News

First advanced course for humanitarian negotiators
13 Dec 2018 - 15:59
Source: Clingendael

Last month, alumni from six previous training sessions in 2017 came to Clingendael for the programme’s first ever Advanced Course. 

After a brief recap of the previously trained tools, the participants launched into a brand new programme designed to deepen their understanding of negotiation processes and heighten their ability to effectively use negotiation skills.

The course focused on effective mandates, handling pressure in unsafe situations, escalating and de-escalating language in negotiations with authorities, and how to break deadlocks.  The participants received ample time for back home action planning, allowing them to think about how their new skills can help not only themselves, but also their wider organisation.    

The training took place at Institute Clingendael and at the Civili Military Cooperation Centre, the Dutch training centre for the Ministry of Defence who generously provided us with their training facilities.

We were grateful to receive excellent feedback from the participants, and look forward to working with the next selection of alumni for our next advanced course on 19-21 March.

“All the 3 simulation exercises I participated in, were very appropriate to the real life situation in […] where I work. All the tools are relevant and can be applied according to the context. I will apply them even in my daily life while negotiating right from home up to the community with the different people that I work with.”

“It helped me to understand how to control my emotions even in aggressive situations in order to success the best and lead to having a better result”

“In most of the courses the back home action planning is missed, this was a well thought of part to ensure that the participants are able to replicate the training back home."

The training was part of our larger humanitarian negotiation project, which is funded by the Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Should you have a training request, please do not hesitate to contact us.