CCHN tools: island of agreement, iceberg, network of influence.
- Set objectives, margins, red lines and a best alternative with the mandator.
- Conduct a meeting, with active listening and an interpreter.
- Day2Preparing: context, iceberg and network of influenceAnalysing the context and finding the island of agreement · The iceberg: positions, reasoning, motives · The network of influence · Objectives, margins, red lines and fallback options Scenario: Preparing to meet the commander
- Day3Conducting the meeting and making the agreement holdConducting the meeting · Active listening and working with an interpreter · Tension, refusals and unacceptable demands · Concluding, documenting and following up Scenario: The last-minute demand
- Graded case study : The lists and the commander's "share" Area controlled by a non-state armed group · 20 questions including a case study · 75% to pass
Level 3Advanced
Exam: 20 questions · 40 min · 80% to pass
Advanced certificate · Opens after the Intermediate certificate
By the end of this level, you will be able to:
- Manage dilemmas and compromises without crossing red lines.
- Conduct a multi-level negotiation and build common positions.
- Protect the negotiator and the organisation from pressure and threats.
- Day4Advanced module Complex negotiations: dilemmas, compromises and common positionsDilemmas and acceptable compromises · Negotiating at several levels · Common positions and access coordination · Protecting the negotiator and the organisation
- Graded case study : Negotiating access to a besieged town Town of 60,000 people encircled for four months · 20 questions including a case study · 80% to pass
Who is it for?
Base and project managers, coordinators, access and security officers, liaison officers, national staff dealing with authorities and armed groups, distribution teams.
The certificate
With at least 70% correct answers in the final assessment, you receive a certificate in your name, with a unique code that recruiters can verify on Humanitaires Jobs. A free Members area account is required.
Key concepts
The vocabulary you need to master for this course and the exam.
- Frontline negotiation
- Negotiation conducted in the field with the parties that control access.
- Mandator
- Person who sets the mandate and red lines and takes the final decision.
- Island of agreement
- Facts and values already shared with the counterpart; the starting point of the meeting.
- Iceberg
- A party's visible position, reasoning and deeper motives.
- Network of influence
- People and groups who influence the counterpart.
- Red line
- A limit the organisation refuses to cross whatever happens.
- Best alternative
- What you will do if no agreement is possible.
- Joint operating principles
- Minimum conditions shared by the organisations in the same area.
- Humanitarian access
- The ability to reach populations and the ability of populations to access aid.
References and recommended reading
The official texts and sector reference works on which the course is based.
- Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) (2019). CCHN Field Manual on Frontline Humanitarian Negotiation. frontline-negotiations.org
- OCHA (G. McHugh and M. Bessler) (2006). Humanitarian Negotiations with Armed Groups: A Manual for Practitioners. www.unocha.org
- ICRC (2005). Rule 55: access for humanitarian relief (customary international humanitarian law). ihl-databases.icrc.org/fr/customary-ihl/v1/rule55
- R. Fisher, W. Ury and B. Patton (1981). Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. www.pon.harvard.edu