Postgraduate degree in humanitarian action
31-12-1997 Article, International Review of the Red Cross, No. 321
University of Geneva (November 1998 -July 1999)
Starting in November 1998, the University of Geneva will be offering a postgraduate degree in humanitarian action within the framework of its interfaculty humanitarian action programme. Set up in 1993 to analyse humanitarian action as it is carried out in various contexts, the programme was officially recognized in 1995. Its four areas of interest are armed conflicts, natural disasters, the population movements to which these phenomena give rise and the major social problems encountered in industrialized societies (ill-treatment, detention, exclusion, vulnerability, etc.).
The planned course of study will provide a comprehensive overview of humanitarian issues in all their complexity. A multidisciplinary approach will be guaranteed by the participation of the University’s various faculties (Arts, Economics and Social Science, Law, Medicine, Psychology and Education, Science, Theology) and its Graduate Institutes of International Studies and Development Studies. Several UN agencies and humanitarian organizations in Geneva (ICRC, International Organization for Migration, Médecins sans frontières , Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World Health Organization) will take part as well, thus helping to ensure that the teaching is closely related to practice and actual conditions in the field.
The course comprises six modules. The first five focus on specific themes and last from f our to eight weeks; during the sixth, students may either undergo a period of practical training or analyse a particular problem, after which they are required to write a dissertation (internship report or research paper).
— Module 1 Origins and future of humanitarian action (9 November -18 December 1998)
— Module 2 Managing a humanitarian crisis (4 January -26 February 1999)
— Module 3 The workings of a humanitarian organization (1 -26 March 1999)
— Module 4 Humanitarian action and social work (12 April -21 May 1999)
— Module 5 Crises and development (25 May -3 July 1999)
— Module 6 Dissertation (July -end of September 1999)
Admission requirements: Candidates must be university graduates ( licence or equivalent degree) and have professional experience in a humanitarian field (social welfare services, NGOs, prisons, etc.). The course will be taught in English and French.
Deadline for enrolment: 28 February 1998.
For further information, contact:
Programme plurifacultaire action humanitaire
Centre médical universitaire (CMU)
9, aven ue de Champel
1211 Geneva 4 -Switzerland
Tel: ++41 22 702 55 99
Fax: ++41 22 789 24 17
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