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2. Framing comments
U.S. non-profits or NGOs have decades of experience working in some of the
toughest global environments and do so often for years. Start with two stories
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terrorist attack with small arms, hand grenades and explosives. In the
attack, 4 local staff lost their lives and 8 more were injured
Plan USA is a U.S. non-profit and the vast majority of its
resources depend on generous private contributions;
nevertheless the facilities in Mansehra were targeted for the
simple fact that they were occupied by the staff of a ‘western’
organization
o They were hit because they were the easiest target and had not
applied some of the lessons our community is trying very hard to
implement
o They did have the support of the local community and thousands of
people attended the funeral
o The staff killed were from Mansehra, and the attack was seen as an
attack on the community itself
It is an approach that usually works but sadly not always in what is becoming
an increasingly dangerous world for humanitarian workers
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Today, I’ll try to answer several key questions to help you understand how we
approach NGO Security & Managing Risk in a Changing World
3. What is InterAction
25 year history
Over 185 members, U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations (U.S. NGOs),
working in humanitarian aid and development assistance around the world
o Of that, about 69 are humanitarian organizations, responding to
emergencies, natural disasters and conflicts
o About working to find long-term solutions to poverty
They manage over $9 billion year, with 70% coming from private donations.
o If any of you have ever given to an appeal to support programs
focused on the world’s poor, thank you
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clear thing NGOs have in common with the private sector operating
overseas
For example, NGOs were out and about in both southern Lebanon
and Pakistan during the Hezbollah-Israeli war, when the UN was in
lock down and while USG employees were confined to the embassies
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rights, and in particular economic and social rights in often very difficult
external environments
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o Some groups even appear to be targeting aid organizations because
they are providing aid itself
o What we call “humanitarian space” is closing and being threatened
by both terrorists or insurgents, and by the governments that
support us
Protection: We do, however, put bars on windows, lock the safes, maintain
vehicle use logs, check out local partners to be sure not dealing with crooks or
terrorists
o For example, Plan in Nairobi – staff had “lock down” rooms in their
houses
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NGOs are also unique in how we do our risk assessment methodology:
o NGOs do a program assessment first,
o then a threat assessment,
o then a vulnerability assessment
o Our risk assessment/security strategy is designed so that it allows our
programs to work
8. What are the core principles that guide the work of U.S. NGOs?
Humanitarians are engaged in lifesaving and preserving activities for
populations affected by natural or man-made disasters
Most subscribe to a Code of Conduct
o Dictates that they act impartially, i.e., provide assistance without
regard to politics, ethnic or religious belief,
o This implies a commitment to independence
That they do not implement the policies of donor
governments except to the extent the policy coincides
with their own policy
o Do not provide political, economic, or military information for
purposes other than strictly humanitarian
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o Example:
On a trip to visit our member’s program’s in Darfur, I recall walking
through the central square in El Fasher Darfur with Government,
Janjaweed and rebel forces occupying the sidelines armed with heavy
machine guns. We were very carefully watched and the same was
true when we drove through the square in a dilapidated van with a
red circle with a bar “NO GUNS” logo printed on side
The next morning member security coordinators activated their
phone tree and we went into a lock down mode restricting all NGOs
to their compounds. The Chinese envoy was visiting with extensive
security and the resulting highly volatile environment made it
impossible to travel across the small town for several hours. In places
where a firefight often does erupt it is important not to be at the
wrong place at the wrong time
o Examples:
One of our members has been specifically targeted in recent years
for providing health services to women on the
Afghanistan/Pakistan border
There are countless reports in the media of young girls being
attacked for attending schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, often
in schools or through programs that NGOs have assisted in
building
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Our community has a deeply ingrained ethic of sustainability, and connecting
communities to the global economy and we work primarily with private
resources
o The majority of our resources come from the American people,
including corporations
Much of our work is an extension of Corporate Social
Responsibility programs
o Private funding and link to the global economy
o Our members work at the margins of the global economy
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o The Security Advisory Group – membership is open to all staff of
InterAction member organizations with an interest in security management
and staff safety and security
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o We’ve also participated in OSAC outreach activities with the
university community
11. Conclusion
We have also have been able to bring an international NGO perspective to
OSAC’s leadership
o Our members choose to work and remain in “deep field” locations
where many other organizations don’t operate in
o Our strategy for approaching security in the field has worked, and
while we mourn those who have lost their lives, that number is still
only a fraction of the number of workers we have in the field
o We lend the expertise we’ve gained through that experience to OSAC
as well
o We’re glad for the partnership we’ve developed over the years with
OSAC
Particularly in a time when our sense of immunity as
part of a humanitarian space is threatened
o We do look forward to continued engagement and partnership with
the OSAC community in the future, and strongly believe that our
community will continue to strengthen our own security
management as a result of this partnership, as well as offer our own
insights, experiences, and expertise to the OSAC community
o Lives will still be lost
Professional security
Acceptance is our main tool
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