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Civil-Military

Evaluating Ebola: the politics of the military response narrative

In her op-ed, Kristin Bergtora Sandvik suggests that humanitarians must pay keen attention to the post-Ebola narrative of military victory that is currently emerging. To see the deployment of military personnel, strategies and tactics as the game changer is unfair, because it invisibilises the resilience of the nationals of Ebola affected countries, as well as the efforts of local health workers and (some) humanitarians to address and control the outbreak. However, this narrative also has important strategic consequences for patterns of funding and intervention in future health emergencies.

16 Mar 2015 Blog

Difficulties of delivering aid in Northeast Nigeria: Boko Haram, vigilantes and other challenges

Fighting to establish an Islamic ‘Caliphate’, Boko Haram hit the UN compound in Nigeria’s capital Abuja in 2011, killing 18. After the UN attack, President Goodluck Jonathan ‘reaffirmed his government’s “total commitment” to combating terrorism.’ In early 2013, Boko Haram gunmen killed nine polio workers, one of the deadliest attacks against aid workers in the region. Recent attacks in Baga and Doron Baga, where approximately 2,000 civilians were killed have further increased security difficulties for humanitarian organisations. Located in the Northeastern tip of Nigeria, humanitarian agencies have been unable to reach the destroyed towns since the attack due to the unstable situation.

21 Jan 2015 Blog

Humanitarian Access in Situations of Armed Conflict

This manual (2014) is designed to support humanitarian practitioners in developing and implementing approaches to improve humanitarian access in situations of armed conflict. The practitioner’s manual includes Humanitarian access in contemporary armed conflicts, Foundations of Humanitarian Access: Humanitarian principles and…

9 Jan 2015 Resource

Gender in Peacekeeping

This comprehensive guide (2014) is part of the Institute for Security Studies’ (ISS) contribution to advancing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, and ensuring that conflict management and peacebuilding efforts respect and promote the human…

17 Dec 2014 Resource

Event report: humanitarian action in fragile contexts

On Tuesday 8th July representatives from academia, INGOs, the private sector, journalists and other interested parties gathered at King’s College London to discuss key issues around new actors and the changing humanitarian space and how they will impact on security risk management (SRM). The focal point of the evening was GISF’s report on The Future of Humanitarian Security in Fragile Contexts, written in conjunction with the Humanitarian Futures Programme (HFP) at King’s College.

8 Aug 2014 Blog

“Saving Lives Together”: a review of existing NGO and United Nations security coordination practices in the field

The Saving Lives Together (SLT) is a framework for improving security arrangements among IGOs, NGOS and the UN in the field and was launched by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Task Force on Collaborative Approaches to Security in 2006. The Menu of Options, developed in 2001 by the UN Inter-Agency standing Committee (IASC) and the Office of the UN Security Coordinator, was the first step to formalising security coordination between INGOs and the UN. The report reviews the existing NGO and UN security coordination mechanisms and practices in the field, and is based on two online surveys that were shared through the GISF network, as well as interviews of international and national staff of a variety of NGOs and staff members of the UN in eight countries.

23 May 2014 Blog

Security risk management and new technologies

Aid agencies operate in many conflict-affected contexts that are considered by Western powers as threats to international peace and security. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) controversially used to respond to these threats, have already changed the contexts in which aid workers find themselves in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now, the potential introduction of LARs (Lethal Autonomous Robotics- weapons systems that can select and engage targets without intervention by a human operator), could further change the humanitarian operational context, as well as the types of threats aid workers are exposed to in the field.

28 Feb 2014 Blog