The University of Algarve (UAlg) will teach, over the next year, a new postgraduate course in Humanitarian Action, scheduled to start in February 2022.
This course aims to «help students to assume different roles in humanitarian practice (for example: project manager, mission coordinator, consultant, etc.) and in planning interventions in volatile contexts, increasing their level of knowledge and specific skills, that will allow to minimize negative impacts and maximize opportunities for positive and sustainable changes», says UAlg.
Recent years have seen an increase in humanitarian crises resulting from various factors, such as globalization, the changing nature of conflicts, climate change, growing rivalry in access to energy and natural resources, extreme poverty, between others".
Many of these events “have serious consequences and devastating, long-lasting and complex effects that contribute to various critical scenarios, with a strong impact on the sustainable development and well-being of populations in the affected regions, resulting in a large number of refugees and internally displaced persons. ».
Given this panorama, the postgraduate course in Humanitarian Action aims to «develop professional skills to critically analyze humanitarian action and work effectively in humanitarian and development fields, prepare professionals or future professionals to deal with humanitarian responses, save lives, alleviate the suffering and preserving human dignity during and after crises, as well as preventing and strengthening the capacity to respond when such situations occur," explains the university.
The course is organized in 160 theoretical-practical hours (34h Problem-based learning; 29h practice; 46h theoretical practicals; 51 hours of seminars), 40 hours of tutorial guidance, 256 hours of autonomous student work, in a total of 456 hours, which translates into 16 ECTS.
The syllabus will thus offer «orientation, understanding, and the necessary capacities for a more effective humanitarian practice, in Portugal and in the world». To address these issues, "a more professional approach was deemed necessary, combining academic higher education with the professional skills of agents of Non-Governmental Development Organizations".
For Isabel Palmeirim, director of the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (FMCB), «nature makes a point of reminding us that Man cannot “domesticate” it and catastrophes (geological, climatic, biological, sociological or others) follow. is increasing at an ever-increasing pace, so it is imperative to form humanitarian aid teams, whether in Africa or “on your doorstep”».
In this sense, he says, «the FMBC of UAlg emphatically supported this post-graduation, believing that it will contribute to the creation of a group of better qualified professionals to act and support populations in disaster situations».
For more information, or to fill in the application form, which will be available shortly, you can access here.
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