SMI - Can you get sued? Legal liability of international humanitarian aid agencies toward their staff - Policy Paper - November 2011 

This SMI Policy paper was written by Edward Kemp and Maarten Merkelbach. It is the result of a SMI research project that looked at current practice in the aid sector and, in cooperation with A4ID, legal reviews provided by law firms in five countries.

 

The aid and development sector’s risk and security management is subject to the same basic legal ground rules and responsibilities as any other enterprise. It is mandatory, not optional. It is not only an operational issue, it is a governance issue. NGOs’ undertaking risk and security management need to take this into account. 

 

The objective is to work with lawyers, non-profit organisations and donors around the world to develop a common standard and process for analysis to be applied by international organisations seeking to meet their legal obligations in looking after their staff.

 

Barry, Jane - Integrated Security,  the Manual - 2011

This manual is primarily designed as a tool to be used and adapted by experienced facilitators who are trained in working with participatory facilitation methods and are familiar with human rights defence in various contexts. This manual has been created with women human rights defenders who are defending women’s human rights around the world, and has been designed to address security and well-being challenges that are specific to their contexts and methods of working. Human rights defenders of all genders, working on all forms of human rights protection, are encouraged to use this manual to gain a deeper sense of the methods available to explore security in their organisations and movements.

Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) - Cyber Security: the Road Ahead - 2011

Vulnerabilities in cyberspace are real, significant and growingrapidly. Critical national infrastructure; intelligence; communications, command andcontrol; commerce and financial transactions; logistics; consequence management; and emergency preparedness are wholly dependent on networked IT systems. Cyber security breaches, data and intellectual property theft know no limits. They affect everything from personal information to national secrets.

This paper looks at the way these problems are likely to develop, as well as at some of the ways they may best be tackled at the national and international level.

 

Hopkin, Paul - Introduction to risk management - 2010.

Chapter from: Fundamentals of Risk Management: understanding, evaluating and implementing effective risk management.

‘Introduction to Risk Management’ deconstructs the topic of risk management by providing detailed definitions, explanations and strategies for dealing with the multitude of risks. Primarily, the author divides ‘risk’ into three categories: control risks, hazard risks and opportunity risks. The features and outcomes of these different types of risks are assessed comprehensively. As well as giving suggestions as to the conceptualisation and management of risk, this paper clarifies the various contemporary standards and frameworks of risk management by providing useful abridged versions.

United Nations Chief Executives Board (UN CEB) - UN System Staff Security and Safety - 2009

The document includes cover sheet with an appendix of the summary of policy recommendations for a system-wide security management system.

Overseas Development Institute (ODI) - Andrew Norton - How the 9/11 Decade Changed the Aid, Security, and Development Landscape - 2011

This article reviews the author's key lessons learned in the ten years following the attacks on the World Trade Centers. Norton provides brief thoughts on the future security regime.

Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP) - Ben Ramalingam, Kim Scriven, & Conor Foley - Innovations in International Humanitarian Action - 2009

This study aims to explore how ALNAP members and the wider sector might prioritise innovation and risk-taking in policy and practice. It does so by first reviewing experience in the private, public and third sectors to develop a conceptual model which should enable a better understanding of what innovations mean for the sector. It goes on to explore this model using evidence from five case studies, key informant interviews and desk research, and in conclusion recommends ways to promote and enable positive innovation in humanitarian action.

Report of the Independent Panel on the Safety and Security of UN Personnel in Iraq - 2003

On 19 August 2003, the United Nations headquarters in the Canal Hotel in Baghdad suffered a devastating bomb attack. The detonation resulted in the death of 22 United Nations staff and visitors, and over 150 persons were injured. On 22 September 2003, Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan appointed an Independent Panel on the Safety and Security of UN Personnel in Iraq. The Panel was asked to examine all relevant facts about the situation before the 19 August attack, the circumstances of the attack itself and the actions taken by different parties in the immediate aftermath. The Panel was also asked to identify key lessons on security arrangements and to make recommendations on measures that would assist in preventing or mitigating future incidents in Iraq or other high-risk missions. Results can be found herein. 

International Medical Corps (IMC) - Mujawar, Shayan - Security Management in Humanitarian Agencies - 2009

Thsi report aims to study the overall, general trends and practices in security management across humanitarian agencies - to explore the various approaches to security management in humanitarian aid agencies and to shed some light on the recent trends in management of security by NGOs involved in humanitarian aid work at the headquarters and field level. It is based on data gathered through an online survey disseminated to NGO security personnel on the EISF (European Inter‐agency Security Forum) and Interaction’s SAG (Security Advisory Group) mailing lists.

Humanitarian Outcomes - Aid Worker Security Report: Spotlight on security for national aid workers: Issues and perspectives - 2011

In addition to presenting an updated analysis of statistical trends, the Aid Worker Security Report 2011 highlights the issue of security for national aid workers, drawing upon findings from a major survey of national aid workers conducted for a recent OCHA-commissioned study: To Stay and Deliver: Good Practice for Humanitarians in Complex Security Environments (Egeland, Harmer and Stoddard 2011).

The European Interagency Security Forum (EISF) - Risk Transfer through Hardening Mentalities? - 2009

In light of the attacks against the United Nations in both Peshawar and Kabul in autumn 2009, the UN has decided to "harden" itself as a target, using a protection-based strategy to reduce the vulnerability of its staff.  But to what degree will this simply transfer risk to NGOs, who do not have similar resources available, and who regardless rely on acceptance-based strategies?  And would greater cooperation of NGOs with the UN via the Saving Lives Together framework compromise NGO acceptance strategies by creating a perception of them by local communities and armed actors as a part of the UN's democratisation agenda?

Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan - Humanitarian Safety and Security: Obligations and Responsibilities Towards Local Implementing Partners - 2011

This background paper aims to influence further debate and policy developments concerning safety and security of aid workers, specifically addressing the core theme of responsibility. It will address questions of who is responsible for the safe access to vulnerable populations, and will attempt to define what exactly responsibility means in terms of safety and security within the international aid sector.

United Nations World Food Programme - Information Note on Funding of Security Management Arrangements - 2010

This document provides information on WFP’s share of United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) field-related security costs, including funding, other WFP security costs for the current biennium and the 2008–2009 Security Maintenance Fund and Security Emergency Fund. It also presents a proposal for a comprehensive and sustainable security strategy.

United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) - WFP Security Report - 2010

This report details the various security incidences faced by World Food Programme staff in 2009, stating that the they face greater security challenges than ever before.

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) - UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) - Safety and Security - 2006

This chapter will concentrate on safety and security in “hostile” environments i.e., in areas where there are possibilities of armed conflicts, acts of terrorism, etc. These situations may at first seem connected only with complex emergencies, but a number of natural disaster-prone countries also have these characteristics. The chapter covers fundamental concepts surrounding safety and security in the delievery of humanitarian aid.

United Nations Office for the Coordiantion of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) - Security Incidents Against Humanitarian Workers; OCHA North Kivu (DR Congo) - 2009

The overall finding of this report suggests aid workers in 2009 been more vulnerable to criminal activities than in 2008. The purpose of this report is to gain a better understanding of the security incidents patterns by looking at a different set of indicators such as who is affected, when, why and by whom. Exploring these patterns may better inform aid organizations on how to improve the security of staff in working and residential areas.

People in Aid (PIA) - Policy Guide and Template: Safety and Security - 2008

This document is part of a People In Aid initiative, the ‘Policy Guidelines’, whereby agencies share their knowledge and experience of a particular issue in order to increase the quality of people management generally within the sector. It forms part of a bank of reference material on a range of people management themes.

Ohio State University (OSU)  - John Mueller and Mark Stewart - Terror, Security, and Money: Balancing the Risks, Benefits, and Costs of Homeland Security  - 2011

The cumulative increase in expenditures on US domestic homeland security over the decade since 9/11 exceeds one trillion dollars. The authors find that enhanced expenditures have been excessive: to be deemed cost-effective in analyses that substantially bias the consideration toward the opposite conclusion, they would have to deter, prevent, foil, or protect against 1,667 otherwise successful Times-Square type attacks per year, or more than four per day.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - Security, Risk Perception and Cost-Benefit Analysis: Summary and Conclusions - 2008

This document was put forth by the International Transport Forum, a body within OECD. Much attention goes to maintaining secure transport because first, many transport facilities and vehicles are appealing targets for terrorist attacks because of the concentration of potential victims; second, transport can act as a conveyor for terrorist attacks, e.g. by moving weapons into ports or by turning airplanes into weapons. This paper investigates how economic analysis can contribute to the design of policies to maintain or enhance security in transport.

Overseas Development Institute (ODI) - MFA Denmark - Risk and Results Management in Development Cooperation : Towards a Common Approach - 2010

In 2010, experts and policy makers from a wide range of member states and international development and humanitarian organizations met in Copenhagen to explore issues relating to the risks inherent in development cooperation, including both humanitarian, development and stabilization interventions. The conference focused particularly on risk management in ‘transitional’ contexts where there is the need for urgent and rapid support to lifesaving activities, while at the same time reflect the notion of countries transitioning out of conflict and/or instability towards sustainable development, greater national ownership and increased state capacity.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - Reducing Risks, Protecting People - 2001

This document is aimed primarily at stakeholders who want to know more about HSE’s philosophy for securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work and for protecting others against risks to health and safety arising from work activities, and the procedures, protocols and criteria underpinning the philosophy. It sets out the basis and criteria by which HSE, in complying with its functions, decides upon the degree and form of regulatory control that it believes should be put in place for addressing occupational hazards.

Forced Migration Review (FMR) - Koenraad Van Brabant -Security training, where are we now? - 1999

This FMR article focuses on concern for the security of aid personnel working in increasingly violent environments, exploring the catalysts for attacks and offering methods to respond to risk, improve security training and curriculum development.

Forced Migration Review (FMR) - Security at Work - 1999

This issue of FMR puts focus on the security of aid personnel with articles exploring IDPs in Sri Lanka, urban refugees in Tanzania, dams and displacement, and a forum to explore the IDP/refugee debate, among others.

European Interagency Security Forum (EISF) - Joint NGO Safety and Security Training - 2009

No readily available, collective evidence base exists, from which NGOs can advocate for the provision of adequate funding, influence the development of course options specific to humanitarian mandates and operating contexts, and drive interagency training initiatives. Thus, in this report, the EISF Training Working Group Report therefore builds upon a gap in previous research in the field of humanitarian security, to determine the size of the NGO market for security training by quantifying and qualifying collective needs at all training levels.

European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO), Security Training Directory for Humanitarian Organisations, 2006.

Standards Australia, Standards New Zealand, Handbook HB167: Security Risk Management, 2006.

The field of security risk management is rapidly evolving and as such this Handbook cannot cover all aspects and variant approaches to security risk management. The authors have endeavoured to provide an overview of both commonly accepted good practices and some promising emerging thinking to inform the understanding (rather than direct) the actions of readers. As such no warranty is provided or implied as to the accuracy or practical applicability of the contents of this Handbook to any organisation or individual.

Security risk management is a key and fundamental part of an individual’s, organisation’s or community’s wider risk management activities. In a fully integrated risk management system, security risk management should be interlinked at each of its stages with all other risk management activities being undertaken (e.g. financial, safety, marketing, reputation, regulatory, etc). The only real differences are the application of discipline specific knowledge that will occur in each risk management activity – the overall process remains the same. Although many of these activities may be conducted by identifiable risk management functions, many may also be conducted as part of the way that other business functions routinely conduct their operations (e.g. employment risk management conducted as a fundamental part of the human resources function).

ISO Focus+, Security, Volume 2, No 2, February 2011.

The Special Report of the February 2011 issue of ISO Focus+ has a particular focus on security. Globalization, rapid increase of technological change, increased connectivity, economic uncertainty, make the world more complex and challenging with the related security threats. From terrorism to fraud, to piracy and identity theft, security has become one of the highest priorities of government, business and the general public at large. An array of articles feature how international standards help authorities fight related crime and facilitate the work of professionals in the transport industry by air, sea, road or rail and how they help organizations deal with uncertainty in the achievement of their objectives, in managing security to reduce risk that could affect individuals, processes and organizations.

Kevin W. Knight, Chair of ISO working group that developed ISO 31000:2009

On high alert – Solutions to managing security-related risk

Maximum security – Minimum risk

Be prepared – Ensuring security and resilience throughout the supply chain

Operation cyber-security – Solutions for business-as-usual

Safeguarding payments – ISO standards beef up protection in a networked world

Who is who ? – Biometrics provides answers for public and private sectors

A matter of life and death – Metric system to the rescue

Dangerous routes – Anti-tampering measures for freight containers

Protecting our society – ISO’s crisis management approach to all hazards

 

From Security Management to Risk Management - Critical Reflections on Aid Agency Security Management and the ISO Risk Management Guidelines.

The text was written by Pascal Daudin (former Director of the CARE International Safety and Security Unit (CISSU)) and Maarten Merkelbach (SMI Project Director). May 2011.

The paper argues that the model of aid agency security management which has been most commonly used in the past decade is incomplete, and cannot accommodate a host of issues and concerns that all aid agency (security) managers know are relevant but do not clearly ‘fit’ under the rubric of ‘security management’. The risk model as introduced in the ISO guideline helps to allow for a better ‘fit’, and opens the way for a forward looking discussion on challenges and changes underway or in the future. Part of these challenges centre around uncertainty and complexity of our world, and the required resilience and adaptability to cope with these.

Jo Beall, Thomas Goodfellow, James Putzel, Policy Arena, Introductory Article: On the Discourse of Terrorism Security and Development, in: Journal of International Development, Crisis States Research Centre and Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2006.

 

This paper introduces the policy arena by examining the increasing interlinking  of  international development policy with security concerns, particularly at a discursive level in

the global North and especially since the declaration of the United States led ‘War on Terror’. The authors propose that it is not only the US that has altered its approach to development in  light of the new security agenda, but so too have some multilateral development organisations, along with bilateral donors that in the past have been associated with a less politicallydetermined programme of development cooperation. The incorporation of security concerns in development thinking is not new and dates back at least to the Cold War era. Although the security-development nexus can be construed positively, the linkage has taken on new forms and dynamics in the contemporary context. Increasingly, development is viewed by some actors as a means of addressing ‘looming threats’ emanating from the global South towards the North. The authors suggest that if security for the North becomes a central guiding principle for development in the South, this will be damaging for both the project of global poverty reduction and global security.

Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, Paul Fishstein, Winning Hearts & Minds - Relationship between Aid and Security in Afghanistan's Balkh Province, 2010.

 

The Balkh Province case study is part of a larger five-province Afghanistan country study looking at the assumption that humanitarian and development assistance projects can help to bring or maintain security in strategically important environments, and can help “win hearts and minds,” thereby undermining support within the local populace for radical, insurgent, or terrorist groups. Afghanistan provided an opportunity to examine one of the most concerted recent efforts to use “hearts and minds” projects to achieve security objectives. It has been the testing ground for new approaches to using reconstruction assistance as a counterinsurgency tool. The assumption that aid projects improve security has lead to a sharp increase in overall development funding, an increased percentage of activities based on strategic security considerations, and a shift of development activities to the military. In this light, it is essential that policy makers understand whether and how aid projects can actually contribute to security.

Clayton Consultants, Personal Security Handbook: Protecting Yourself and Your Family at Home and Abroad, 2010.

Compiled by the international security and crisis management experts at Clayton Consultants, Inc., this handbook is designed to assist you in reducing your personal and family risk through proven security methods and tactics. Knowledge, awareness and knowing how to react could save your life.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Review, Patrick Brugger, Operational Security: Staff Safety in Armed Conflict and Internal Violence, Volume 91, Number 874, pp 431-445, June 2009.

Humanitarian work, especially in conflict areas, has become more dangerous and every humanitarian organization is affected by serious security problems, constituting a threat to their staff and hampering much-needed activities on behalf of the victims of armed conflicts and other situations of collective armed violence. The article outlines the general approach of the ICRC to security issues and describes the pillars of the security policy it has adopted in the field to protect its operational staff.

European Interagency Security Forum (EISF), Koenraad van Brabant, Managing Aid Agency Security in an Evolving World: The Larger Challenge, EISF Article Series, 2010.

This article considers security management by international aid agencies against the realities of an evolving wider world. It describes the broad challenge of ‘acceptance’

which stretches far beyond the management capacity of security personnel, and thus requires a deep internal questioning within each organisation. The focus is very much on the primarily ‘Western’ aid agencies that still dominate global aid provision.

The past decade has seen impressive growth in investment and advances in operational security management by and for international aid agencies. This article takes a cursory look at these developments, recognising the progress made but also pointing out some persistent challenges. It is suggested that the undeniable progress needs to be placed against a seemingly deteriorating wider ‘security environment’. The article reflects on some of the apparent drivers of this deterioration, and looks ahead to the next 10-15 years. While the opposite may be hoped for, the expectation is that in the medium-term future the dominant ‘international’ aid enterprise is likely to find itself more often and more seriously challenged and contested. Often this broader contestation will be peaceful, but it can also be expressed through violence.

Aid agencies tend to hold others responsible for the greater contestation of international, even ‘humanitarian’ aid, but in reality they themselves bear a very significant

responsibility. Meeting the wider and more fundamental challenge of ‘acceptance’ will require a profound re-think of the values, identity, (in)dependence, grounds for legitimacy and modus operandi of international aid agencies. This should yield greater clarity about the organisational ‘message’. For that message to have continued credibility, will require greater consistency between discourse and practice than is often the case today.

InterAction, Security Collaboration Best Practices Guide, 2011.

The authors’ goal is to provide a framework for practice of full spectrum (inter-agency and stake-holder) security collaboration. The purpose of this guide is to enhance security collaboration in the field by identifying relevant trends in security information flow, techniques of collection, management and dissemination of security information. Focus on security collaboration mechanisms and consistent exercise of their functions will provide security professionals and NGO-IO humanitarian stake-holders with the best means to the most desirable end – safety and security of their staff and mission. Even where NGOs recognize the need for a security collaboration mechanism, it can prove extremely difficult and slow to get a structure established and maintained, due to a lack of agency commitment and agreement, problems with funding and availability of expert staff.

United Nations Security in Iraq Accountability Panel (SIAP), UN Secretariat Summary of Main Findings and Conclusions, 2004.

The Report of the Security in Iraq Accountability Panel (SIAP) of some 150 pages, and 6 volumes of supporting documents was submitted to the Secretary-General on 3 March 2004. It is the latest in a series of reports produced in relation to the tragic events of 19 August 2003 when the United Nations Headquarters in the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq was the object of a bomb attack.1 It follows the Ahtisaari Report issued on 20 October 2003 which had recommended, inter alia, “that the seriousness of the breaches in the security system by the UN managers in charge at headquarters

and in the field warrants the setting up of a separate and independent audit and accountability procedure to review the responsibilities of key individuals in the lack of preventive and mitigating actions prior to the attack on 19th August”. The Secretary-General tasked the SIAP to carry out a comprehensive study to examine the role of all individuals and UN organizations/offices/entities involved in the security of the UN operations in Iraq, in particular that of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad and its staff, and make findings regarding the actions or omissions of individuals in view of relevant security rules, regulations, arrangements and practices, which may have resulted in the absence of measures which might have prevented, or mitigated  the effect of the attack or diminished the loss of life and injury to UN personnel.

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), Jan Egeland, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs,Adele Harmer and Abby Stoddard, Humanitarian Outcomes, To Stay and Deliver - Good Practice for Humanitarians in Complex Security Environments, February 2011.

In response to growing concerns regarding the insecurity of aid operations and the resulting decline in humanitarian access, the present study, commissioned by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), set out to identify and document those strategies and practices that have enabled humanitarian organizations to maintain effective operations in contexts characterized by high security risks.

 

In the second half of 2010 an independent research team, led by former Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland, undertook six field studies in complex security environments, conducted interviews with 255 humanitarian practitioners and policymakers, surveyed over 1,100 national staff members, and carried out a desk-based review of organizational literature and case-based evidence. This report synthesizes the findings as well as specific inputs and guidance received from the study’s Advisory Group.

 

Much of the report is practical: What’s working, and why, and what lessons can be drawn across contexts and between agencies? The resulting compilation of practices offers an opportunity for peer learning and knowledge sharing among humanitarian practitioners across complex security settings. In addition, the study examines the wider, political constraints to humanitarian action in complex security environments, factors over which humanitarian actors have less control, but which they could more effectively approach through increased coordination and advocacy. What follows is a broad summary of the key issues and messages emerging from the research.

Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG), Victoria Metcalfe, Ellen Martin and Sara Pantuliano, Risk in Humanitarian Action: towards a common approach? ODI, January 2011.

This HPG Commissioned paper explores the range of contextual, programmatic and institutional risks involved in humanitarian action, and how these risks are viewed and managed by the humanitarian community. The underlying assumption of this paper is that adopting a common approach to risk may enable a more sophisticated under-standing of the risks inherent in a particular context, and more effective management of those risks.

 

Key messages

• There are important differences in how humanitarian actors understand, prioritise and manage risks – whether contextual, programmatic or institutional. The manner in which different actors manage these risks can have a secondary impact on risk levels for others in the sector.

• Given the risks inherent in humanitarian action, all humanitarian actors – including donors, NGOs and UN agencies – must ensure that risk management is an organisational priority in both policy and institutional practice, for example by developing an organisational policy on risk management as a clear statement of management commitment, including roles and responsibilities in job descriptions and performance appraisals, embedding risk management in all aspects of programme design and implementation and ensuring training for all staff on risk management.

• At a minimum, a common approach to identifying and assessing risk would enable more comprehensive understanding and more effective management of risks across the sector. One step forward could be to ensure that risk assessment is integrated into common needs assessments and analysis.

ODI (Overseas Development Institute), Briefing paper 67, Security, Humanitarian Action and Development, 2011.

This briefing paper outlines the key opportunities and challenges presented by a more integrated approach to international engagements to build stability in fragile states. In particular, it considers the risks and benefits of greater coordination between humanitarian, development and security agendas, suggesting that the potential tension between these objectives must be recognised and addressed in a pragmatic and principled manner.

Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, Geert Gompelman, Winning Hearts and Minds? Relationship between Aid and Security in Afghanistan's Faryab Province, 2011. 

This case study of Faryab Province is part of a larger comparative study that looks into the assumed causal relationship between development aid and stabilization in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Horn of Africa. The assumptions that development aid can help win “hearts and minds,” help increase the legitimacy of the Afghan government, and reduce the levels of violence have become key parts of the international effort in Afghanistan. Globally, the assumption that aid projects lead to improved security has resulted in a sharp increase in overall development funding, an increase in the percentage of activities based on strategic considerations, and an increased involvement of military actors in development activities. Little evidence exists, however, that such programming has been successful at achieving stabilization or security objectives. The present study therefore seeks to question some of the assumptions by looking at evidence from the field. Faryab is one of five provincial case studies that make up the overall Afghanistan aid and security study. The other four are Balkh, Helmand, Paktia, and Uruzgan.

Saferaccess, Laptop Security for Aid Workers, January 2008.

Recognising that relief and development agencies use laptops in different ways, consideration should be given to finding the appropriate models or types to suit the user. This report contains suggestions for selecting, protecting, and traveling with laptops in a variety of relief and development roles.

Global Risks 2011, A Global Risk Network Report, Sixth Edition, An initiative of the Risk Response Network, January 2011.

This report is issued by the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with : Marsh & McLennan Companies, Swiss Reinsurance Company, Wharton Center for Risk Management, University of Pennsylvania, Zurich Financial Services.

Two cross-cutting global risks are especially significant given their high degrees of impact and interconnectedness. Economic disparity and global governance failures both influence the evolution of many other global risks and inhibit our capacity to respond effectively to them. In this way, the global risk context in 2011 is defined by a 21st century paradox: as the world grows together, it is also growing apart. Beyond these two cross-cutting global risks, three important clusters of risks have emerged in this year’s analysis: the “macroeconomic imbalances” nexus: the “illegal economy” nexus; the “water-food-energy” nexus. 

Global Risks 2010 - A Global Risk Network Report (January 2010), is issued by the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with: Citi, Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), Swiss Re, Wharton School Risk Center, Zurich Financial Services.

There is a greater need for an integrated and more systemic approach to risk management and response by the public and private sectors alike. Second, while sudden shocks can have a huge impact, be they serious geopolitical incidents, terrorist attacks or natural catastrophes, the biggest risks facing the world today may be from slow failures or creeping risks. Because these failures and risks emerge over a long period of time, their potentially enormous impact and long-term implications can be vastly underestimated. The third theme picks up the  discussion of global governance gaps. In light of ongoing short-term pressures on governments, business and individuals, can the necessary reform of global governance be achieved across the range of issues where it is required?   A further set of risks share a potential for wider systemic impact and are strongly linked to a number of significant, long-term trends. First, there are those which feature highly on the Global Risks Landscape and which predated the recession but have been exacerbated by its impact through greater resources constraints or short-term thinking. These include: fiscal crises and the social and political implications of high unemployment; underinvestment in infrastructure, both new and existing, and its consequences for growth, resource scarcity and climate change adaptation; chronic diseases and their impact on both advanced economies and developing countries.

The report also notes how concerns over further asset bubbles remain strong, as indicated by the Global Risk Network Partner’s assessment for the Global Risks Landscape. The other risks discussed in this report are equally systemic in nature and also require better global governance but they currently feature less prominently on the Global Risks Landscape. The report raises these risks to understand if there is an “awareness gap” around these areas and suggests that they should not be forgotten in the focus on an integrated and longer term view of risks. These  risks include: transnational crime and corruption; biodiversity loss; and cyber-vulnerability.

 

UN HABITAT (United Nations Human Settlements Programme), Global Report on Human Settlements 2007: Enhancing Urban Safety & Security, 2007.

Enhancing Urban Safety and Security: Global Report on Human Settlements 2007  addresses three major threats to the safety and security of cities, which are: urban crime and violence; insecurity of tenure and forced evictions; and natural and human-made disasters. It analyses worldwide conditions and trends with respect to these threats and pays particular attention to their underlying causes and impacts, as well as to the good policies and best practices that have been adopted at the city, national and international levels. The report adopts a human security perspective, the concern of which is with the safety and security of people, rather than states, and highlights concerns that can be addressed through appropriate urban policy, planning, design and governance.

Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), Megan Bastick, Integrating Gender in Post-Conflict Security Sector Reform, Policy Paper 29, 2008.

 

 

SSR strategies that promote the recruitment of women in security services, and ensure that women participate equally in security decision making, contribute to creating an efficient and legitimate security sector. More broadly, the integration of gender issues into SSR processes increases responsiveness to the security needs and roles of all parts of the community, strengthens local ownership of the reform process and enhances security sector oversight. It is a key condition for achieving successful and sustainable SSR through a legitimate and locally owned process.

Duffield Mark, in Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, Risk Management and the Fortified Aid Compound: Everyday Life in Post-Interventionary Society, Vol 4, Nr4, pages 453-474,  2010.

 

The politicisation of aid has made helping others increasingly dangerous. The fortified aid compound is now ubiquitous throughout the global borderland. It has become the signature architecture, for example, of the UN integrated mission. In examining these developments, the paper first looks at the potential for UN field-security training to normalise risk-aversion and the necessity, even desirability, of defensive living. Using the example of Sudan, the wider implications of aid bunkering, including its overlaps with such global trends as urban splintering and the proliferation of gated-communities are also examined. The fortified aid compound is symptomatic of the deepening impasse within the development-security nexus.

Berghof Foundation for Peace Support, Reflecting on Risk and Security Management - A learning case based on the experience of the Berghof Foundatioin for Conflict Studies in Sri Lanka, 2008. The aim of this learning case paper: • Sharing Berghof’s experience of how we learned to cope with a deteriorating security situation and how we established our risk and security management. • Outlining security measures and activities adopted by Berghof in Sri Lanka. • Highlighting controversial issues and dilemmas regarding our security performance.

Vecchi Gregory et al., Hostage Negotiation: Current Strategies & Issues in High-Risk Conflict resolution, 2005. Crisis (hostage) negotiation has been described as the most significant development in law enforcement and police psychology over the past several decades. This paper reviews three primary components of crisis negotiation: (1) the incorporation of crisis management and intervention in current broad-spectrum approaches to crisis negotiation; (2) the Behavioral Change Stairway Model (BCSM), constructed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU), that provides a systematic, multistep process directed toward peaceful, nonlethal resolution of critical incidents; and (3) role-playing as a vital tool in the assessment and training of crisis negotiation skills. Advancements and limitations in the field of crisis negotiation are highlighted; suggestions for directions that future work in this area might take are offered. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.  

ASIS, General Security Risk Assessment Guidelines, 2003. The General Security Risk Assessment seven-step process creates a methodology for security professionals by which security risks at a specific location can be identified and communicated, along with appropriate solutions. The guideline also includes definitions of terms, a process flow chart, illustrative material in appendices, and references/bibliography.  

ANTARES, Managing Stress in Humanitarian Work: A Systems Approach to Risk Reduction, 2008. Purpose: This booklet describes the impact of stress on humanitarian workers and organizations and sets out strategies to reduce adverse consequences. Benefits: Evidence from various work settings highlights the benefits of a systematic program of risk reduction for the humanitarian community.

 

 

United Nations, 2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction - Risk and Poverty in a Changing Climate.

The Report is the first biennial global assessment of disaster risk reduction prepared in context of the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). The ISDR, launched in 2000, provides a framework to coordinate actions to address disaster risks at the local, national, regional and international levels. The Hyogo Framework for Action for Action 2005-2015 (HFA), endorsed by 168 UN member states at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan in 2005, urges all countries to make major efforts to reduce their disaster risk by 2015. The Report was coordinated by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) Secretariat, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the ProVention Consortium, the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute and a wide range of other ISDR partners.

Security & Defence Agenda, The 2010 UK Strategic Defence and Security Review - 2010.

The UK Government has announced it intends to undertake a Strategic Defence and Security Review. The UK Defence Secretary has said that he is determined the Review bring into balance defence policy, plans, commitments and resources , and produce over time a transformative change to UK Defence. What kinds of challenges should the UK be preparing to confront? What kinds of capabilities will that require? What assumptions should the UK make about allies’ and partners’ contributions to collective security? What expectations do partners and allies have of the UK?

SMI Perspectives 2 - Dick, Anna, Creating Common NGO Security Terminology: A Comparative Study, October 2010.

This text is a revised version of a project conducted by Anna Dick at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. One of the hurdles to improving NGO security is that there are no commonly-accepted definitions for security terms. This impedes incident reporting and makes security management more difficult. The project reviews security terminology as it is used in NGO security documents; it provides a methodology for reviewing the terms, and offers proposed definitions for common security terms. The primary goal of this project is to offer proposed definitions for security terms. The intention is that these will serve as a further step in the discussion within the NGO security sector about the terms. The ultimate goal is that standardized definitions agreed upon by the NGO security community will be determined and will improve communication and understanding about security. 

 

Geneva, 9 November 2010, close to 60 private security providers signed the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers.

The Signatory Companies affirm that they have a responsibility to respect the human rights of, and fulfill humanitarian responsibilities towards, all those affected by their business activities, including Personnel, Clients, suppliers, shareholders, and the population of the area in which services are provided. The Signatory Companies also recognize the importance of respecting the various cultures encountered in their work, as well as the individuals they come into contact with as a result of those activities.

Evans, Alex, Resource Scarcity, Climate Change and the Risk of Violent Conflict, World Bank, World Development Report 2011, Background Paper, September 2010.

This paper was written by Alex Evans of the Center on International Cooperation (CIC), New York University, and issued by the World Bank /World Development Report 2011 as Background Paper. It provides a brief assessment of how natural resource scarcity and global climate change may change the risk of violent conflict in the future. The resource scarcity element of the paper is primarily focused on resources required to meet basic needs such as food, land and water, as opposed to high-value commodities associated with the ‘resource curse’, such as diamonds, coltan or hardwood (although oil is touched on in the paper, primarily because of the linkages between oil and other scarcity issues). The paper begins with an overview of projected trends in resource scarcity and climate change. It emphasises that problems of resource availability may be as much the result of poor governance as physical constraints, and that the risk posed by climate change or resource scarcity depends as much on the vulnerability of populations, ecosystems, economies and institutions as on the magnitude of climate or scarcity impacts themselves. Resource availability must be seen not as a stand-alone issue, but rather in the context of the overall political economy landscape. The paper then discusses ways in which these trends may affect conflict risk, including already-established links and ways in which such links may evolve in the future, including under abrupt change scenarios. The paper concludes with some brief remarks on possible avenues of exploration for conflict prevention and building resilience in the light of scarcity and climate change.

International Peace Institute (IPI),  Cockayne, James, Christoph Mikulashcek, Chris Perry, The United Nations Security Council and Civil War: First Insights from a New Dataset, September 2010.

This report is the first publication produced by IPI’s research project on Understanding Compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions. It provides fresh insights from the new IPI Security Council Compliance Database. The report examines trends in how the Security Council has engaged with civil wars since 1989, variations in where and when it chose to engage, and the gradual evolution of the Council’s civil-war response strategies. Future analysis by this project will seek to provide answers to two questions: To what extent do civil-war parties comply with demands issued by the Security Council? And what factor or combination of factors best explains the variance in the level of compliance— e.g., conflict settings, conflict management strategies, or political dynamics within the Security Council?

Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), Williams, Paul D., Enhancing Civilian Protection in Peace Operations - Insights from Africa, Research Paper No. 1, September 2010.

Recent incidents of systematic rapes in the eastern DRC and continued mass dislocations of populations in Somalia and Sudan have again thrust the issue of civilian protection and the responsibility of international peace operations onto news headlines around the world. Such episodes simultaneously damage the very credibility of peace operations. As home to 40 peace operations in 14 countries since 2000, Africa is at the forefront of grappling with the civilian protection issue. In this ACSS Research Paper, Paul Williams assesses the role civilian protection plays in peace operations, lessons learned from past civilian protection efforts, progress that has been made and key obstacles that remain in effectively providing protection to civilians caught up in armed conflict. Drawing on this experience, the paper puts forth ten priorities for improving civilian protection in ongoing and future peace operations – in Africa and beyond.

Janus Peter, Talking risk - ISO focus, July-August 2009.

A private sector view on the relevance of ISO13000:2009. Peter Janus: “Alcoa, as an international corporation, will be an early adopter of ISO 31000. The standard fits well with its current framework and objective to integrate the world’s best practice in risk management to support and enhance business activities in all areas of its operations. ISO 31000 is perceived as the next step in the development and improvement of the company’s risk management journey.”

© ISO Focus, www.iso.org/isofocus

 

ISO Guide 73: Risk management - Vocabulary, ISO, 2009.

ISO Guide 73:2009 provides the definitions of generic terms related to risk management. It aims to encourage a mutual and consistent understanding of, and a coherent approach to, the description of activities relating to the management of risk, and the use of uniform risk management terminology in processes and frameworks dealing with the management of risk.

ISO Guide 73:2009 is intended to be used by:

·         those engaged in managing risks,

·         those who are involved in activities of ISO and IEC, and

·         developers of national or sector-specific standards, guides, procedures and codes of practice relating to the management of risk.

For principles and guidelines on risk management, reference is made to ISO 31000:2009.

 

ISO Guide 73:2009 can be purchased at:

http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=44651

Further information on ISO Guide 73:2009 can be found at:

http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1266

Further information in risk management:

http://www.iso.org/iso/talking_risk_focus_julaug2009.pdf

ISO/IEC 31010:2009, Risk management – Risk assessment techniques, has been developed jointly by ISO and its partner IEC.

Risks affecting organizations may have consequences in terms of societal, environmental, technological, safety and security outcomes; commercial, financial and economic disciplines, as well as social, cultural and political reputation impacts.

When risks occur, organizations always have to ask the question: "Is the level of risk tolerable or acceptable, and does it require further treatment?"

Risk assessment is an integral part of risk management which provides a structured process for organizations to identify how objectives may be affected. It is used to analyse the risk in terms of consequences and their probabilities, before the organization decides on further treatment, if required.

Risk assessment provides decision-makers and responsible parties with an improved understanding of risks that could affect achievement of objectives, as well as of the adequacy and effectiveness of controls already in place. The standard provides a basis for decision about the most appropriate approach to be used to treat particular risks and to select between options.

ISO/IEC 31010:2009 will assist organizations in implementing the risk management principles and guidelines provided by the recently published

The application of a range of techniques is introduced, with specific references to other International Standards where the concept and application of techniques are described in greater detail. Risk assessment is not a stand-alone activity and should be fully integrated into the other components in the risk management process.

 

ISO 13010:2010 can be purchased at:

http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=51073

Further information on ISO 31010:2010 can be found at:

http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1288

Further information on risk management:

http://www.iso.org/iso/talking_risk_focus_julaug2009.pdf

ISO 31000: 2009, Risk management -- Principles and guidelines, ISO, 2010.

 

ISO 31000: 2009, Risk management -- Principles and guidelines  sets out principles, a framework and a process for the management of risk that are applicable to any type of organization in public or private sector. It does not mandate a "one size fits all" approach, but rather emphasises the fact that the management of risk must be tailored to the specific needs and structure of the particular organization.

ISO 31000: 2009 :

·         provides principles and generic guidelines on risk management.

·         can be used by any public, private or community enterprise, association, group or individual. Therefore, ISO 31000:2009 is not specific to any industry or sector.

·         can be applied throughout the life of an organization, and to a wide range of activities, including strategies and decisions, operations, processes, functions, projects, products, services and assets.

·         can be applied to any type of risk, whatever its nature, whether having positive or negative consequences.

 

Although ISO 31000: 2009 provides generic guidelines, it is not intended to promote uniformity of risk management across organizations. The design and implementation of risk management plans and frameworks will need to take into account the varying needs of a specific organization, its particular objectives, context, structure, operations, processes, functions, projects, products, services, or assets and specific practices employed.

At the same time, ISO is publishing ISO Guide 73:2009, Risk management vocabulary, which complements ISO 31000 by providing a collection of terms and definitions relating to the management of risk.

 

ISO 31000: 2010 can be purchased at:  

www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=43170 

Further information on ISO 26000:2010 can be found at: 

www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1266 

Further information on risk management:

www.iso.org/iso/talking_risk_focus_julaug2009.pdf 

EISF (European Interagency Security Forum), Risk Thresholds in Humanitarian Assistance, 2010.

 

This study focuses on the process of accepting and rejecting risk within humanitarian agencies. It documents how agencies express or define their attitude to risk, surveys challenges in managing this ‘risk attitude’ and ‘thresholds’ of risk, and considers frameworks and processes which increase the integration of operational and organisational priorities and risk judgements. We have incorporated insights from other sectors as well as international standards in risk management.

ActAlliance, Principles of ACT Safety and Security (PASS), 2008.

 

In their service to people in need and populations affected by disasters, ACT members strive to establish and maintain professional competence, practices that meet the highest ethical standards, and the highest quality of service. ACT members recognize that being accountable to the people they serve and working in a spirit of collaboration and partnership are the most effective ways to achieve their common objectives. This also builds the trust and acceptance from which ACT members draw the essence of their security in emergency operations.

In the same spirit, this document seeks to lay the foundation for ACT member organizations to establish and build upon their own institutional approaches to security and safety of their staff, local, national and international. The Principles of ACT Safety and Security (PASS) reflect not only the conscientious way ACT members manage programs, but also serve as a statement of commitment to the well-being of aid workers that often risk their personal security to administer to the needs of others.

ActAlliance, Security Handbook,  2008.

The ACT Alliance Security Advisory Group has developed this Security Handbook, and the complementary Principles of ACT Safety and Security (PASS), as means to provide security and safety policy and guidelines to members of the ACT Alliance. 

 

United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), Safety and Security, 2006.

This chapter from a UNDAC publication (2006) concentrates on safety and security in “hostile” environments, i.e., in areas where there are possibilities of armed conflicts, acts of terrorism, etc. These situations may at first seem connected only with complex emergencies, but a number of natural disaster-prone countries also have these characteristics. It briefly covers: 1. Introduction 2. United Nations security 2.1. UN entities concerned with security 3. UN security phases 3.1. Minimum Operating Security Standard (MOSS) 4. Team safety and security 7 4.1. Personal safety and security 10 5. Evacuation plan 12 Annex - Baseline MOSS tables; Mines awareness

United Nations International Labour Organisation, Safety and Security of ILO staff, 2008.

This paper outlines the actions taken by the Office in the aftermath of the bombing of the United Nations building in Algiers, which housed the ILO’s operations in Algeria. It also provides summary information on the outcome of a wider reflection on the adequacy of safety and security arrangements for ILO staff globally.

Larissa Fast, “Characteristics, context and risk: NGO insecurity in conflict zones”, Disasters 31:2 (2007): 130-154.

This paper reports on research conducted on the insecurity of NGOs between 1999 and 2002, with the goal of contributing to the debate on the reasons why NGO actors are targets of violence in conflict settings. The research involved the collection of data from three countries – Angola, Ecuador and Sierra Leone – and exploration of the relationship between levels of insecurity, context and the characteristics of NGOs. Four risk factors appear to heighten the degree of insecurity that NGOs face: carrying out multiple types of activities and providing material aid; ‘operationality’; working with both sides of the conflict; and integrating into the local community. The paper discusses the methodological approach adopted for the research, the differences between ambient and situational insecurity and the findings related to risk factors.

 

HPN (Humanitarian Practice Network), Humanitarian Exchange, Humanitarian Security Management - Number 47 - June 2010.

This issue of Humanitarian Exchange ( HE 47 ), of the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), co-edited by the Humanitarian Practice Network and the Security Management Initiative (SMI) in Geneva, focuses entirely on staff safety and security. Responses to safety and security challenges vary widely across the aid sector. Different contexts, organizational values, principles and missions, perceptions of security, risk thresholds and human and financial resources all contribute to different management approaches. The articles in this issue are intended to encourage critical thinking around risk management and, in some cases, to challenge existing security management norms.

Contributers to this issue are: Adele Harmer, Larissa Fast and Michael O'Neill, Christina Wille, Oliver Behn and Madeleine Kingston, Elisabeth Rowley and Lauren Burns and Gilbert Burnham, Christina Williamson, Gilles Carbonnier, Mark Allison, André du Plessis, Ivor Morgan, Michael Kleinmann and Mark Bradley.  

 

This report presents a summary of the 5th Senior Security Management Seminar, organized by the Security Management Initiative (SMI), part of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP). The Seminar was entitled: Terrorist Threats and Operational Space and took place from 2-4 May, 2010, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Christian Aid, Saving Lives Together - A Review of Security Collaboration between the United Nations and Humanitarian Actors on the Ground, June 2010.

This survey-based report aimed to produce a "baseline of data to test empirically common assumptions about the current functioning of the [Saving Lives Together] framework and security arrangements of non-governmental organisations".  The study considered 205 responses to the survey, which was conducted between 1st July - 31st August 2009; it found that, "While, overall, respondents spoke positively of the continued relevance of the SLT framework...in the field, awareness of it remains poor and implementation minimal".  Only 30% of respondents identified as field-based were even aware of the SLT.  Of those aware of SLT, 87% suggested that it was "useful for ensuring staff safety and security in the field"; respondents from national NGOs were twice as likely as those from International NGOs to consider SLT 'vital'. 

 

A UNDSS-led task force, consisting of UN agencies and NGO representatives, is currently working on an improved SLT framework, and is considering many of the issues raised in this Christian Aid report.  

http://www.eisf.eu/resources/library/SLT_survey_FINAL.pdf

The Journal of International Security Affairs, Sageman Marc, The Normality of Global Jihadi Terrorism, Spring 2005, Number 8.

Simon Fraser University, Human Security Report Project, Human Security Brief 2007.

This Brief focuses on three main issues. First, it challenges the expert consensus that the threat of terrorism—especially Islamist terrorism—is increasing. It tracks a remarkable, but largely unnoticed, decline in the incidence of terrorism around the world, including a sharp decrease in deadly assaults perpetrated by al-Qaeda’s loosely knit Islamist global terror network.

 

Second, it analyzes the marked decline in the number and deadliness of armed conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa that have taken place in the new millennium. It attributes this decline—and the parallel but longer-term fall in coups d’état in the region—to a significant increase in international initia­tives directed towards stopping ongoing political violence and preventing it from restarting.

 

Third, it updates the global trend data on armed conflicts, battle-deaths, coups d’état, and human rights abuses that were reported in the Human Security Report 2005 and Human Security Brief 2006. It finds that there has been little net change in recent years in the number of conflicts in which a government is one of the warring parties, but that other forms of political violence, including communal conflicts, have declined.

 

InterAction, Security Advisory Group, Security Risk Management-NGO Approach, 2010.  

 

This document outlines the Security Risk Management (SRM) process recommended by InterAction's Security Advisory Group (SAG), providing guidelines for the conducting of a Security Risk Assessment (SRA), a critical component of the SRM.  Its central focus is the preparation phase of the SRM, where it provides tools to guide the NGO's assessment of its operational context, to conduct a risk analysis, and to identify mitigation measures, so enabling the NGO to complete its mission of delivering aid whilst ensuring the safety and security of its staff, assets and programmes.  The SRM seeks to provide an adaptable framework through which risk management can be mainstreamed into every facet of NGO planning, premised on the notion that accountability for safety and security matters rests with "all levels, not only with...security focal points". 

Humanitarian Policy Group, Policy Brief 33, Stoddard Aeby, Harmer Adele, DiDomenico Viktoria, Private Security Contracting in Humanitarian Operations, January 2009.

US Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign assets Control (OFAC), Risk Matrix for the Charitable Sector, 2006.

Humanitarian Outcomes, Stoddard Abby, Harmer Adele, Supporting Security for Humanitarian Action, 2010.

This review was designed to support and inform the discussion on the theme of ‘Safety and Security in Humanitarian Action’ at the 10th Montreux Good Humanitarian Donor retreat, 18-19 March, 2010.

The review’s terms of reference called for an examination of the availability, adequacy, and distribution of funding for security in humanitarian settings, and of support for collective security management platforms and individual agency security management. To do so, the authors synthesized findings from the most recent literature and thinking in the sector; drawing on their over five years of focused research and consultations in the field of humanitarian operational security. That research has comprised over 600 interviews and repeated consultations with humanitarian professionals and security experts in the UN, Red Cross movement, and NGO community, as well as donor governments and the private sector. The synthesis was augmented by 17 additional key informant interviews conducted specifically for this review, and a funding flow analysis using current financial data from OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service and selected donor and agency budgets/spending statements.

The results of the 10th Montreux donor retreat are summarized in the following text: ‘Montreux X - Convenors' Conclusions, Retreat on the Consolidated Appeal Process and Humanitarian Financing, March 2010.’

ICRC, International Review, Promoting Compliance of Private Security & Military Companies with IHL, 2006.

International Alert, Privatization of Security - Framing a Conflict, Prevention & Peacebuilding Policy Agenda, November 1999.

International Alert, The Politicisation of Humanitarian Action & Staff Security - The Use of Private Security Companies by Humanitarian Agencies, April 2001.

People In Aid, Enhancing Staff Security, Information Note, 2004.

International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) & Centre for International Environmental and Climate Research at the University of Oslo (CICERO) for the Global Environmental Change and Human Security Program (GECHS), Barnett Jon, Adger Neil, Human Security & Climate Change, Oslo Workshop 2005.

 

Climate change will effect some major environmental changes which, when superimposed on existing environment and development problems, may result in security problems for some individuals, social groups, and countries. It may undermine human security by reducing access to, and the quality of, natural resources that are important to sustain livelihoods. It may, through a range of largely indirect effects, undermine the capacity of States to provide the opportunities and services that help sustain livelihoods. It may be one among numerous coexisting factors that contributes to violence. These risks are interrelated. This paper explains in some detail the ways in which climate change may undermine human security, the way human insecurity may increase the risk of violent conflict, and the role of States in human security and peace building. On the basis of this investigation it then outlines the broad contours of a research program for enhancing understanding of climate change and security.

United Nations General Assembly Security Council, Montreux Document, A/63/467–S/2008/636, October 2008.

ICRC, International Review of the Red Cross,  by Philippe Dind, Security in ICRC field operations, 30 June 1998, no 323, p.335-345.

Philippe Dind is the delegate in charge of security at the ICRC’s Directorate of Operations. His task is to ensure that field staff are able to carry out their humanitarian work in satisfactory conditions of security. Before taking up his current position the author held various other posts, both at headquarters and in the field.

International Committee of the Red Cross, Humanitarian security: "a matter of acceptance, perception, behaviour..." , March 2004.

At a meeting in Geneva (31.03.04) ICRC operations director Pierre Krähenbühl outlined the organization's view of current threats to humanitarian work in conflict zones and re-affirmed its commitment to the principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality.

 

Address given at the High-level Humanitarian Forum, Palais des Nations, Geneva - 31 March 2004.  

 

 

Internatinal Review of the Red Cross, Philippe Dind, Security in ICRC field operations, no 323, June 1998, p.335-345.

 

EISF (European Interagency Security Forum), The information management challenge-a briefing on information security for humanitarian Non-Governmental Organisations in the field, March 2010.

This EISF briefing paper describes the "information management challenge" - that of ensuring the security of sensitive information in the difficult conditions that may exist in many field offices, and where the risk of surveillance is present - and posits potential solutions through strengthening a process that will ensure the consistent observance of fundamental information security procedures, and regular audits guaranteeing that security procedures are commensurate to the risk context.  It also outlines the dimensions of an information management policy, and highlights the potential risks - and means of mitigating those - that it should address.  Fundamentally, it contends that good information security requires more than simply a "technical policy" or input from IT departments; rather, it argues that an "information management culture", matching such technical solutions to consistent observance and awareness amongst all staff and managers, is necessary.

 

SDA-CEIS-European Parliament: Security & Defence Day 2009 - Conference Report:  "EU Smart Power": Towards a better integration of European civilian and military dimensions. 

This is the 'Conference Report' of the 'Security & Defense Day '09' held at the European Parliament, Brussels, 18 November 2009. "Smart Power" is here seen as the 'cooperation between civilian and military administrations as well as public-private cooperation'. The report provides insight into some of the latest thinking in mainly defense circles and the private sector on civilian-military cooperation. The report contains both English and French versions: English: pages 1- 64 - French: pages 68-120 - Participant list: pages 121-144

United Nations, Field Security Handbook, System-wide Arrangements for the Protection of United Nations Personnel and Property in the Field, 2006.

IFRC, Security Unit Report-End of the year 2009. 

The IFRC’s “end of year” report provides an overview of the Security Unit’s main activities throughout the year including security trainings conducted, priorities for the coming year, main challenges and introduction of new security tools provided or implemented by the organization.It provides security incident statistics and analysis with regard to reported security incidents within the IFRC. It has to be emphasized that these statistics represent solely “Reported” incidents and therefore there has to be a clear distinction being reported incidents and actual number of security incidents occurring in all field operations throughout the year. By comparing the previous three years statistics to these 2009 numbers it emerges that there are very little statistical differences between the various incident categories when comparing the total number of incident within each category to the total numbers of reported incidents.

ODI - Humanitarian Policy Group - Karim Farahnaz, Humanitarian action in the new security environment - policy and operational implications in Afghanistan, Background Paper, 2006.

Security for Afghans and the aid workers assisting them is high on the international agenda. On the one hand, insecurity is being used to explain why aid funds have not been spent at the expected level or used effectively.On the other hand, the ‘war on terror’ has called for a close follow-up of security incidents to assess how the international community’s presence is affecting security.

 

 

ODI - Humanitarian Policy Group - Gundel Joakim, Humanitarian action in the new security environment - policy and operational implications in Somalia and Somaliland, HPG Background Paper, 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The objective of this case study is to assess to what extent the humanitarian community in Somalia has faced an increase or decrease in insecurity during the last decade (1997 to 2006), and in either case: a) what were the reasons and circumstances; b) what were the policy responses; c) and what was the relationship between the real or perceived security environment and the applied security response systems/approaches.

The report identifies changes in, and perceptions of, security and threat levels, and maps the individual security practices of key humanitarian actors and their collective security arrangements, in order to draw conclusions as to how the security environment has impacted on humanitarian delivery, including shifts towards localisation of response.

Aven Terje, Risk Analysis Assessing Uncertainties Beyond Expected Values And Probabilities, 2008.  

This book is about risk analysis – basic ideas, principles and methods. Both theory and practice are covered. A number of books exist presenting the many risk analysis methods and tools, such as fault tree analysis, event tree analysis and Bayesian networks. In this book we go one step back and discuss the role of the analyses in risk management. How such analyses should be planned, executed and used, such that they meet the professional standards for risk analyses and at the same time are useful in a practical decision-making context. In the book we review the common risk analysis methods, but the emphasis is placed on the context and applications.

 

Glaser Max, Stress related to Safety and Security,  7-9 September 2001.An introduction to managing stress in humanitarian aid workers,Antares Conference, Amsterdam, 7-9 September 2001; Lead questions: Why do people volunteer. What happens to them and How does this affect them: motives, exposures and coping.

 

This report presents a summary of the 4th Senior Security Management Seminar, organized by the Security Management Initiative (SMI), part of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP).

The Seminar was entitled: Sovereignty, Security and Humanitarian Action

and took place from 22-24 November, 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland.  

O'Neill Michael, Acceptance: An Approach to Security as if People Mattered, In InterAction, Monday Developments Jan/Feb 2008, Vol 26 N° 1/2.

Experience reminds us that even for development programs, the operational environment rarely remains static. Given the constant flux of political fortunes, increasing crime and insecurity, it behoves development organizations to take a hard look at their security management systems.

United Nations, Security Accountability Briefing Statement, December 2004.

This report presents a summary of the 4th Senior Security Management Seminar, organized by the Security Management Initiative (SMI), part of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP). The Seminar was entitled: Sovereignty, Security and Humanitarian Action and took place from 22-24 November, 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland.

RedR UK: The global war on terror and its implications of security management, 2003.

RedR Seminar Report summarizing the proceedings of the 2003 event. The purpose of the seminar was to address the "challenging security issues in complex operating environemtns such as Afghanistan & Iraq...The seminar provided an opportunity to discuss the main challengs and constraints their organizations and staff are facing and to discuss the appropriateness of current security management theory and practice in managing risk within these contexts."

Humanitarian Policy Group - Carle Alexandre, Chkam Hakim: Humanitarian action in the new security environment - policy and operational implications in Iraq, 2006.

This study aims to measure the insecurity of aid workers in Iraq, identifying changes in perceptions of security and threat levels, mapping the individual security practices of key humanitarian actors and their collective security arrangements, and drawing conclusions as to how the security environment has impacted on humanitarian delivery.

RedR UK, Safety and Security Review, Issue no8, 2007.

The eighth edition of the Safety and Security publication, which includes an article on perceptions of insecurity among aid workers, and an examination of training needs in Chad.

RedR UK, Safety and Security Review, Issue no7, 2007.

What was formerly the Security Quarterly Review has been renamed Safety & Security Review. This publication provides a forum for sharing knowledge and expertise in the global aid sector. This edition contains information on Duty of Care and also keeps you up to date on the provision and development of security training in the sector.