Soldiers and NGOs (merged thread)

[Abu Buckwheat]

Interaction really has their stuff together. I've kicked around the idea of working in the NGO security and risk management field down the road, and that group is a leader in dealing with those issues.

Let me know ... as I know the heaviest of the heavies
... Mike O'Neill, Director of Security for Save the Children USA. He is clearly the single best NGO security director out there ... old Sierra Leone ICRC Rep held captive for 30 days by the RUF, stared down Fodeh Sankoh and escaped with his driver from their HQ. He created the Peace Corps security program and has been to every country in the world doing security assessments ... twice at least. He's on Interaction's board I believe and was huge in expanding military-NGO relations.

[redbullets]

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,