Michael is not an InterAction Board member, but is much of the moving force behind the InterAction Security Advisory Group (SAG). There are also some effective InterAction staff/leaders like Jim Bishop and Linda Poteat who keep these issues on the front burner, much to everyone's benefit (and field safety). My organization is a member of both InterAction and SAG, and we find them both very useful.

Unfortunately (and Michael and a few other squared away/active security officers are the exceptions), though security issues among the NGO community receive much more attention and focus these days, there is still a lag between the folks with security portfolios and the general management and leadership in many places. There are also so few of us with any sort of focus on this area that it tends to be a second-tier issue at times.

PMCs are not, and will likely not be the answer for the NGO community. Don't get me wrong, I'm somewhat of a PMC proponent (having worked for one once-upon-a-time). However, there's not enough funding in the relief and development arena to support that approach (at least not while the Afghanistan and Iraq cash cows are still delivering milk), and the philosophical/genuine fundraising/donor issues are probably a bit much to overcome.

It should be noted that there are often strong commodity area distinctions between humanitarian security and CIMIC, though the folks responsible for one tend to get the other as part of their primary (or secondary) duties.

Cheers,