The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree Programme in International Humanitarian Action is an inter-university multidisciplinary postgraduate programme that provides high quality academic education and professional competencies for personnel working or intending to work in the area of humanitarian action.

This Masters offers students the opportunity to grow both academically and professionally within the field of crisis relief and development. Offering access to a worldwide professional network, the NOHA Masters is an inter-university and multidisciplinary postgraduate programme that combines the provision of high quality academic education with skills and competencies needed to work in the area of humanitarian action and related areas. It is a postgraduate course which aims to develop skilled professionals who have both the theoretical and practical knowledge needed out in the field.

Created in 1993 through the concerted efforts of the NOHA Universities in close collaboration with the DG for Humanitarian Action and Civil Protection (ECHO) and the DG for Education and Culture, the initiative was a response to a growing need for higher educational qualifications specifically suited to addressing complex humanitarian emergencies.

Collaboration is one of the most unique elements of the programme and is central to the NOHA experience. Students study at different universities and benefit from rich cultural interaction and exchange of ideas and languages. It is an integral part of the NOHA teaching-learning process. The partner universities have gradually integrated the joint training and research programme into their respective curricula, achieving a high degree of co-operation and integration, while preserving their speciality and traditions. NOHA students come from all over the world and register in the NOHA network. They are admitted following a highly competitive selection process agreed by the Network and can therefore enrol for courses jointly recognised by each of the participating universities, with the assurance of good communication links between them.

Careers & Employability

Some 3,500 NOHA graduates currently work in the field of humanitarian relief and international co-operation. They hold various positions of responsibility in humanitarian relief and international co-operation for organisations and institutions in the field and at HQs globally.

Such positions include programme managers, protection officers, field/country directors, delegates, emergency team leaders, administrators, researchers, academics and consultants.

Programme Outcomes

• Demonstrate a sound understanding of the humanitarian principles, and the ethical, legal and emancipatory rationales for humanitarian action
• Established competence in the theory, policy and discourse of humanitarian action as it relates to a range of related disciplines, including programme management, international law, geo-political science, public health and social anthropology
• Demonstrate a sound understanding of the international humanitarian system, the main stakeholders that comprise this system, together with the main challenges faced by the system in addressing global humanitarian need
• Apply research knowledge and analytical skills that support evidence-based humanitarian action
• Critical analysis of humanitarian action to optimise local engagement and support ‘people-centred humanitarian action’
• Demonstrate an understanding of and capacity to work in a humanitarian context (Field Visit)
• Design and develop an appropriate research study to strengthen resilience in a humanitarian context