Managing Humanitarian Crisis: The Atlantic Hope Experience

The weekend of March 15, 2014 will be long remembered by Cathia Soughe, a student at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Cathia was one of many graduate students from three programs; Kennesaw State University Georgia, University of North Carolina Greensboro and George Mason University, that took part in a humanitarian simulation exercise “Atlantic Hope” held at the Indian River State College (IRSC) in Fort Pierce, Florida from March 13 – 16th, 2014. Atlantic Hope prepares students for international peace-building operations by applying conflict resolution techniques to manage a complex humanitarian crisis similar to recent situations in Syria, Haiti, Pakistan, and Indonesia. The graduate students were deployed to a simulated field camp environment in the fictional country of “Atlantica” to work for International Humanitarian Action (IHA), a mock international relief organization similar to the Red Cross, Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), or Catholic Relief Services.     
    
As Cathia said, “On the morning of March 15th, we were deployed to a village in the north of Atlantica to conduct damage and needs assessment after a bombing campaign by rebel groups. As the first team in the village after the horrible incident, we did not know what to expect.” Atlantica experienced devastation from both a natural disaster (earthquake) and internal armed conflict; the impact of which left the communities in ruins. Cathia continued, “Upon arriving at the village, we knew that a lot of damage had been done. We saw damaged buildings, cars, blood stains and most of the population had scattered into the forest. Only Rebecca, a sister of the village’s mayor and a handful of others had stayed behind.  Rebecca showed us around and told us that they wanted to rebuild. She took us to the marketplace and told us how it used to be a cornerstone of the village. But all we could see were the remains of what used to be vibrant places in the villages."  

Cathia had just undergone a difficult trip through customs at the Atlantican airport the night before, along with a series of briefings on security, international humanitarian law, team building, and negotiation techniques. The briefings were snapshots and reflections of what Cathia had learned in the preparation course, CONF 665: Conflict Resolution in Complex Humanitarian Crisis.

Equipped with skills for negotiating agreements and access to victims, Cathia was prepared to engage the actors in Atlantica towards a peaceful resolution and help to address basic needs in the affected villages.  The simulation exercise consisted of three “lanes”: village needs assessment and peace-building, humanitarian camp management, and a detention visit to the notorious Black Swan prison.  
Cathia noted, “At the end of our tour, and after talking with the mayor and the priest, we made a map and highlighted the important landmarks. We talked about the real needs, not just the superficial ones, and we debated the real work that needed to be done. We even talked about our capabilities and what we can’t fix so that we didn’t make any promises we couldn’t keep.” Cathia and her group members noted, “As humanitarians we should always think about what’s next. What’s going to happen to these people once we leave? It’s not just about providing food and water but about listening to them, advocating for them, finding better ways to help in the long run.” Cathia and her team were also involved in camp management: creating humanitarian space and providing emergency relief to people affected by the conflict in Atlantica.

Atlantic Hope included a scenario centered on assessing prison conditions and visiting prisoners held by opposing armed factions in the fictional Republic of Atlantica. Trainees playing the role of members of IHA are tasked with negotiating prisoner access and conducting assessments in accordance to the principles of International Humanitarian Law and best practices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The mock prisons were staffed by role-player prisoners, guards, and wardens who have undergone extensive training and were tasked with creating a challenging learning experience for participants. Cathia and her team successfully negotiated access to the Black Swan prison to interview the detainees, including PoWs from the Atlantica conflict. They then were able to exchange messages between detainees and their family members to restore family links.  The team also facilitated the exchange of prisoners between the Government of Atlantica and the rebels as a mark of the willingness of the parties to reduce hostilities.  

Humanitarian responders work in complex, potentially dangerous settings. By replicating a crisis situation over a condensed timeframe in a controlled environment, the Atlantica exercise provides a learning space where participants can try out new behaviors, test their knowledge, and develop responses to emergent demands and opportunities.  In the simulation, students respond to roleplayers and events as they would in a real life situation. Skill areas relevant across the humanitarian and conflict resolution fields include situation assessments, negotiating operational spaces, minimizing risk to communities and partners, exercising critical judgment, developing collaborative and coordinated responses, and self-management and adaptation under pressure.

This kind of teaching exercise began in 2000, after the Indian River State College (IRSC) developed a sequence of courses that lead up to an annual capstone field-training exercise. Atlantic Hope was initially designed to host between 20 to 40 undergraduate students and provide participants with a hands-on opportunity to work as members of a mock NGO (International Humanitarian Action or IHA) operating in a fictional country (Republic of Atlantica) experiencing both intra-state conflict and a natural disaster. Participating universities, or “consortium” schools, have included Northwest Missouri State University, Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Florida, Washington Adventist University, and Indian River State College, among others.

The first graduate-level prototype program was held in March of 2013 with student participation from Kennesaw State University, George Mason University, and the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Graduate faculty from all three institutions participated in pre-training coursework, field assessments, and participant team advising, with additional support by students and alumni from American University, IRSC, George Mason University, and Anne Arundel Community College as well as staff from the American Red Cross, who participated as consultants and Controller Evaluators. The S-CAR faculty planning and leading the simulation were  Dr. Cindy Mazur, David Smith and Dr. Mara Schoeny with S-CAR students Ernest Ogbozor, Andrew Baer, and Caroline Sarkis planning and roleplaying. Graduate trainees from previous Atlantic Hope years have the opportunity to return in a role play, simulation design, and/or controller/evaluator capacity to transform their past experiences as trainees into a trainer position.The program has maintained strong support from the administration of IRSC and the Consortium for Humanitarian Services and Education (CHSE). For those interested in pursuing disaster relief, developmental, humanitarian, and peace-building careers in a field and policy-making capacity, CONF 665: Conflict Resolution in Complex Humanitarian Crisis stands as one of the most practical, hands-on courses offered at George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.