Archive:
Violent acts that directly affect the delivery of health care range from indiscriminate violence, to direct attacks against health workers, obstruction and discrimination, as well as damage to health facilities and vehicles. Although violence affects health care in all countries,…
GISF, InterHealth Worldwide and International Location Safety have an exhibition stand at WHS, focused on initiatives to improve aid worker security and wellbeing. If you are going to the Summit we would love to see you there - we are at Stand 37 in B5 of the Lutfi Kirdar International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Don't forget to tweet to us via @GISF1 using #AidSecurity and #protectaidworkers.
The first ever World Humanitarian Summit is being held later this month in Turkey. It is being billed as a global call to action; an opportunity to change the landscape of humanitarian action and to address some of the most critical issues of our time. It is providing a platform to focus on global humanitarian needs and how we can do better for the people caught up in the numerous crises affecting the world today and in the future. It can safely be said that there are very mixed expectations regarding the outcomes, however the hope is that changes that translate into more effective humanitarian assistance will be seen as a result. The Summit presents an opportunity to continue to highlight and raise the profile of the issue of aid worker safety, security and wellbeing; reinforcing the message that if you want to deliver effective humanitarian assistance you need a competent and fit workforce, well equipped to cope with the demanding conditions they will be working under.
In the past decade, many areas of Pakistan have endured a high level of insecurity. There are no set patterns to the violence, which has varied from attacks on law enforcement agencies and schools to sectarian violence and the targeting of medical professionals engaged in polio vaccination programmes. Regardless of the types and motives of these attacks, the civilian population have paid a high price. Agence France Presse state that by 2014, nearly 7,000 people had been killed in militant attacks in Pakistan since the emergence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TPP).
The next GISF Forum will take place in Eschborn, near Frankfurt, on the 22nd and 23rd September 2016. Please let Ruth know (eisf-info@eisf.helpful.ws) if you would like to attend.
How is staff wellbeing and resilience relevant to NGO security risk management? What are the practical strategies that security managers can use to champion wellbeing within their organisation? In this GISF webinar, Lynne Cripe Ph.D, Director of Resilience Services with the KonTerra Group, will discuss how a focus on wellbeing and resilience can help staff living and working in high stress environments. Sign up for this webinar taking place on Friday 26th February at 12:00GMT. Don't forget to submit your questions on the registration page!
In this op-ed, Steve Ryan discusses how individual NGO staff members can better support colleagues and in doing so, contribute to better orgnaisational security risk management culture.
This InterHealth/People in Aid report written by Benjamin Porter and Ben Emmens (2009) argues that staff care across the humanitarian and development sector remains inconsistent and diverse. This is largely due to the various operational models and contexts that INGOs…
Air traffic volume has expanded dramatically in recent years, yet the number of plane crashes has steadily declined since 1980. Air accidents peaked in the 1940s, prompting aviation experts to develop a new safety approach, and today, aviation is one of the leading industries in risk management. This article discusses the aviation industry’s safety concept and considers what the growing humanitarian community may learn for its own security and safety management.
It is not breaking news that aid workers are frequently subjected to high levels of stress and pressure. Whether we acknowledge it or not, working in conflict zones, assisting during natural or manmade disasters and in-person or vicarious exposure to the effects of extreme poverty all make their mark. Whilst human resource teams are commonly charged with the management of employee health and wellbeing programmes, discussions during the GISF Forum in Berlin last September emphasised the link between staff wellbeing and good risk management practice. Security managers continuously strive to help staff deliver programmes in physical safety; how can we better mitigate the psychological impact of the work that we do?