Climate change, conflict and global economic volatility are all contributing to an increased frequency of humanitarian emergencies worldwide. Emergencies put affected populations at a much higher risk of becoming malnourished, and this in turn leads to an increase in disease and death. Yet, malnutrition is not an inevitable consequence of emergencies; effective strategies exist for preventing and treating malnutrition in these settings. Implementing such strategies requires people on the ground who can anticipate and respond to nutritional needs of communities, even when working in demanding and constantly changing environments. It also requires coordinated action by those working in a range of sectors, including health, food security, livelihoods, water, sanitation and hygiene and logistics.

One of the biggest challenges facing Governments, UN agencies and NGOs in their attempts to prevent and treat malnutrition in emergencies is that there are simply not enough people who are trained in nutrition. In response, the Centre for International Health and Development (part of University College London), the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Thailand, and the University of Makerere in Uganda set up the Nutrition in Emergencies (NIE) regional training project. The objective of this initiative is to boost capacity in NIE, particularly in the regions that are most susceptible to humanitarian emergencies.

Our intensive 6 to 12-day courses in Nutrition in Emergencies have been designed to help equip participants with the expertise needed to lead or support nutrition responses. They are intended to build the skills of anyone who has an involvement with emergency nutrition, including health and food security staff, and general programme managers. In addition to providing the most up-to-date technical theory of NIE, we employ a range of training techniques to help participants to think more practically about what they would need to do to prevent and treat malnutrition during an emergency.

Conduct of training course.