Strengthening the ecosystem
NGOs do not manage security risks in isolation. Effective security risk management depends on a wider ecosystem of specialist services- from insurance, legal advice, and medical evacuation to risk analysis, training, and crisis support. Many of these services are delivered by commercial providers.
GISF’s 2025-2030 strategy (link) recognised this, and our Commercial Partners Programme exists to strengthen that ecosystem.
Our role is to act as a neutral, trusted platform between NGOs and credible providers, helping NGOs access better services, encouraging innovation that reflects real operational needs, and raising standards across the market.
Why GISF engages with commercial partners
The NGO security market can be fragmented and opaque, particularly for smaller and national NGOs. At the same time, providers with genuinely useful solutions can struggle to understand the sector or reach the right organisations.
By engaging selectively with commercial partners, GISF aims to:
- Reduce the cost of effective security risk management through shared services and collective approaches
- Improve the relevance and quality of services available to NGOs, especially in high-risk contexts
- Incentivise providers to adapt products and pricing to NGO realities, not corporate assumptions
- Expand access to essential services for national and local NGOs, including insurance and specialist support
- Support long-term resilience and self-reliance across the sector
A deliberate approach to partnership
Engagement through the Commercial Partners Programme is intentionally limited at this stage. GISF is taking the time to build trust and create the conditions for open, frank exchanges between NGOs and commercial actors.
Our focus is on quality over scale. We are open to conversations with companies about how they can meaningfully support GISF’s mission, contribute to the effectiveness and safety of our members’ operations, and strengthen the wider security risk management ecosystem for NGOs.
As the programme develops, this approach enables partners to:
- Receive input from NGOs on real operational challenges and constraints
- Contribute expertise where it adds genuine value
- Support innovation that improves safety, access, and operational effectiveness
- Build credibility within a values-driven, mission-focused sector
We look forward to expanding this group of commercial partners over time, as the programme matures and shared expectations, trust, and ways of working are firmly established.
Interested in engaging with the NGO security sector?
Learn more about how service providers can be listed in the GISF Supplier Directory.
Current Commercial Partners include: