What internships are teaching the next generation of NGO security professional

Three recent graduates from the The Hague University of Applied Sciences have written short blog posts about their time interning at NGOs. Read on to find out more about their motivations, skills, and experiences.

Internships can play a critical role in preparing the next generation of security practitioners. At a time when risks faced by aid workers are intensifying and demands on NGOs are increasing, creating strong early-career pathways into security risk management (SRM) is essential. These opportunities not only give graduates practical skills but also bring new perspectives and energy into a sector facing complex and evolving challenges.

As part of our series on early-career graduates from the Hague University of Applied Sciences, we spoke to three recent graduates of the Safety and Security Management Studies (SSMS) programme about their internships in NGOs and humanitarian organisations.

• Gabriel Asa Zilberg interned with the Human Security Collective in The Hague, working on participatory research in the MENA region.
• Pieter Kuiper Vega joined Socialab in Costa Rica, focusing on labour rights and fair wages in the banana sector.
• Tobias Vroeg worked with Médecins Sans Frontières in the Netherlands, contributing to research on misinformation and incident data analysis.

Their reflections highlight not only the value of early career pathways into SRM but also offer insights for the wider sector.

About the programme

In their fourth and final year in SSMS, students complete a six-month internship where they gain real-world work experience. During this time, they also conduct research on a safety and security challenge that the internship host organisation is grappling with, resulting in a solutions-oriented thesis with practical recommendations.

SSMS is an undergraduate programme that combines theory and practice, preparing students for the broad field of safety and security. The programme can be roughly divided into the three domains of international security, public safety, and industrial and corporate safety, with frequent overlap both in terms of content and practical application.

Through guest lectures and workshops, SSMS has started to introduce Risk Management in the NGO sector as an exciting career option. As a result, an increasing number of students have showed an interest in this field. Some, including those featured in this blog, have successfully applied for internships in NGOs. To better cater to student wishes, SSMS is trying to expand its network with values-based organisations that could benefit from employing SSMS interns.

If you’re interested in learning more about the programme, please email Tessa de Ryck at T.M.deRijckvanderGracht@hhs.nl.

Key takeaways from recent graduates

There are different motivations for entering the world of safety and security.

Each of the recent graduates who shared their story were inspired by different things to enter the world of safety and security. Gabriel, for example, saw how a study of safety and security could offer him the chance to learn more about issues that he already cared about. Tobias, on the other hand, was initially motivated by a desire to work in the military or intelligence, and then later discovered the connections with other lines of work such as those found from within the non-profit sector.

Learning about and understanding the different sources of inspiration for early career professionals can help inform the messaging around recruitment of the next generation of security staff.

Internships offer an opportunity to develop a wide range of valuable skills.

The graduates describe a multitude of skills developed throughout their internships with NGOs, including:

• Self-initiative
• Data analysis, and subsequent narrative construction
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Navigating sensitive situations with various stakeholders

The breadth in the various skills that the interns developed throughout their internship is indicative of both the many ‘hats’ that those who work for non-profits have to wear, as well as the many different skills that those in security functions exercise on a daily basis.

Bridging the gap between theory and practice is vital.

The recent graduates discuss how their internships allowed them to put their theoretical knowledge into practice, and just how valuable they found this.

• Peiter describes how his internship allowed him to better understand the socio-economic context in which the NGO he interned with operates, and the relationships between the various stakeholders involved. The internship helped him understand the importance of translating data into coherent narratives that policymakers and clients can easily interpret, which may have been difficult to convey in a purely academic context.
• Gabriel describes how his project experience undertaken during his internship directly complemented his post-graduate role at an NGO in Indonesia, further highlighting the benefits of his internship experience alongside his studies.
• While Tobias may not have had the operational experience he was craving, he still found value in the analysis project he worked on, the results of which were used in a security briefing.

Find the three blog posts below.

Image Credit: OSeveno, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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