This 17-month initiative, run by the Florence School of Transnational Governance (EUI) for the UN Global Executive Leadership Initiative (GELI), in partnership with the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN), equipped leaders with essential negotiation skills to address crises and support the most vulnerable.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 300 million people worldwide require humanitarian assistance. This includes women, men and children, civilians, refugees and internally displaced people in countries and regions such as Afghanistan, DR Congo, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and Venezuela.
The LEARN programme empowers leaders to navigate these challenges, enhancing responsible leadership and cross-sector collaboration. With 180 professionals engaged across six regions, the programme used a dynamic, experiential learning approach. Supported by partners as AGFUND, ECHO, IFRC, NRC, UNICEF, UNHCR, and WFP, it offers high-level responsible negotiation courses tailored to humanitarian leaders in complex environments.
“The European University Institute offers more than just courses, it delivers transformative experiences that meet the evolving needs of today’s leaders,” said Panos Moumtzis, GELI Executive Director, “Agility and adaptation are essential, and this approach cements the EUI’s role as a pivotal partner in capacity-building initiatives worldwide.”
Between October 2023 and February 2025, seven executive training courses have taken place in key regional hubs —Abidjan, Amman, Bangkok, Dakar, Nairobi, and Panama City—bringing together professionals from 78 international organisations, intergovernmental agencies, NGOs, and members of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. These locations were strategically selected due to the pressing challenges humanitarians face.
The courses, therefore designed with real-world humanitarian challenges in mind, emphasised hands-on learning through intensive four-day in-person workshops, complemented by five tailored online sessions.
“More than ever, responsible negotiation is necessary to support the most vulnerable worldwide,” said Professor Alain Lempereur, EUI Chair in Leadership and Negotiation and lead facilitator of the programme. “Collaborative leadership contributes to an alignment around core humanitarian principles. It helps to build agile mandates within each organisation and foster better coordination between humanitarians. Our goal is to support senior leaders so that those who are most in need are aided and protected.”
The programme was structured around the responsible negotiation framework developed by Professor Lempereur in the book The First Move. A Negotiator’s Companion. He leveraged three pillars ("3P") for negotiation: the People to engage, the Problems to solve, and the Processes to structure and facilitate. Toufik Naili, head cofacilitator from CCHN, also mobilised the Naivasha grid and the CCHN community of practice. Through this practical programme, participants tackled key topics such as strategy, preparation, process, humanitarian framing, women's leadership, meeting management, communication, and negotiation tactics.
Supported by renowned instructors, coaches, and speakers—including, Thaer Allaw, Fiorella Erni, Julie Habran, Michele Pekar, Yamina Aouina, Yene Assegid, Elizabeth Griffin, and Ricardo Perez-Nückel—the programme blended operational theory with humanitarian practice, with additional evaluation by Professor Kalypso Nicolaïdis.
The results speak for themselves: 80% of participants reported significant improvements in their negotiation skills, enhancing their ability to tackle complex challenges in their daily work.
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For individuals seeking further professional development opportunities, the EUI Executive Education catalogue offers insights into our open-call courses.