Soldiers and NGOs (merged thread)

[jcustis]

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.

[Tom Odom]

Independence for NGHOs: Independence is defined in the same way as it is in the Code of Conduct of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and NGOs Engaged in Disaster Relief: Independence is defined as not acting as an instrument of government foreign policy. NGHOs are agencies that act independently from governments. NGHOs therefore, formulate their own policies and implementation strategies and do not seek to implement the policy of any government, except insofar as it coincides with their own independent policies. To maintain independence,
NGHOs will never knowingly—or through negligence—allow themselves, or their employees, to be used to gather information of a political, military, or economically sensitive nature for governments or other bodies that may serve purposes other than those that are strictly humanitarian, nor will they act as instruments of foreign policy of donor governments.

Based on my experience with NGOs in Zaire, Rwanda, and elsewhere I would say that the above paragraph (next to last in the guidelines document) means that the rest of the document is fluff, pure and simple. NGOs will do as they please, when they please, until a governmental body or an extra-governmental body (like an insurgency) uses some form of coercion to influence them.

I am not making an anti-NGO stand here. I have worked with NGOs. Some are quite professional. Some are extremely political. All bring the old commercial about "herding cats" to mind.

Best

Tom

[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,