Hi all, my apologies for joining the discussion late!
I had a read through the ELRHA document over the weekend. I found the core competencies to be a really valuable list of the kind of skills, characteristics, awareness and ethos that a practitioner needs in order to provide high standards and efficacy of assistance. I was thinking about how in law, to practice you need to pass your bar exam following your law degree. Similarly, I think that a post-degree certification that’s based on the ELRHA’s Core Humanitarian Competencies would likewise ensure the standard of professionalism when entering the humanitarian sector. In this way, it would help prepare new practitioners who might lack in some of the competencies before entering the sector; refresher exams could be used in a professional development context as practitioners move through levels 2 and 3 of the competencies framework. What does everyone else think about this idea, is it feasible?
The other thing that I found really valuable reading through the competencies was assessing myself in each of the areas to help determine my own preparedness. It has given me a good idea of both where my strengths are and of the areas I need to explore further.
Cheers, John