Strengthening Policy and Practice: Meeting the Challenges of Working in Complex Environments

"Strengthening Policy and Practice: Meeting the Challenges of Working in Complex Environments" is designed to draw on the experience and practice of participants, working in development, humanitarian aid or peacebuilding to influence internal policies and programmatic approaches. The course will identify how organisations can strive to balance their organisational mandate with the demands of working in complex and rapidly changing political contexts.

The course will enable participants to contribute to developing constructive organisational and programmatic policies that will guide practical responses in the development, humanitarian and peacebuilding fields. It will draw on the experience of participants and tutors to examine the key issues that are emerging from field-based work.

Participants will:

• Deepen their understanding of their work, from a conflict transformation perspective
• Apply appropriate conflict analysis to their own organisational contexts
• Explore the relationship between organisational policy and practice in situations of instability, conflict or violence
• Examine issues relating to aid and conflict in order to develop conflict sensitive policies for their organisations
• Consider the key policy and practice issues relating to the prevention of violent conflict and of building peace
• Strengthen their competence to contribute pro-actively to the development of appropriate policies and best practices in their organisation/ institution for working in environments affected by conflict or violence

This course is for staff of international and national agencies and those with advisory and management responsibility for emergency, relief, development, and peacebuilding programmes. It is particularly relevant for those engaged in the planning and implementation of field-based programmes, and those concerned with developing policies for appropriate responses in complex political emergencies.