Saving the Saviors: Security Practices and Professional Struggles in the Humanitarian Space (original) (raw)
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Abstract: In recent years, a dominant discourse has emerged asserting that humanitarian work has become a dangerous profession. In response to growing insecurity in the field, humanitarian organizations have come to develop new security policies to better protect humanitarian staff and infrastructures. Drawing from Andrew Abbott’s historical sociology of professions and Pierre Bourdieu’s social theory of power, this thesis proposes an international political sociology of the professionalization of humanitarian security. To address the shortcomings of normative-functionalist explanations and poststructuralist critiques of humanitarian security, this thesis examines the conditions of possibility fostering the emergence of a microcosm of humanitarian security professionals. As a consequence of this seemingly insignificant transformation in the division of humanitarian labor, humanitarian organizations now classify some of world’s neediest populations as beyond the limits of reasonable sacrifice. In the production of this exclusion, humanitarian actors reconstruct “populations in need” as “dangerous populations.” By weighing the cost of the loss of a “humanitarian life” against the potential value of saving the lives of needy others, humanitarian actors contribute to the intensification of global divides in their quest for a common humanity. In sum, the imposition of security as a humanitarian logic of practice is analyzed as a driving force of the inversion of the humanitarian imperative to save lives and act in defense of a shared humanity. While contributing to debates on humanitarian security, this thesis also contributes to the study of international organizations, security, and transnational power elites. Résumé : Ces dernières années, un discours dominant a émergé affirmant que le travail humanitaire est devenu une profession dangereuse. Face à l’insécurité croissante sur les terrains d’opérations, les organisations humanitaires ont développé de nouvelles politiques de sécurité afin de mieux protéger le personnel humanitaire et les infrastructures. En se fondant sur la sociologie historique des professions d’Abbott, ainsi que sur la théorie sociale du pouvoir de Bourdieu, cette thèse propose une sociologie politique internationale de la professionnalisation de la sécurité humanitaire. Afin de combler les lacunes des explications fonctionnalistes-normatives et des critiques poststructuralistes de la sécurité humanitaire, ce travail examine les conditions de possibilités à l’émergence d’un microcosme de professionnels de la sécurité humanitaire. Du fait de cette transformation, insignifiante au premier abord, de la division du travail humanitaire, les organisations humanitaires considèrent désormais que certaines des populations mondiales les plus nécessiteuses se trouvent au-delà des limites raisonnables du sacrifice. En comparant le coût de la perte d’une « vie d’humanitaire » à la valeur potentielle du sauvetage des vies de nécessiteux, les acteurs humanitaires, dans leur quête d’une humanité commune, participent de ce fait à l’intensification des inégalités mondiales. Les humanitaires ne contentent plus seulement d’assister et d’atténuer la souffrance de lointains étrangers, mais ils contribuent aussi à redéfinir la notion de « populations dans le besoin », en les étiquetant comme « populations dangereuses ». Ainsi, la mise en place imposée de la sécurité comme sens pratique de l’humanitaire inverse les impératifs humanitaires fondés sur le sauvetage des vies et sur la défense d’une humanité partagée. Tout en contribuant aux débats sur la sécurité humanitaire, cette thèse participe également à faire avancer les études sur les élites de pouvoir transnationales, sur la sécurité et sur les organisations internationales.
State of Practice: The Evolution of Security Risk Management in the Humanitarian Space Authors
2024
In what is now accepted as a grim reality of war, hundreds of humanitarian aid workers each year fall victim to violent attacks. Delivering aid to people in conflicts and crises is an inherently dangerous endeavour, and as new and worsening armed conflicts fuel the need for ever larger humanitarian response efforts, the aid worker casualties continue to mount. Security risk management for humanitarian operations is a set of measures aimed at mitigating this risk as far as possible, to allow critical relief work to continue. Systematic policies and practices to enhance staff security first emerged within the humanitarian sector early in the 21st century, prompted by a growing number of serious incidents of violence. As security risk management (SRM) slowly became more institutionalised and professionalised across the sector over the next two decades, it spawned new policies and tools, new professional positions and sub-industries, and new ways of thinking. Today, many credit SRM with enabling extensive aid activities amid conflict conditions that in the previous century would not have been possible. Conversely, some blame SRM systems for driving risk aversion and bureaucratisation that impede the core humanitarian mission. While one can find evidence to support both views, the key question for aid organisations comes down to this: Are we doing the best job we can to reduce the risk to our staff while enabling their vitally important work? This study sets out to assess the current state of practice in humanitarian SRM, and whether it is fit for purpose in the changing landscape of humanitarian crises. It documents recent developments, challenges and gaps, and highlights good and promising practices. The research took place over 2023, designed and conducted by Humanitarian Outcomes in partnership with the Global Interagency Security Forum (GISF), and was funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). It encompassed key informant interviews with 262 practitioners and other stakeholders, an online survey of 358 humanitarian professionals (the majority in SRM positions), a review of data and relevant literature, and location-based research in five countries: Central African Republic, Colombia, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Ukraine.
Title Managing security in the humanitarian sector: challenges and opportunities
MSc dissertation, 2018
Humanitarian aid is being delivered in hostile environments of natural and man-made disasters or a combination of both including armed conflicts. However deliberated violence against humanitarian aid workers has increased during the last two decades leaving thousands of them dead, wounded or kidnapped. The increased insecurity is a concern for aid workers, their organisations, the donor community, the recipients and other stakeholders. The aim of this dissertation was to critically analyse the security risk management approaches and practices of aid workers. The specific objectives were to critically evaluate security risk management practices of the sector against distinctive security threats and to provide recommendations to enhance security risk management of aid organisations. A literature review methodology was employed to assess the insecurity’s growth and trend for the humanitarian sector and to evaluate the extend aid organisations have responded. It was found that post-Cold War developments reshaped the environment for aid industry. The increased number of internal armed conflicts left more people in humanitarian need globally. Aid organisations to respond the evolving situation expanded, they hired more people and covered more geographies. This expansion of aid organisation in conflict and lawless zones left aid workers vulnerable to security incidents. Furthermore, aid workers were deliberately targeted due to political, economic and criminal reasons. It was also discovered that few geographies are very risky for aid organisations and that the security incidents are not evenly distributed on the aid organisations. The paper also pointed to sexual aggression against aid workers especially those committed within the organisation, it highlighted as a phenomenon in the sector that needs to be addressed. In conclusion, it was argued that insecurity is a global concern, criminologists and business sector have lessons learned that can be adopted to enhance security in the aid sector. Key recommendations addressed aid organisations to redesign measures under the security triangle to meet the needs in specific contexts. The recommendations addressed; a) aid policy groups to look for lessons learned in other sectors; b) the executive management to address security at the project concept stage; c) the security practitioners to acknowledge the humanitarian principles; and d) the aid workers to advocate.
To stay and deliver : good practice for humanitarians in complex security environments
2011
Providing humanitarian assistance amid conflict has always been a dangerous and difficult endeavour. However, over the past decade, violent attacks against aid workers - resulting in killing, kidnapping and serious injury - have tripled, reaching over 100 assaults per year. From 2005 onwards, the largest numbers of security incidents on humanitarian personnel have been concentrated in a limited number of countries representing the most difficult and volatile operating environments. Even as aid workers come under increasing attack, however, they find ways to continue delivering life-saving services and providing protection to people in need. This study documents, across different types of security contexts and risk patterns, a variety of good practices and innovative strategies that enabled humanitarians to maintain presence and ensure uninterrupted delivery of services.
The objective of the thesis is to study, through a critical constructivist analysis, the conception and practice of security by humanitarian international aid agencies (IAAs), with particular reference to their relation with private military and security companies (PMSCs). The research provides a qualitative analysis of humanitarian security, which is defined as the practice of safely accessing vulnerable populations for humanitarian purposes. Its methodology relies on semi-structured interviews, including in Afghanistan and Haiti; participant observation; and a literature review. The thesis‘ critical constructivist approach implies studying the co-constitution of aid organizations‘ identity and interests. It argues that IAAs‘ identity and approaches to security are mutually shaped. It does so by first highlighting dominant discourses framing aid agencies‘ identity and processes by which particular views are reproduced. It then identifies the dominant representations in security management and reveals how they relate to IAAs‘ identity. The thesis defines three ideal–types of IAAs (Deontological, Solidarist and Utilitarian) and of PMSCs (Guarding, Unarmed, and Weaponised). This typology allows a dissecting of IAAs‘ different conceptions and practices of security, and the conditions under which each type of IAA employs PMSCs. The research reveals that an aid agency‘s identity forms the basis of its approach to security. Identity and security, are however, not stable but dynamic and in a constant process of interaction with each other. The thesis then offers a study of these dynamic processes, with a focus on agents. The thesis delves into the implications of the research for the concept of security and reveals how humanitarian security embodies IAAs‘ distinctive baggage. It suggests that IAAs require a more comprehensive understanding of how their identity and practices affect their security. The thesis‘ original contribution is two-fold: it represents the first critical constructivist study of humanitarian security practices and is the first research to study humanitarian organizations as referent objects of security.
Why Comply? Analysing the Implementation of Security Policies at Field Level in Humanitarian Organisations, 2022
Increased threats and deliberate attacks against humanitarian workers have forced humanitarian organisations to reconsider measures and strategies for the protection thereof. As a response, implemented security policies have been used to define the acceptable behaviours and practices of humanitarian workers in the field. However, scholars have previously noted challenges with field staff not accepting, or completely ignoring, implemented security policies. Building on these findings, this thesis aims to increase the knowledge of humanitarian staffs’ perceptions of security policy implementation, specifically investigating internal reasons for why field staff are non-compliant with security policies. The aim of the thesis is therefore to answer the research question: why do humanitarian workers fail to comply with policies adopted to increase their security when working in the field? The thesis argues that internal disagreements and differences of opinions between operational levels of humanitarian organisations concerning security policies cause field workers to be non-compliant. To answer the research question, nine theoretical assumptions are tested through the qualitative method of semistructured interviews, employed to explore ‘underlying’ social structures internally in humanitarian organisations. In total, 16 participants working at different levels of humanitarian organisations in Eastern Africa have been interviewed, focusing on their perspectives on noncompliance and security policies. Findings from the responses answer the research question by showing explanations for non-compliance, but do not support the overall argument of the thesis. Non-compliance within humanitarian organisations has been found to occur as the effects of the external environment are not considered in security policies, and as security is not incorporated across operational levels in humanitarian organisations. Thus, findings suggest that security policies are challenging to implement in practice, as they can be considered irrelevant by field staff and as organisations lack universal security awareness. Solving the issue of non-compliance within humanitarian organisations therefore forces the inclusion of field staffs’ perceptions in policy development and implementation by increasing the organisational support systems that can allow it.