This short course will provide you with insights into an area of increasing importance in the humanitarian sector: the challenges and opportunities inherent in achieving accountability. Despite the prevalence and importance given to humanitarian accountability, the plethora of international initiatives and standards promoted can make this area difficult to navigate. Furthermore, it is often unclear in this sector what ‘accountability’ really means, to whom it is owed, and by what means it can be achieved. This course explores these areas with a particular focus on the challenges and opportunities of achieving humanitarian accountability in displacement contexts.


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Is this course for me?
The course will appeal to those who want not only a deeper understanding of the humanitarian sphere, but also those who wish to build transferable skills in analysis and evaluation in the context of practical challenges. The course is aimed at those with an interest in humanitarianism and the humanitarian sector. No prior knowledge or experience in the humanitarian field is required to take this course and as such, the course is for everyone.

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How will I benefit from this course?
On completion of this course you will:

  • Be able to explain what humanitarian accountability is, who humanitarian organisations are accountable to, and different ways accountability can be strengthened in practice;  
  • Be able to evaluate the main features of the global system for humanitarian accountability;  
  • Have analysed the primary means for achieving accountability to affected populations; 
  • Be able to evaluate new and emerging challenges and opportunities in implementing accountability approaches, such as participatory approaches and in diverse operational contexts. 


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How long will it take?
 This course should take you around ten hours to complete.

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How much does it cost?
 This course is free!

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Will I get a certificate at the end?
 Yes - you will be able to download a certificate once you have completed all of the modules within the course.

The word START and a question mark in a circleHow do I start?
 Scroll to the top of the page and click on the       Join course       button. This will take you through to the course content. You don't need to complete the course in one go - you can always continue later from where you left off.

Data protection and consent


This course was created and is administered by the School of Advanced Study. By joining this course you are consenting to the School of Advanced Study being given access to your Kaya profile information, including your name and email address, so that they can provide the course. This may require them to contact you. Your data will be anonymised before it is used for any analysis or reporting purposes. If you have any questions about this, please email RLI@sas.ac.uk.