Clingendael Academy welcomed an inspiring group of humanitarians for a five day Training of Trainers (ToT) programme in Nairobi, Kenya. Using several didactical methods, participants were trained in delivering a two-day negotiation training for their own team and relevant stakeholders.

This training programme is unique since all participants are alumni of our foundation course and/or advanced course in humanitarian negotiation skills. They are therefore knowledgeable of and competent in negotiation theory and have incorporated this in their humanitarian negotiation efforts after completing the initial training.

During a ToT, participants not only build on their existing proficiency in negotiation skills and theory. In fact, they design and conduct their own negotiation exercises and tailor them to their personal working context and target audience. Throughout the five training days, participants move from being trainees to becoming trainers by practicing with applying didactical theory into practice. Simultaneously, participants develop their own trainer’s competences, confidence, and style.

This training forms an important part of the Clingendael Academy Humanitarian Negotiation Programme. Our aim is to ensure that more humanitarians have access to negotiation skills training. By training humanitarians to conduct negotiation training themselves, which they can tailor to their own working context, we together are able to reach many more humanitarians and contribute to the localisation of humanitarian action.

We are extremely happy that this group of humanitarians has now also been successfully trained as negotiation trainers. Participants looked back positively on their experience, describing the training as, among others, enlightening, relevant, and fruitful. We will continue to support their training efforts.