Generic security guide for humanitarian organisations
A baseline guide written to be adapted rather than adopted. It sets out the security arrangements an organisation should have in place at each stage of an assignment, from recruitment through to the end of a deployment.
What "generic" means here
The guide does not describe a single country or a single type of programme. It describes the arrangements that have to exist whatever the context, on the argument that organisations which lack them tend to reinvent them badly under pressure. Where a decision depends on local conditions, the guide says so and leaves the decision to the country office.
The stages it covers
| Stage | What has to be in place |
|---|---|
| Recruitment | Honest description of the posting and its risks, medical and psychological fitness criteria applied consistently, and a clear statement of what the organisation will and will not provide. |
| Preparation | Context briefing, security training proportionate to the risk, medical checks and vaccinations, insurance confirmed in writing, and next-of-kin details recorded. |
| Arrival | A local security briefing on arrival rather than before departure, an introduction to the warden system and the communications tree, and a documented check that communications equipment works. |
| Daily operations | Movement procedures, journey management for road travel, checkpoint and carjacking protocols, site security at offices and residences, and a rule on what is reported and to whom. |
| Incident | A stated first action, a communications tree that has been tested, a crisis management team that has met before the incident, and a family liaison role that is already assigned. |
| End of assignment | A debrief that is actually read, a medical and psychological follow-up offer, and clear arrangements for the return of equipment and the handover of contacts. |
The parts most often missing
In practice the gaps are consistent. Journey management is written down and then not used, because the driver is the person who decides and the driver has no authority to refuse a journey. Communications trees are drawn and never tested. Security training is delivered once at induction and never revisited as the context changes. Debriefs are collected and filed without anyone reading across them.
The guide treats each of those as a management failure rather than an individual one. A procedure that the person with the least authority is expected to enforce is not a procedure; it is a statement of intent.
How to use it
Adapt it, do not adopt it. Take each section, decide whether the arrangement described is proportionate to the risks the country office has actually assessed, and either adopt it, change it to fit, or record why it does not apply. An organisation that works through the guide and produces a shorter, local document has used it correctly.
Related
Practical guidance and research on the security of humanitarian staff, for the organisations that send them.