#reshapeaid

As we approach the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul 23-24 May 2016, the topic of aid worker security and wellbeing continues to feature on social media and in the online press. Rebecca Maudling, Company Director of International Location Safety, presents her view on how this topic might be discussed in Istanbul. 

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. 

This issue surfaced in the consultations leading up to the Summit and indeed in the UN General Assembly resolution passed in December 2015 there was an explicit call for this issue to be on the WHS agenda. 

Despite this, the issue is notable for its absence; made all the more notable given that one of the 15 Special Session is dedicated to journalists and their protection.

Currently the issue is mentioned in Core commitment 4 of the Upholding the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Roundtable which calls for a commitment to “…promote and enhance efforts to respect and protect medical personnel, transports and facilities, as well as humanitarian relief personnel and assets against attacks, threats or other violent acts.” 

Of the 112 side events, there is one co-hosted by RedR UK on strategies to end attacks specifically on health workers and one co-hosted by Humanitarian Outcomes on improving access and assistance which is likely to touch on the issues. However, despite targeting of aid workers and repeated violations of International Humanitarian Law which directly affects their safety, wellbeing, and ultimately their ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, this issue does not appear to have gained any prominence.

In the run up to the Summit I worked with a global coalition of advocates* to propose a side event on the issue of aid worker wellbeing, however we were disappointed that this was not accepted. Wanting to find other opportunities to ensure this issue was represented in some way on the WHS agenda and in recognition of the need to create a strong voice around these issues I approached the European Interagency Security Forum (EISF) to support our efforts. 

As a result of this collaboration we were able to galvanise stakeholders from the humanitarian risk management community to develop two commitments which have been submitted to the WHS. The details of the commitments can be found here. These have been endorsed by a number of NGO risk management coordination bodies, representing security focal points of 145 organisations, working in 129 countries, plus key stakeholders from the humanitarian security risk management community. We are hoping that EISF and ILS will have the opportunity to present them at the Summit.

You cannot have effective humanitarian action without effective humanitarians. 

The official hashtag of the Summit is #ShareHumanity. I would argue that in order to truly #ShareHumanity we need to ensure that those delivering humanitarian assistance are treated with humanity too. It is for this reason that we have worked hard with EISF to get aid worker security and wellbeing to feature more prominently on the agenda at the WHS.

ILS, InterHealth Worldwide and EISF will also have an exhibition stand at WHS focused on services, products and initiatives to improve aid worker security and wellbeing. If you are going to the Summit we would love to see you there!

*- Amy Brathwaite who has made a powerful documentary exploring the personal impact that working in emergency settings can have.

- Emmett Fitzgerald, Director at the CBR Project for Humanitarian Relief Workers and Hadley Griffin, Program Associate, The CBR Project at the Garrison Institute

- Christoph Hensch who has written about his personal experiences and advocates for improved staff care. Curates Support for Humanitarian Aid Workers 

- Nuran Higgins who runs the Healthy Nomad website and Emergency AIDio show

- Megan Nobert, Founder and Project Director at Report the Abuse, addressing sexual violence within humanitarian settings

- Brendan McDonald who has written extensively on the subject and launched a petition to get aid worker wellbeing included as a key issue at the World Humanitarian Summit

At the policy level the United Nations supports Aid Worker Safety and Security but what does this mean in practice?

Advocacy to improve the health and safety of humanitarian aid workers has accelerated significantly in recent years. Although this has succeeded in building awareness of the issues; implementing sector-wide solutions has been far more difficult.  While there are no shortages of possible solutions on the table, achieving consensus on what they are, and securing a commitment to implement them, has been nigh impossible until now.

The World Humanitarian Summit, an initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General, presents the humanitarian system with a unique possibility to deliver real commitments to improve the health and safety of aid workers.  Since the first consultation in May 2014, numerous individuals and organizations have advocated for the inclusion of aid worker health and safety at the Summit. This was reflected in a petition to include the topic of aid worker health at the Summit, which was signed by 1,461 people representing national and international aid workers across the sector.

These advocates believe that to deliver principled, accountable and high-quality humanitarian action, it is imperative that communities and people affected by crisis receive the assistance they require from competent and well-managed staff and volunteers. They also recognized that to do this, the humanitarian system needed to invest in the physical, mental and psychological welfare of their staff.

This view was reflected on the 10th of December 2015 when the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution A/RES/70/104, “Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel.”  In the resolution the General Assembly noted:

“the importance of giving due consideration to the question of the safety and security of United Nations and other humanitarian personnel at the World Humanitarian Summit.” 

The resolution also emphasized:

“the importance of making available stress management, mental health and related services for United Nations personnel throughout the system, and encourages all humanitarian organizations to provide their personnel with similar support.”

[The full resolution is available at the end of this blog post]

On 9 February 2016, the Secretary-General launched his report for the World Humanitarian Summit, One Humanity: Shared Responsibility.  In the report the Secretary-General advocated for improving the health and safety of humanitarian aid workers by:

Ensuring “that all State and non-State parties to armed conflict fulfill their obligations to respect and protect humanitarian and medical workers;” and by,

Putting “in place political, legal, social and safety measures to protect humanitarian and medical personnel and facilities, including enacting and enforcing domestic laws and regulations, education and training, and enhancing cooperation with local communities.”

It is now up to all humanitarian stakeholders to heed the call of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General “to commit to implementing concrete initiatives aimed at making” these recommendations a reality at the Summit.

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 2015 [without reference to a Main Committee (A/70/L.25 and Add.1)]  

70/104.    Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel 

       The General Assembly,

       Reaffirming its resolution 46/182 of 19 December 1991 on the strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian emergency assistance of the United Nations,

       Recalling all relevant resolutions on the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel, including its resolution 69/133 of 12 December 2014, as well as Security Council resolutions on the protection of humanitarian personnel, including resolution 2175 (2014) of 29 August 2014, and relevant statements by the President of the Council,

       Recalling also all Security Council resolutions and presidential statements and reports of the Secretary-General to the Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict,

       Reaffirming the principles, rules and relevant provisions of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law, as well as all relevant treaties, and the need to further promote and ensure respect thereof,

       Recalling the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 8 June 1977, and the obligation of parties to armed conflict to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law in all circumstances, and urging all such parties to comply with international humanitarian law and ensure respect for and protection of all humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel,

       Deeply concerned by the continuous erosion, in many cases, of respect for the principles and rules of international law, in particular international humanitarian law,

       Reaffirming the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence for the provision of humanitarian assistance,

       Recalling that primary responsibility under international law for the security and protection of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel lies with the Government hosting a United Nations operation conducted under the Charter of the United Nations or its agreements with relevant organizations,

       Expressing its appreciation to those Governments which respect the internationally agreed principles on the protection of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, while expressing concern over the lack of respect for these principles in some areas,

       Noting the fact that the number of States parties to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, which entered into force on 15 January 1999, has reached 91, mindful of the need to promote the universality of the Convention, and welcoming the entry into force on 19 August 2010 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, which expands the scope of legal protection under the Convention,

       Expressing deep concern at the complex and dynamic security environment, marked by the diverse and multifaceted threats and significant security risks faced by humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, and the increase in the number of direct attacks against such personnel at the field level, as they operate in increasingly high-risk environments,

       Deeply concerned about the particular vulnerability of locally recruited humanitarian personnel and United Nations associated personnel to safety and security-related incidents, including road traffic accidents, arrest and detention, and abduction,

       Expressing deep concern that the occurrence of attacks and threats against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel is a factor that severely restricts the provision of assistance and protection to populations in need, and commending the commitment of United Nations and other humanitarian personnel to stay and deliver effectively the most critical programmes even in dangerous environments,

       Stressing the need to uphold the respect and protection which the flag of the United Nations, and the nature of humanitarian work, should command and ensure, and stressing the importance of fully respecting the obligations relating to the use of vehicles and premises of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel as defined by relevant international instruments, as well as the obligations relating to distinctive emblems recognized in the Geneva Conventions,

       Commending the courage and commitment of those who take part in humanitarian operations, especially national and locally recruited personnel, and including those serving with national and international non-governmental organizations in the field, often at great personal risk,

       Commending also the courage and commitment of those who take part in peace operations, including peacekeeping operations,[6] often at great personal risk, especially national and locally recruited personnel,

       Noting with concern the evolving threats that United Nations personnel face when deployed and that, in 2014, 1,734 persons, representing 0.96 per cent of the United Nations system personnel, were affected by safety and security incidents, with 30 fatalities, of which 15 resulted from acts of violence, namely, crime, acts of terrorism and civil unrest, 166 injuries, of which 65 resulted from acts of violence, and 6 abductions, and noting that these figures do not include United Nations personnel who are not part of the United Nations security management system, such as locally recruited area staff of UNRWA, of whom 18 were killed, 52 injured and 5 abducted in 2014, 

       Strongly condemning all attacks against humanitarian personnel, expressing profound regret at the deaths, injuries and abductions resulting from these attacks, and noting with concern that there were 329 recorded attacks against humanitarian personnel in 2014, resulting in at least 121 personnel killed, 88 injured and 120 abducted,

       Strongly condemning also all attacks and threats against medical personnel and humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities, and deploring the long-term consequences of such attacks for the population and health-care systems of the countries concerned, and in this regard welcoming efforts by States, international and non-governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen compliance with international humanitarian law by raising awareness and promoting preparedness to address the grave and serious humanitarian consequences arising from such violence,

       Expressing profound regret at the deaths, illnesses and other adverse consequences affecting humanitarian personnel and health-care personnel as a result of public health hazards such as the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in West Africa, and stressing the need for a conducive environment, appropriate equipment and resilient public health systems, and the urgency of preparedness,

       Expressing deep concern at the deep and long-lasting impacts of attacks and threats against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel,

       Strongly condemning acts of murder and other forms of violence, rape and sexual assault and all forms of violence committed in particular against women and children, and intimidation, armed robbery, abduction, hostage-taking, kidnapping, harassment and illegal arrest and detention, to which those participating in humanitarian operations are exposed, as well as attacks on humanitarian convoys and acts of destruction and looting of property,

       Affirming the need for States to ensure that perpetrators of attacks committed on their territory against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel and against their premises or assets do not operate with impunity, that such attacks are investigated promptly and effectively and that the perpetrators of such acts are brought to justice, as provided for by national laws and in accordance with obligations under international law,

       Recalling the inclusion of attacks intentionally directed against personnel involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict, as a war crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and noting the role that the Court can play in appropriate cases in bringing to justice those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law,

       Reaffirming the need to ensure adequate levels of safety and security for United Nations and associated personnel, including locally recruited staff, which constitutes an underlying duty of the Organization, and mindful of the need to promote and enhance security consciousness within the organizational culture of the United Nations and a culture of accountability at all levels, as well as to continue to promote awareness of and sensitivity to national and local cultures and laws,

       Gravely concerned at the large number of accidents and resulting casualties among United Nations and associated personnel, and conscious of the importance of road and aviation safety in ensuring the continuity of United Nations operations and preventing casualties among civilians and United Nations and associated personnel, and in this regard regretting the loss of civilian life as a result of such incidents,

       Stressing that acceptance of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel by the host Governments, local authorities, local communities, populations and other parties as appropriate crucially contributes to their safety and security,

       Noting the importance of reinforcing close collaboration between the United Nations and the host country on contingency planning, information exchange and risk assessment in the context of good mutual cooperation on issues relating to the security of United Nations and associated personnel, as well as the importance of coordinating prevention and mitigation measures and managing security in crisis situations,

       Noting also that, in order to remain fit for purpose and to support the effective and principled delivery of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations security management system needs to evolve in response to the challenging global security environment, requiring, inter alia, an effective management structure, adequate and predictable resources and the timely deployment of security personnel with appropriate skills and field experience and of the equipment necessary for the performance of their duties, including vehicles and telecommunications equipment, which have an essential role in facilitating the safety of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel,

       1.     Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General; 

       2.     Urges all States to make every effort to ensure the full and effective implementation of the relevant principles and rules of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law, and refugee law as applicable, related to the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and United Nations personnel;

       3.     Condemns in the strongest possible terms the alarming increase in threats to and deliberate targeting of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel and the unprecedented increase in the scale and the increasingly complex nature of threats faced by such personnel, such as the disturbing trend of politically and criminally motivated attacks, including extremist attacks, against them;

       4.     Strongly urges all States to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of national and international humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel and to respect and ensure respect for the inviolability of United Nations premises, which are essential to the continuation and successful implementation of United Nations operations;

       5.     Calls upon all Governments and parties in complex humanitarian emergencies, in particular in armed conflicts and in post-conflict situations, in countries in which humanitarian personnel are operating, in conformity with the relevant provisions of international law and national laws, to cooperate fully with the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies and organizations and to ensure the safe and unhindered access of humanitarian personnel and the delivery of supplies and equipment, in order to allow those personnel to perform efficiently their task of assisting the affected civilian population, including refugees and internally displaced persons;

       6.     Calls upon all States to consider becoming parties to and to respect fully their obligations under the relevant international instruments;

       7.     Also calls upon all States to consider becoming parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;

       8.     Further calls upon all States to consider becoming parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, and urges States parties to put in place appropriate national legislation, as necessary, to enable its effective implementation;

       9.     Calls upon all States, all parties involved in armed conflict and all humanitarian actors to respect the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence for the provision of humanitarian assistance;

       10.    Welcomes the contribution of female humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel in humanitarian and United Nations operations, expresses concern that these personnel may be more exposed to certain forms of crime and acts of intimidation and harassment, strongly urges the United Nations system and Member States to analyse the different forms of violence, crime, acts of intimidation and harassment to which women and men are differently exposed, and also strongly urges the United Nations system and Member States to choose appropriate and gender-sensitive approaches for their safety and security and to ensure that female humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel are meaningfully included in decisions related to their safety and security;

       11.    Strongly condemns all threats and acts of violence against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, also condemns attacks intentionally directed against personnel involved in a peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations as long as they are entitled to protection from attack under international humanitarian law, reaffirms the need to prosecute, penalize and punish those responsible for such acts, strongly urges all States to take stronger action to ensure that crimes against such personnel do not remain unpunished and are investigated fully, and affirms the need for States to ensure that perpetrators of any such acts committed on their territory do not operate with impunity, as provided by national laws and obligations under international law;

       12.    Stresses the importance of continued close coordination and consultation with host Governments on the functioning of the security level system and related tools, and in this regard encourages the Secretary-General to continue to consult with the host Governments;

       13.    Calls upon all States to comply fully with their obligations under international humanitarian law, including as provided for under the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, in order to respect and protect civilians, including humanitarian personnel;

       14.    Stresses the obligation, in accordance with international humanitarian law and national laws and regulations, as applicable, to respect and protect medical personnel, as well as humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities, in all circumstances, in this regard notes the role of domestic legal frameworks and other appropriate measures in promoting the safety and protection of such personnel, and urges States [and all parties to armed conflict] to develop effective measures to prevent and address violence against such personnel, their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities;

       15.    Notes the importance of giving due consideration to the question of the safety and security of United Nations and other humanitarian personnel at the World Humanitarian Summit, to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 23 and 24 May 2016 ;

       16.    Calls upon all States to provide adequate and prompt information in the event of the arrest or detention of humanitarian personnel or United Nations and associated personnel, so as to afford them the necessary medical assistance and to allow independent medical teams to visit and examine the health of those detained, and to ensure their right to legal counsel, and urges States to take the necessary measures to ensure the speedy release of those who have been arrested or detained in violation of the relevant conventions referred to in the present resolution and applicable international humanitarian law;

       17.    Calls upon all parties involved in armed conflict not to abduct, take hostage or kidnap humanitarian personnel or United Nations and associated personnel or to detain them in violation of the relevant conventions referred to in the present resolution and applicable international humanitarian law, and speedily to release, without harm or requirement of concession, any abductee or detainee;

       18.    Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to promote full respect for the human rights, privileges and immunities of United Nations and associated personnel, and also requests the Secretary-General to seek the inclusion, in negotiations of headquarters and other mission agreements concerning United Nations and associated personnel, of the applicable conditions contained in the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies and the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel;

       19.    Recommends that the Secretary-General continue to seek the inclusion of, and that host countries include, key provisions of the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, among others, those regarding the prevention of attacks against members of the operation, the establishment of such attacks as crimes punishable by law and the prosecution or extradition of offenders, in future as well as, if necessary, in existing status-of-forces, status-of-mission, host country and other related agreements negotiated between the United Nations and those countries, mindful of the importance of the timely conclusion of such agreements, and encourages further efforts in this regard;

       20.    Encourages the Secretary-General to continue the ongoing efforts of the United Nations to develop a more systematic follow-up process with relevant host Governments on cases of serious crimes and acts of violence resulting in the death or serious injury of United Nations system personnel, in order to bring perpetrators to justice;

       21.    Calls attention to and reaffirms the obligation of all humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel to respect and, where required, observe the national laws of the country in which they are operating, in accordance with international law and the Charter;

       22.    Stresses the importance of ensuring that humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel are aware and respectful of national and local customs and traditions in their countries of assignment and communicate clearly their purpose and objectives to local populations in order to enhance their acceptance, thereby contributing to their safety and security, and in this regard ensure that humanitarian action is guided by humanitarian principles;

       23.    Urges the United Nations and other relevant humanitarian actors to include as part of their risk-management strategy the building of good relations and trust with national and local governments and the promotion of acceptance by local communities and all relevant actors with a view to enhancing safety and security;

       24.    Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take the necessary measures to ensure that United Nations and other personnel carrying out activities in fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations operation are properly informed about and operate in conformity with the minimum operating security standards and relevant codes of conduct and are properly informed about the conditions under which they are called upon to operate and the standards that they are required to meet, including those contained in relevant national laws and international law, and that adequate training in security, human rights law and international humanitarian law is provided so as to enhance their security and effectiveness in accomplishing their functions, and reaffirms the necessity for all other humanitarian organizations to provide their personnel with similar support;

       25.    Also requests the Secretary-General to continue, in coordination with Member States, to take the necessary measures to ensure that all United Nations premises and assets, including staff residences, are compliant with the United Nations minimum operating security standards and other relevant United Nations security standards, and to continue the ongoing assessment of United Nations premises and physical security worldwide;

       26.    Welcomes the ongoing efforts of the Secretary-General to ensure that all United Nations personnel receive adequate safety and security training, stresses the need to continue to improve training so as to enhance cultural awareness and knowledge of relevant law, including international humanitarian law, prior to their deployment to the field, and reaffirms the necessity for all other humanitarian organizations to provide their personnel with similar support;

       27.    Also welcomes the efforts of the Secretary-General to provide counselling and support services to United Nations personnel affected by safety and security incidents, and emphasizes the importance of making available stress management, mental health and related services for United Nations personnel throughout the system, and encourages all humanitarian organizations to provide their personnel with similar support;

       28.    Notes with appreciation the ongoing measures taken by the Secretary-General and the United Nations system to enhance road safety, including through improved training and initiatives to promote road safety so as to reduce incidents caused by road hazards and, in particular, to reduce casualties or injuries resulting from these incidents among United Nations and associated personnel and among the civilian population in the host country, and requests the Secretary-General to continue the collection and analysis of data and to report on road incidents, including civilian casualties resulting from road accidents;

       29.    Welcomes the progress made towards further enhancing the security management system of the United Nations, including through the integration of all security personnel of the Secretariat under the leadership of the Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security, and supports the continued implementation of the stay-and-deliver strategy while focusing on effectively managing the risks to which personnel are exposed in order to enable the United Nations system to deliver the most critical programmes, even in high-risk environments;

       30.    Encourages the Secretary-General to continue consistent implementation of the programme criticality framework as an operational tool allowing informed decisions on acceptable risk to United Nations personnel;

       31.    Also encourages the Secretary-General to continue to develop enabling procedures that facilitate the deployment of suitably qualified United Nations security personnel, with the aim of improving the safety and security measures of the United Nations, in order to strengthen the ability of the United Nations to deliver on its programmes, mandates and activities, including humanitarian programmes;

       32.    Requests the Secretary-General, inter alia through the Inter-Agency Security Management Network, to continue the increased cooperation and collaboration among United Nations departments, organizations, funds and programmes and affiliated international organizations, including between their headquarters and field offices, in the planning and implementation of measures aimed at improving staff security, training and awareness, including field crisis management and gender inclusion in security management, and calls upon all relevant United Nations departments, organizations, funds and programmes and affiliated international organizations to support those efforts;

       33.    Calls upon all relevant actors to make every effort to support in their public statements a favourable environment for the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel;

       34.    Emphasizes the need to pay particular attention to the safety and security of locally recruited humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, who account for the large majority of casualties and who are particularly vulnerable to attacks, including in cases of kidnapping, harassment, banditry and intimidation, requests the Secretary-General to keep under review the relevant United Nations safety and security policy and to enhance the safety and security of locally recruited personnel, while maintaining operational effectiveness, and calls upon the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to ensure that their personnel are adequately consulted on, informed about and trained in the relevant security measures, plans and initiatives of their respective organizations, which should be in line with applicable national laws and international law;

       35.    Notes with appreciation the progress reported in implementing the recommendations of the Independent Panel on Safety and Security of United Nations Personnel and Premises Worldwide;

       36.    Requests the Department of Safety and Security of the Secretariat to further strengthen the security management of the United Nations, focusing on strengthening security risk management policy and tools and their application, increasing situational awareness and analysis capacity, strengthening policy development and promoting best practices, increasing compliance with minimum operating security standards and improving monitoring and evaluation, enhancing surge capacity for emergency response, devising effective physical security measures, developing the expertise of security professionals and strengthening support to the designated officials and the security management teams in the field, and promoting an effective and preventive security management approach that is multidimensional;

       37.    Welcomes the work of the Secretary-General in enhancing security collaboration with host Governments, including efforts to support United Nations designated officials with regard to collaboration with host Government authorities on staff safety and security;

       38.    Stresses that the effective functioning at the country level of security operations requires a unified and robust capacity for policy, standards, coordination, communication, compliance and threat and risk assessment and operational and deployment flexibility to ensure that the security workforce reflects the changing dynamics of the security environment, and notes the benefits thereof to United Nations and associated personnel, including those achieved by the Department of Safety and Security since its establishment;

       39.    Welcomes the steps taken by the Secretary-General thus far, and encourages further efforts to enhance coordination and cooperation, at both the headquarters and the field levels, between the United Nations and other humanitarian and non-governmental organizations on matters relating to the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, with a view to addressing mutual security concerns in the field, based on the “Saving Lives Together” framework as well as other relevant national and local initiatives in this regard, and requests the Secretary-General in this respect to enhance further collaborative initiatives to address the security needs of implementing partners, including through enhanced information-sharing and, where appropriate, training, invites Member States to consider increasing support to those initiatives, and requests the Secretary-General to report on steps taken in this regard;

       40.    Underlines the urgent need to allocate adequate and predictable resources to the safety and security of United Nations and associated personnel, through regular and extrabudgetary resources, including through the consolidated appeals process, and encourages all States to contribute to the Trust Fund for Security of Staff Members of the United Nations System, inter alia, with a view to reinforcing the efforts of the Department of Safety and Security to meet its mandate and responsibilities to enable the safe delivery of programmes;

       41.    Also underlines the need for better coordination between the United Nations and host Governments, in accordance with the relevant provisions of international law and national laws, on the use and deployment of essential equipment required to provide for the safety and security of United Nations personnel and associated personnel working in the delivery of humanitarian assistance by United Nations organizations;

       42.    Calls upon States to consider acceding to or ratifying the Tampere Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations of 18 June 1998, which entered into force on 8 January 2005, and urges them to facilitate and expedite, consistent with their national laws and international obligations applicable to them, the use of communications equipment in those and other relief operations, inter alia, by limiting and, whenever possible, expeditiously lifting the restrictions placed on the use of communications equipment by United Nations and associated personnel;

       43.    Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-first session a comprehensive and updated report on the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel and on the implementation of the present resolution, including an assessment of the impact of safety and security risks on such personnel, and the development, implementation and outcomes of policies, strategies and initiatives of the United Nations system in the field of safety and security.

 72nd plenary meeting 10 December 2015

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to be interviewed by Nuran Higgins on Emergency AIDio, the first independent international broadcasting community for aid workers. Here is the transcript of the interview, edited slightly for clarity.

Nuran: Hi, everyone. This is Nuran Higgins, and you're listening to Emergency AIDio. A community space that's all about connecting aid workers to discuss real issues that shape our lives. I hope wherever you are tuning in from around the world that your week has been filled with lots of positive vibes and not too much stress. As you know, our last week's show of Emergency AIDio featured the first of a 2-part series which is focused on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Aid Workers. 

Today, we're going to continue on with this important topic by diving deeper into the second part of the series. Now, on today's show we're going to hear from Brendan McDonald who will share with us his critical views surrounding staff welfare, as well as a recent online petition that is circulating widely across the sector which is calling on the United Nations Secretary General and Emergency Relief Coordinator to recognize and invest in the mental, psychological, and physical welfare of aid workers.

Nuran:  Welcome Brendan and thanks for joining us here on Emergency AIDio.

Brendan: Pleasure to be here.

Nuran: Now over the last 15 years, there has been a significant interest and commitment by many individuals and organizations to address the issue of mental health and well-being of aid workers. This is an issue that leaves no stone unturned affecting every one of us. Either on a personal level witnessing a friend, or colleague, or even indirectly through the lives of our family and friends that are often left feeling a sense of helplessness not knowing how to help us. In spite of such efforts and commitment made by many over the years, one would expect with this being an area studied extensively that the statistics around the effects for aid workers when it comes to mental health and well-being would decline to some degree. In fact, that's not the case. Now, in July you wrote a number of articles around this issue yourself which was shortly followed by the launch of an online petition.

Can you share with us what was the turning point for you in making the decision that you needed to take action, in raising the issue of staff welfare and launching the petition to the United Nations, to include staff welfare as a key issue to be addressed on the agenda of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul 2016?

Brendan: Thanks. I guess the key turning point for me was in July this year. Ben Parker of IRIN, wrote an article called Memento Mori, which looked at this issue of aid worker casualties and the dilemma of how do we honor and acknowledge those who were being killed, or wounded, or kidnapped without appearing to value them more than the affected populations.

Aid workers are reticent to promote their own issues, their own wellness, their own agenda because they feel it somehow detracts from the people we help. Parker finishes the IRIN article with the sentence, "How do you honor the sacrifices of aid workers without appearing to value them more than those they serve? I thought about that question. I felt that maybe the answer to that question is to recognize that people are central to the achievement of the humanitarian mission, which is not just the people we serve, but the people who are serving. That they're equal. To invest in aid workers, does in no way shape or form, detract from those we are helping.

After watching that article, I've been in conversation with The Guardian and I wrote an 800-word article for them on this topic. Very quickly that article reached over 4,000 shares and generated a lot of conversation and dialogue on Facebook, on Twitter. So, in consultation with some similar colleagues who asked me, "How to take this agenda forward? I said, "Well, the World Humanitarian Summit is the most appropriate spot right now." That is when I launched the petition.

Nuran:  With the petition that's circulating widely across the globe currently. It stands at 1,426 signatories, which is fantastic, I had to look at it today. The petition calls on both the United Nations Secretary General and the Emergency Relief Coordinator to address five key points. Can you share with listeners a bit about the five key points and why in particular they have been singled out as fundamental in raising this issue of staff welfare?

Brendan: First of all, for those less familiar with the process, the World Humanitarian Summit is an initiative of the Secretary General. That's why the petition is addressed to that office. The Emergency Relief Coordinator is the official charged with making the Summit happen.

I think the five key points reflect cross-cutting issues around the whole topic of staff welfare and staff wellness. The first one, invest systematically in the physical, mental, and psychological welfare of aid workers. All too often people view this conversation through the lens of critical incidents and post-traumatic stress disorder, rather than saying actually, the stresses, the trauma of aid work has to be addressed holistically from how we recruit our staff in terms of the psychological testing. How we invest in them in terms of training? How can we create a healthy work environment in headquarters or in the field, in terms of something that's free from discrimination, free from sexual harassment, that is free from abuse and bullying; so that when the staff goes to the field, they are fully prepared for that assignment.

When something does happen in the field, we make sure that we fully invest in the security aspects to make sure that we mitigate as many the risk as possible, so that we're only left with the residual risk, which we accept. Then of course, if harmed, we then look after them until they no longer need our care. On the second point, which is to establish a mechanism to ensure all aid workers have access to adequate support in the event of illness or injury.

What prompted this point was many years ago in New York. We learned of colleagues who were contractors to the UN, who were killed. A staff member came around to my office with a yellow envelope asking me if I could donate cash for the person’s children and widow. On one hand it's like great, were doing something. Then also, how terrible is that some young kids depend on my generosity in New York. What happens to their future? You have a huge number of volunteers, particularly I'm thinking of national staff for NGO's or the UN who I don't think have adequate insurance.

I also realized this for my own kids, where I investigated a little while ago that if I had been seriously hurt, perhaps made a quadriplegic or paraplegic as a result of my work in the field, I didn't have adequate insurance to adapt my house and get the care I would need. Imagine how horrific it is as for a volunteer working in Sierra Leone in the Ebola response, and you get sick and die? There is nothing for your family.

Now, if you look some solutions, from purely a business perspective, there's a massive economy at scale. For example, UN needs to have a harmonized insurance, we don’t, we have separate insurance policies, which is ridiculous. Secondly if the NGO's would collectively, say 20 of the world's biggest NGOs, and bargain for one comprehensive insurance package, or perhaps set up a global trust, where we cover the needs of those staff who is not on contract. So this point is about looking after these people, which we don't normally think about.

Nuran:  It comes back to the issue around equity too, which when we talk about humanitarian principles in the way in which we act. We're kind of hypocrites in that sense, where there is inequity in this perfect example. We need to be accountable for that.

Brendan:  Yeah. What is a red flag for me is I do have friends and colleagues who had been hurt in terrorist attacks in Baghdad, in Afghanistan. They're in the UN, which probably provides some of the best coverage and support, in theory. All of them had been aggrieved in how they were treated and the battles they fight. The lack of support or insurance coverage for them in their illnesses. If the UN, which has a policy that is committed to aid worker wellness isn't delivering, what are the smaller NGOs doing?

Nuran: Nothing.

Brendan: Nothing.

Nuran: Exactly.

Brendan: Definitely, this is equity issue. Also the ... I'll use the word hypocrisy, but I don't think it's intended to be that. If you're injured in Australia or the UK for example, you have a legal duty of care. If a volunteer helps you and they're hurt, you have to cover them.

Nuran: Exactly.

Brendan:  You have to look after them, right? You have to provide a safe working environment. In the field, they don't do that, right? This is why the case of Steve Dennis, suing NRC for an incident in Dadaab, who is going through the Norwegian courtsm is fascinating. Because, you, as an employer under law, certainly in most European countries, US, Australia have to provide a duty of care and ensure foreseeable risks are mitigated. That is in Dadaab, in Kabul, or when you're in Baghdad. If you fail to do that, you've broken the law because as an international staff member, my redress will be through my national courts. Anyway, my second point will help you address this.

My third point was to support the new core humanitarian standard through the CHS Alliance. I really thought the People In Aid Code of Good Practice was excellent. The more I researched it, very few organizations had actually said, "Yes, we're doing this. We're committed to make that happen."

A lot of organizations I think were trying. Only a handful were delivering, which beg the question is, either "It was too hard" or people were not engaged in the topic. People in Aid Code perhaps wasn't allowed enough voice to get noticed. I'm not sure. We have to get people to say, "This is the common standard of how we look after our staff, get everyone to sign it, and then it becomes the industry standard.”

Nuran:  Do you think that there will be a shift in that because it's changed, or do you think that it will be pushed under the table as with the People in Aid Code has? Ultimately as you said, organizations have signed up to it, but the commitment has been very much on the superficial level; if we look over the last 15 years in addressing some of the fundamental flaws that should be in place as basic element.

Brendan:  I don't think any organization, or the system as a whole will address this, unless it's forced to do so. Similarly, we have people who don't adequately look after their staff in terms of pre-deployment, deployment, post-deployment work. Yet donors will still fund them. I would rather donors turn around and say, "Sorry NGO, UN Agency, if you don't meet the standard, if you aren't investing and looking after your staff appropriately, in accordance with best practice, we're not going to give you any money." Again, it's this idea of a hierarchy that the people we help are more important than us. This is also another topic, which links to this. It's the professionalization of humanitarian work.

Nuran: Yes. That's where my concern with this comes because we used the same word around humanitarian effectiveness and with that. All of the debates and discussions that have evolved around this issue, it links very closely to professionalization. Already, there is enough stress and expectations that we place on humanitarian leaders in the field to deliver without even thinking about the fact that these people are human beings, beyond the responsibility of managing a complex emergency. They have personal lives as well. Are we actually putting more, demanding more pressure than on practitioners because we're requesting or demanding what should really be in place to begin with? With that squeeze coming from the donor organizations, again it comes down harder then on practitioners to say, "Well, if we're going to invest in you, rather than it being a mentality of what we should be doing anyways, we expect more in return."

Brendan:  Which is why this third point to me makes sense. I like the way that People in Aid Code is being merged as part of the CHS Alliance, is that all of the standards do support each other. To deliver effective aid, you have to be looking after your staff. I think that's the more coherent approach. That's the fourth point, I think PHAP is a very good example of this. Perhaps you can even build on what they're doing. There needs to be an external independent entity that represents the interest of aid workers. If you think about in professions in a lot of countries, you had guilds. For example, if you're a plumber in the UK, he's got the guild to look after that. If you are a doctor in Australia, you belong to the Australian Medical Association, which is free you from issues with your employer, who might be the hospital.

We need an independent body that aid workers join up to. That's able to coherently solicit the views of aid workers and advocate for them. This is on things whether it's about insurance, whether it's about professionalization. Anyone can call themselves a humanitarian, not anyone can call themselves a lawyer. What would make somebody humanitarian, or maybe make a distinction, what would make someone an aid worker? Also to the lobbying on this issues, both improves security, etc. because when an agency does it or when staff union does it, in case of the UN or UN agency, it always comes with a particular bias or particular agenda, that's about the institution, not the system. The fifth point, is to establish a mechanism for tracking the well-being of the current and former aid workers, including contracts, volunteers and national staff.  And there are two elements to this. Humanitarian Outcomes has the Aid Worker Security Database that records major incidents of violence against aid workers.

Nuran: And inside in security as well.

Brendan: Yes. That database is only comprehensive in the sense of reporting. It probably underestimates the toll. That's one issue. Secondly, as we know certainly from emergency services and defense personnel, a lot of the issues related to well-being and health, happen many years later. You could be involved in a critical incident, walk out and say I am perfectly fine. Then five or six years later, you're back in Australia, or you settled somewhere else, and PTSD starts manifesting itself or the lesser forms of burned out, depression, etc., can emerge. Once you're off contract, you're on your own.

Nuran: Exactly.

Brendan: How do we know the scope of the problem if we don't have the data? That's the other issue. We have various studies that had been done on over the years, but there has never been as far as I can see, either a meta analysis of the studies, or a proper valid survey or study of this topic. That's what I would really like to see, for a donor to get behind this survey. It is a problem, let's go and find out what it is. Then we talk about the solutions based on the evidence.

Nuran:  For me, one of the constants that I've seen over many years both upwards institutionally and then downwards to aid workers is, there's always this push back. What I like to call the blame game where no one wants to take responsibility, because the reality is this is not going to be an easy fix. It's going to require a fundamental shift in our culture and long-term commitment in how we see ourselves, the system, and the world around us. The question is, how are we really ready to commit, to tackling this issue together? Recognizing that it requires a shared level of responsibility with a view to investing long term were needed to really see and be the change we know should be in place. Reflecting on this, what words of advice would you give to those in positions of leadership across the sector and humanitarian practitioners in being active agents for change as a result of your personal experience of working in the sector for the last 15 years?

Brendan: I think, humanitarian leaders need to set a vision and inspire people to follow them to achieve that. Often in the UN and the humanitarian community we have great managers, bad managers, average managers. But a real leader that says:

"I know you don't want to go to this destination, but I'm going to inspire you and you're going to want to travel there with me. We're going to change things together.”  

In terms of this issue of staff welfare, we need to see a senior humanitarian stand up and seize the issue and lead from the front. There is only so much change that can be driven from the grassroots level to fill the momentum, but at the end of the day to execute that, courage and leadership is required. The courage to listen and to realize that if we do invest in staff, not just in terms of their welfare, but in terms of the training and professionalization of what we're doing, we will have a much better humanitarian system. We will overcome the inertia, we will overcome cynicism, we will drive change, because people will know there valued. People think they're not valued, and that they simply functionaries. If organizations treat them poorly, you're never going to reshape aid.

Nuran: On that note, I'm going to say, Brendan, thank you so much for taking time to share your critical reflections with Emergency AIDio listeners on the current challenges and dynamics surrounding mental health and well-being for aid workers. It's been really great to listen to your journey and commitment to raising the issue of staff welfare. It's not an easy battle, but it's great to see people like yourself that are getting behind and are committed to try and make a change in this space. Thank you.

Brendan:   Thanks very much. It's been a great conversation, very stimulating, and I look forward to talk to you again.

Nuran:  Thank you. Now, I really want to stress that there are very few moments in time like this right now to make our voices hard as a collective community. Don't let this opportunity pass you by. We all need to take responsibility to ensure that the environment we work is safe, and values us as human beings by investing and prioritizing in mental, physical, and psychological welfare of staff and volunteers. Make sure you sign up to the petition. The link to the petition will be posted on thehealthynomad.org website under the Emergency AIDio page. You can also follow the great work that Brendan is doing by hitting over to his website, http://7piliers.com.

The World Humanitarian Summit Synthesis Report Backs Calls To Improve Aid Worker Wellness in Istanbul

Are you curious about how aid organisations could improve the health and safety of their staff? Or about what the World Humanitarian Summit consultations have to say about aid worker security? The responses to these questions are just some of the key findings among the wealth of information contained in the World Humanitarian Summit’s report, Restoring Humanity: Synthesis of the Consultation Process for the World Humanitarian Summit.  

What the Synthesis Report has to say is encouraging; but it’s just not enough by itself.

“Improving the safety and security of aid workers is a priority concern. It requires building trust with armed groups, traditional leaders, government, and other local stakeholders; effective communication strategies on humanitarian action and safety and security of aid workers under international law; adherence to humanitarian principles; security management systems commensurate with the local level of threat; and ensuring staff are adequately trained in security management.”

As aid workers we must now have an honest discussion about the current state of health and safety in the sector, where we want to be – and how, exactly, we are going to get there.

This is bigger than the World Humanitarian Summit alone; it’s also bigger than our individual employers and donors. Only by working together will we be able to tackle all of these issues raised on aid worker health and safety in the Synthesis Report. The severity of the situation, and the fact that it has gone on for decades, necessitates a mindset change, a cultural shift that can happen only with buy-in from across the system. We cannot afford to miss the opportunity the World Humanitarian Summit provides.

What could be more deserving of the attention of humanitarian leaders than reducing the number of aid workers who never come home while increasing our capacity to deliver aid? 

This question needs to be answered before we get to Istanbul next May.

ENSURE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF AID WORKERS

 The 2014 statistics for aid worker security show high levels of violence against civilian aid workers, with national staff accounting for the vast majority of those attacked and killed. The consultations robustly condemned these attacks and called for measures to increase the safety and security of humanitarian workers.  In particular, international humanitarian actors should assess the risk transferred to local partner organizations and take greater responsibility for their security. The consultations also made specific mention of attacks against healthcare personnel, and of the gender dimensions of these attacks.

 A number of proposals emerged from the consultations to improve the safety and security of aid workers: building trust with armed groups, traditional leaders, government, and other local stakeholders; developing and implementing effective communication strategies on humanitarian action and safety and security of workers under international law; adherence to humanitarian principles; ensuring that security management systems commensurate with the local level of threat are in place and adaptive to change; and ensuring staff are trained in security management and are aware of good risk and security management practices.

STRENGTHEN ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMANITARIAN WORKERS

Submissions also called for the systematic inclusion of specific clauses strengthening accountability for the protection of humanitarian workers into the Humanitarian Plans of donors for all countries, more robust and systematic monitoring of attacks against aid workers, and specific analysis on attacks against healthcare workers.

AFFECTED COMMUNITIES NEED HEALTHY AID WORKERS

The consultations noted that effective support to communities in need requires healthy and competent aid workers. Studies show that international humanitarian workers suffer from high levels of anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression and burnout. The increased vulnerability of national humanitarian workers was also noted. According to the Headington Institute, while studies vary widely, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) rates among aid workers range from 8-43 per cent, major depression from 8-20 per cent and anxiety from 8-29 per cent. For example, a recent study by Antares Foundation noted that 30 per cent of aid workers return from deployment with symptoms of PTSD

INVEST SYSTEMATICALLY IN THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELFARE OF STAFF

While sporadic research exists, staff support is not based on or improved through systematic collection or analysis of data on these issues. The consultations emphasized the need for humanitarian organizations to invest systematically in caring for the physical, mental and psychological welfare of their staff. They called for standardized organizational policies and procedures on the psychosocial care of both international and national staff, echoing the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) on Quality and Accountability, which calls for staff to be supported to do their job effectively, and treated fairly and equitably.

This effort should include adequate levels of support before, during and after humanitarian operations, such as psycho- social assessments, proactive engagement and wellness services for staff working in hardship stations, de-stigmatizing psychosocial care and counselling, strengthened standard operating procedures for immediate actions for those exposed to an attack, including procedures for leave, immediate and continued access to trained stress and peer counsellors, continued access to psychosocial healthcare after employment when post-traumatic stress symptoms often appear, as well as long-term human resource policies and staff rotation for international staff who have served in hardship duty stations. Although such interventions require donor funding, a first step is recognition and dialogue about the problem, as well as initiatives to better collect and analyze information and link results to support services.

STRENGTHEN THE ROLE OF DONORS

The consultations emphasized the role of donors in driving change, calling for the allocation of a percentage of their funds to staff well-being support packages, and for funding to be contingent on commitment to the CHS.

IMPROVE ACCOUNTABILITY AND ADDRESS IMPUNITY

Participants also called for greater global oversight and accountability of staff welfare, for example by establishing a Global Humanitarian Association to advocate for the rights of aid workers and their families, creating a mechanism to track the well-being of current and former aid workers, including contractors and volunteers and national staff, and improving technical expertise on staff welfare.  

p.106 World Humanitarian Summit secretariat, Restoring Humanity: Synthesis of the Consultation Process for the World Humanitarian Summit (New York, United Nations, 2015)  

Why should the United Nations and NGOs take care of Aid Workers?

In the four weeks since my article, Humanitarian agencies need to stop failing their staff on mental health, was published in The Guardian, people from across the humanitarian sector have expressed support for my petition and the need to comprehensively look at the issue of wellness. However, a number of people have also argued that this issue should not be addressed.  

None of their arguments are logical or evidence-based. In this post I will not restate my premise; I am interested in a different game.  The hidden point here is that virtually all of us in the aid sector argue this way – albeit with more refinement – when staff safety, health or welfare is discussed.  

A lot of the more innocent-sounding arguments against improving the wellness of aid workers come worryingly close to committing the same fallacies, as do these quite transparent and, I would dare say, offensive ones.  

Here are five of their arguments:

1. “I have zero sympathy for UN staff who are paid extremely well. They don’t deserve any additional support.”

On the face of it this does not appear to be a logical argument, if only because arguments about staff welfare need to be cosmopolitan in essence. To simply say that UN staff are well-paid, and by inference, able to either withstand the mental health pressures of aid work, or that monetary compensation suffices, is not the strongest of arguments.

This argument also ignores efforts by the UN and non-UN humanitarian partners to address staff health, safety and security, especially in emergencies. In 2007, the Inter Agency Standing Committee, a forum established under the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/182, issued Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial support in Emergency Settings. These guidelines, which were signed by the Director of OCHA Geneva, stated:

“Many aid workers experience insufficient managerial and organisational support, and they tend to report this as their biggest stressor. Moreover, confrontations with horror, danger and human misery are emotionally demanding and potentially affect the mental health and well-being of both paid and volunteer aid workers, whether they come from the country concerned or from abroad.

The provision of support to mitigate the possible psychosocial consequences of work in crisis situations is a moral obligation and a responsibility of organisations exposing staff to extremes. For organisations to be effective, managers need to keep their staff healthy. A systemic and integrated approach to staff care is required at all phases of employment – including in emergencies – and at all levels of the organisation to maintain staff well-being and organisational efficiency.

The word ‘staff’ ... refers to paid and volunteer, national and international workers, including drivers and translators, affiliated with an aid organisation, support measures should in principle be equal for national and international staff.”

As recently as last year, in an April 2014 meeting of the UN’s High-Level Committee on Management, there was a wide ranging discussion on how to reconcile duty of care for UN personnel while operating in high risk environments. This not only included discussions on how to look at the psychological dimensions arising from working in an insecure environment, but also issues of after-service care for survivors and families, and follow up in terms of indictment and prosecution for perpetrators of attacks on UN staff.

2. “You have a fat chance of changing anything; senior managers don’t think it is important.”

  This argument is invalid for a number of reasons. Simply thinking something will never change, is not a reason to never demand change. The aid sector is changing; it is continuously looking at how we can be better at our jobs.  As noted by “J” in a recent AidSpeak post, Take Care, there is a growing “movement within and around the industry to recognize the legitimate needs of aid and development workers.” The fact that over 1,340 people have signed a petition to address staff welfare at the World Humanitarian Summit is an indication of this, as are the number of public submissions to the World Humanitarian Summit on the topic of staff wellness .

ACF International - Statement: Solutions to reshape aid must address the urgent need to Protect Aid Workers 

CHS Alliance - Caring for Staff Matters 

McDonald - Address Aid Worker Welfare at the WHS 2016 

Nobert - Sexual violence against and within the humanitarian community 

PHAP - Humanitarian effectiveness and staff wellness 

In addition, deferring to the wisdom of senior managers on this matter is dangerous and contrary to the egalitarian nature of aid work. For UN staff, our core competencies require us to actively seek out ways to improve programmes or services, as well as stand “by decisions that are in the Organization’s interest, even if they are unpopular.” 

The UN and non-UN humanitarian partners have already endorsed the need to address staff wellness through the IASC, and therefore to advocate for humanitarian organisations to apply their own policies is not only legitimate, it is the right thing to do.

3. “How can you argue for improving wellness for aid workers? The priority is the people affected by conflicts, not you!”

Aid workers cannot serve affected persons well if we are not well. Aid doesn’t happen without aid workers. If aid workers aren’t well, then aid won’t be delivered well.

As Frida Fostvedt recently tweeted, “The last thing someone running from war needs is a neurotic aid worker”

To argue that “priority is the people affected by conflicts” and not “aid-workers” is broadly non-egalitarian. It infers that people affected by conflicts ought to have a relatively higher weight of attention and care because they are our benefactors in a gift-exchange relationship. This is wrong. As Alessandra Pigni says, “this is not a contest to see who can suffer the most.” 

At the end of the day, aid workers deserve to be given the same attention that we demand of the people we are seeking to help. To again quote “J” “we have to disabuse ourselves and everyone in our spheres of influence of this falsely dichotomous choice between taking care of aid workers (us) and delivering more life-sustaining aid to those who need it most.”

4. ”If you ask donors to fund wellness programmes, they won’t.”

To consistently apply this argument across the aid sector is absurd as it implies that we should not ask donors to fund nearly half of the current humanitarian aid programs, given that 63% of humanitarian response plan activities this year are not funded. We should also not ask donors to fund education, early recovery or livelihoods activities given they are consistently under-funded in appeals year after year.  

41 donors have in fact committed themselves, through the Good Humanitarian Donorship group, to “promote the use of Inter-Agency Standing Committee guidelines and principles on humanitarian activities,” which inter-alia includes the Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial support in Emergency Settings. 

Donors also stated “that implementing humanitarian organisations fully adhere to good practice and are committed to promoting accountability, efficiency and effectiveness in implementing humanitarian action.” Good practice, efficiency and effectiveness includes investing systematically in caring for the physical, mental and psychological welfare of aid workers (the business case for this is discussed in my bog post, You can’t fully #ReShapeAid with Sick Aid Workers).

5. “If you don’t like your job, quit. There is a mile-long queue of people behind you waiting to fill your shoes.”

It doesn’t matter if there are a thousand people willing to fill the shoes of one aid worker, they too deserve to work in a healthy, safe and secure environment. No humanitarian or development worker would advocate to stop ILO promoting International Labour Standards on the basis that there are queues of unemployed masses willing to work in unsafe and dangerous jobs, so why would an aid worker advocate this approach within the humanitarian sector.

  Amongst the overwhelming positive messages I have received in support of my petition to improve aid worker wellness, I liked this one the most:

“What I like about your article is that it shows some respect for aid workers who are good enough to be employed in emergencies, but somehow aren’t good enough to receive care to make sure there is nothing wrong with them…”

To support the inclusion of aid worker wellness on the agenda of the World Humanitarian Summit, sign the petition.