About

Supporting Humanitarian Response

BBR aims to fill knowledge gaps by providing an easily accessible and high quality online platform, as well as in-person training geared toward NGOs and other humanitarian actors.The “Building a Better Response: Strengthening Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Capacity and Engagement in the International Humanitarian Coordination System” project aims to strengthen the capacity of national and international NGO personnel, as well as other humanitarian actors, to engage with the international humanitarian coordination system in a manner that improves overall coordination and response to the needs of affected populations.

Funded by the USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the project is being implemented through a consortium that brings together a combination of operational and technical expertise, spearheaded by International Medical Corps in collaboration with Concern Worldwide and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

Our Mission

To provide foundational training in the international humanitarian coordination system for NGOs and others wishing to improve coordination in disaster response.

Our Vision

We envision a world where highly skilled and resilient humanitarian actors are capable of responding efficiently and effectively in times of crisis.

Our Role

As a consortium of NGOs and an academic initiative, we have combined our areas of expertise in order to develop a comprehensive, online course that prepares humanitarian actors to respond to the needs of crisis-affected populations.

Available in the following languages:

Building a Better Response (BBR) is available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish, and there are emergency response versions of the course available in Polish, Turkish, and Ukrainian.

In addition, versions can be downloaded in Dari, Portuguese, Russian, and Urdu.

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Frequently asked questions

I registered but did not receive the confirmation email.

The Building a Better Response learning management system automatically generates an email and sends it to the address you inputted upon registration. If you did not receive an email there are two possible reasons.

  1. The email was sent to your spam folder. Please check this folder for the email.
  2. Your email address was incorrectly typed (typos) into the registration portal. Please create another account and make sure you correctly spell your email address, and are checking the email of that account.

I cannot remember my password.

Follow instructions to reset your password in the login page.

The section is not marking complete / I am not receiving a checkmark.

  • The website has no issues with sections not being marked complete when they should.
  • If a section is not being marked complete it is because you have not completed the section. 
  • Because this is a certificate baring course, we cannot mark a section complete for any user. You must return to the section and take it in full.

My certificate does not have the name I want to be listed.

The name you register with is the name that will be on your certificate. Please make sure the name you input in your profile upon registration is the name you want to be printed.

How can I create account?

Registration is free and openly available. Please register at https://catalog.buildingabetterresponse.com/account?action=createaccount to create your free account.

How much bandwidth does the course require?

  • The course is designed to play on very limited bandwidth, about 1-2 MB of data used per section is necessary.
  • For connection speeds under 56 kbps, expect very long load times.
  • If you are experiencing a long load time and have connection under 56 kbps you will need to find an alternative connection to take the course.
  • Once registered you are able to download and access individual lessons offline.

How long does the course take to complete?

While the times vary quite widely depending on the individual, each unit takes an average 20-45 minutes.

Why is my page not loading? Why is there a blank page / slide? Why can't I download my certificate?

  • See bandwidth issue above.
  • Try using a different browser.
  • You may have a pop-up blocker installed. You will need to disable it to view the module. Please read the instructions here: How to disable pop-up blockers. After you have disabled the pop-up blocker, press the Enter button again to begin the module.