DisasterReady.org is an online training platform that provides disaster responders with free access to over 400 state-of-the-art eLearning courses and other training tools covering all aspects of humanitarian aid and disaster relief. Launched in 2013, the program’s initial milestones include

• providing training to more than 30,000 aid workers across the globe
• delivering over 26,000 hours of training via more than 53,000 course registrations
• reaching 886 organizations in 190 countries
• achieving a projected societal impact of $24 million to date.

Research shows that, for each dollar spent on prevention and preparedness, four dollars in damage costs is saved. Unfortunately, 96 percent of spending for natural disasters is used for response, while only four percent is dedicated to prevention and preparedness.

Prior to DisasterReady.org’s launch, relief workers had to spend valuable aid dollars to take professional development courses in person. DisasterReady.org helps to bridge this gap by providing free and unlimited access to resources and training anytime, anywhere, and from any device – including offline course-taking options. Courses are designed to meet foundational training requirements, as well as provide aid workers with technical and advanced courses that grow and expand their skillsets and prepare them to serve on the ground.

While some humanitarian aid workers are able to take courses before being deployed to the next disaster, many are already working in some of the most remote, hostile field locations across the globe. With this in mind, the platform provides access to real-time information and also serves as a community for aid workers to connect and share insight and support with one another. For example, when the Ebola outbreak rapidly spread through West Africa, DisasterReady.org gathered critical resources from the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control and quickly developed a fifteen-minute course on Ebola Awareness specifically for aid workers being deployed to the area.

DisasterReady.org is a collaborative effort supported by prominent aid agencies such as Save the Children, Mercy Corps, the International Rescue Committee, UNHCR, InsideNGO, Oxfam America, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Project HOPE, among others.