The Reach Out Refugee Protection Training Project was initiated in 2001 by NGOs and the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement in collaboration with UNHCR in order to train humanitarian staff in the basics of refugee protection. The Project grew out of the Reach Out process initiated by UNHCR in 1997. The Project developed materials around the Protecting Refugees: A Field Guide for NGOs (1999) and, subsequently, trainings have been delivered around the world to field-based humanitarian staff.

The Reach Out Refugee Protection Training Kit provides a solid set of training materials on basic refugee protection, as well as providing an option module on internally displaced persons (IDPs). The materials have been improved in 2005, building on the experience gained over the life of this inter-agency project (2001-2005). The debates on protection have evolved considerably since the creation of Reach Out. This revised set of training materials reflects many of those debates and includes additions of new modules to better serve humanitarian staff. The Training Kit was developed in consultation with a wide range of humanitarian actors and will provide an important contribution to the humanitarian community's ability to better protect refugees.

The Project itself closes on 30 November 2005, leaving behind materials for use by humanitarian and human rights agencies to use and incorporate into their own training programmes and work. The inter-agency process of the Reach Out Project has been a truly collaborative one, which has contributed to the quality of the products and the project's enduring impact.

The full Training Kit is being hosted on the website of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) <www.icva.ch> and on UNHCR's website <www.unhcr.ch> in four languages: Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. We hope that the materials in the Reach Out Refugee Protection Training Kit will be used and adapted in order to better enable humanitarian agencies to incorporate refugee protection into their programming.

Also available on this website is a contact database (Microsoft Excel format) of the Training of Trainers participants 2001-2005. We have made this information available to help interested persons to obtain any additional information related to the Reach Out project or to identify potential expertise/know-how should they wish to organize a training event using the Reach Out training materials.

Should you wish to receive any hard copies or CD-ROMs, please contact the ICVA Secretariat <secretariat@icva.ch>, telephone: +41 (0)22 950 9600, or fax: +41 (0)22 950 9609.

The use of the Reach Out training materials is encouraged, please simply take note of the Copyright (c) 2005 Reach Out Refugee Protection Training Project:

All rights reserved. These materials are copyrighted. They may be reproduced by any method, but cannot be used for resale. Any reproduction or adaptation must acknowledge that the materials were prepared by Reach Out, and are subject to Reach Out's copyright. ICVA should kindly be informed of any usage or adaptation of the materials <secretariat@icva.ch>.