Managing Security Risks in Hazardous Missions: The Challenges of Securing United Nations Access to Vulnerable Groups

The Spring 2006 issue of the Harvard Human Rights Journal has a great paper written by Claude Bruderlein and Pierre Gassman called Managing Security Risks in Hazardous Missions: The Challenges of Securing United Nations Access to Vulnerable Groups. The paper is based on Harvard's Program On Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research Security Management Initiative Progress Report that came out in 2005. This is an essential read for every NGO security practitioner as well as senior and field management. A very good assessment of the state of humanitarian security as well as suggestions for moving forward.

One quote I found quite telling was, "Interestingly, one of the main sources of pressure for security reform appears to come not from the staff itself, but from the families of those who lost their lives in service of the United Nations. International agencies are now facing increasingly litigious constituencies, among beneficiary populations and, more notably, among their predominantly Western staff. Such claimants increasingly seek compensation for damages incurred in preventable security and safety incidents. There are no precise numbers available on the litigation, or threats of litigation, exerted by the families. However, interlocutors we spoke with in the course of the 2005 SMI survey expressed the view that threats of litigation may be a key factor in prompting the U.N. agencies' interest in security management reforms."