eCentre Africa
eCentre Africa
Made possible by the generous support of the People of Japan
The eCentre Africa was established in 2024 as a platform to offer inclusive and participatory learning programs for humanitarian partners managing emergencies in Africa, aiming to build a Community of Practice among the local humanitarian partners and practitioners.
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Over the last three years, UNHCR responded to more than 90 emergency declarations, of which more than half were in Africa. At present, Africa hosts nearly 52 million forcibly displaced and stateless persons — two-fifths of the globally displaced and stateless population. When emergencies happen, local authorities and non-governmental organizations are the first to respond, and often partner with UNHCR, offering their knowledge, local connections and leadership in the collective response.
The eCentre Africa has been supported by Japan with generous financial contribution, as announced by the then Foreign Minister at the Global Refugee Forum in December 2023. The eCentre Africa is inspired by the successful experience of the eCentre Asia based in Bangkok, which has been supported by Japan since its foundation in Tokyo in 2000.
UNHCR Regional Centre for Emergency Preparedness – eCentre
The eCentre plays a unique role within UNHCR as the only dedicated platform to building emergency preparedness capacities targeting government partners and NGOs throughout Asia and the Pacific, and recently in the African continent.
The eCentre's main focus is to strengthen the operational capacity of UNHCR partners and other actors in emergency preparedness and response, and to foster collaboration in the context of humanitarian emergencies.
Our vision and objectives
UNHCR recognizes that protection, assistance, and durable solutions are best achieved in partnership with local actors.
The eCentre aims to scale capacity-building and networking among frontline responders — with a focus on balanced gender representation —, support them to form a Community of Practice, and ensure that they are equipped with globally informed tools to lead effective and principled emergency responses in their own contexts.
The eCentre for Africa will support local authorities and NGOs in emergency preparedness and response by:
Providing tailored and targeted learning opportunities for emergency management
Strengthening the humanitarian community of practice through best practices and shared experience
Capacity Development Programme
The eCentre Africa is committed to driving innovation and efficiency in humanitarian capacity development. The 6-month programme includes online and in-person workshops, peer coaching, and biweekly thematic webinars. Sessions are offered in English and French and are tailored to local situations. The participants are representatives of nominated and selected humanitarian partners on the frontline of emergencies in Africa.
The main themes planned for 2024-2025 include:
Leadership in emergencies;
Humanitarian negotiations;
Climate-related emergencies;
Women and youth in emergencies.
Participants will adapt their learning to local contexts and share it with their peers, helping to spread skills and knowledge more widely. Graduates will be enrolled in the eCentre Africa Alumni Programme.
Our evolving curriculum responds to the real-time learning needs and feedback of our participants. Recently, we have introduced Trainer of Trainers sessions, and we are developing sessions that promote sustainability in emergency preparedness by embedding the principle of Inclusion from the Start and coordination through the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus.
This initiative advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Our impact
The eCentre for Africa strengthens the region’s response capability to displacement, disasters, and protection challenges and will build a community of local humanitarian practitioners to prepare for and respond to humanitarian crises in Africa.
900 first responders
Since 2024, we have reached over 900 first responders in emergencies, through:
62
NGO leaders
73
representatives of local authorities
29
countries
How to support our work
Join the initiative as a learning institution from Africa by contacting our team via email.
Suggest topics for the Programme by contacting our team via email.
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Our partners
The eCentre Africa fosters partnerships with regional institutes and local training providers. Its work fosters regional solidarity by bringing together diverse partners seeking greater localized impact under local leadership.
This initiative results in coordinated action between the UNHCR’s field presence - both regional and local — and humanitarian and development actors.
Contact us
If you’re interested in learning more about the eCentre Africa, if you would like to discuss UNHCR’s capacity to support emergency preparedness and response efforts, or wider partnership opportunities, please get in touch via email at: [email protected].
Thanks to the People of Japan for their generous contributions and support to the eCentre Africa.
