The events of the past several months have presented a wide range of challenges to the International NGO (INGO) community as COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the world. The operational realities of COVID-19 are causing organizations to create and adapt processes and procedures, reassess organizational customs and norms and establish new ways of working. Organizations are dedicating significant energy to projecting forward and making operational changes to uphold their duty of care and provide staff with a work environment that considers this new reality.

Recognizing this effort, the INGO community came together to produce Recovery & Wellness, COVID-19 which convenes subject matter experts and practitioners from the fields of Human Resources, Insurances and Benefits, Staff Wellbeing, Security and Risk Management and Non-profit Law and Compliance. Each module seeks to provide guidance, suggestions for internal communications and an action list organized by Highly Recommended, Recommended and Beneficial actions. These are general recommendations which may not apply uniformly to all organizations and were specifically designed for small to midsized organizations.

B7. Risk assessment for country operations

Once the acute phase of COVID-19 has passed and the world settles into a period of ‘new normal’, there are likely to be longer-term Global security implications, as countries grapple with containment and management. With INGOs exploring new programmatic responses to areas affected by COVID-19, it is important to assess the far-reaching and complex changes in the operational environment and how these affect risk to INGO staff, assets, and operations.