Two UN Mine Action Program Staff Abducted/Released in Somalia
Noefolk Nelson and Ulf Felink were released on Saturday hours after they taken. A Somali translator was also released.
Four foreign aid workers, two Italians, a Kenyan and a Briton, abducted in April and May, are still being held by gunmen in Somalia.
U.N. says Somali gunmen release two of its workers
Abducted Scandinavian UN workers released by Somali gunmen (Roundup)
Vacancy - Regional Safety and Security Advisor - Iraq
Two Merlin staff killed in Afghanistan
You can read Merlin’s statement at the link below.
Vacancy - Operations and Security Manager - Kenya
Somali gunmen kidnap senior UN aid worker
Medeshi
Reuters Africa
Yahoo News
Justice for Muttur Video
The WolfGroup
Vacancy - Research Coordinator for the Security Management Initiative (SMI) - USA
Don’t let the murder of 17 aid workers go unpunished!
ACF is calling for an international investigation in order to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the Muttur massacre and to find those responsible. You can find a link to their petition below. If you can find it in your heart to help please sign it. If you are a blogger please write about it and link to the Justice for Muttur site.
Vacancy - UN Field Security Advisor - Jerusalem
Vacancy - Logistics/Security Coordinator - Cameroon
Aid Worker Killed in Road Accident in Ethiopia
A teacher working as a volunteer in Africa has been killed in a road accident in Ethiopia. David Evans, from Whitwick, died on Saturday night following a collision in the... via kwout
ETHIOPIA AID WORKER DIES IN ROAD ACCIDENT
Armed Men Abduct Aid Worker in Somalia
Mareeg online reports that the staff member had received telephone threats prior to the incident.
Somalia: Unidentified men abduct aid worker in central Somalia
Vacancy - NGO Security Officer - DRC
CARE Careers via kwout
Air Strike in Sri Lanka Injures Aid Workers
Aid workers attending a humanitarian relief planning session were forced to flee when the bombs struck about 100m from their meeting location. Several people were injured is the confusion.
Many aid agencies have offices and warehouses in the Parantan and Kilinochchi town areas.
View Larger Map
Analysis of Competing Hypotheses Software
PARC ACH is a rather utilitarian little piece of software. There is no glitz. The UI is basic. Little glitches are inclined to spring up. I can’t seem to get it to print on my MacBook Pro. But what it does it does well.
The dirty work of ACH is
much easier with the PARC software. It handles both
inconsistency and weighted inconsistency scores. You
can sort evidence by order addedd, diagnosticity,
type, credibility, relevence, or even user criterion.
Best of all it comes with a built in ACH tutorial
that will guide you through the process if you are a
newbie or just a little rusty.
If you hooked your laptop to a large screen monitor
or multimedia projector PARC ACH would make a good
collaborative tool. The whole team could readily see
the effects of changes without being slowed by the
need for someone with neat handwriting.
Did I mention that it is free?
NGOs Looted after Rebel Attack in Eastern Chad
EUFOR, deployed to protect Sudanese and Chadian refugees, has reported that it has been providing armed escorts for aid workers seeking shelter in the nearby EUFOR camp.
It is likely that the government will attempt to retake the town over the next couple of days. Any government counter attack will likely be accompanied by air strikes. NGOs should plan accordingly.
Some 300,000 Sudanese
refugees who have fled the Darfur conflict live in
camps in Eastern Chad. 187,000 Chadians displaced by
fighting in Chad have also sought sanctuary in IDP
camps in the area.
Rebels attack eastern Chadian town, aid worker
says
Officials:
Rebels attack in eastern Chad
Gunmen Kill WFP Driver in Somalia
Abdi was the third WFP-contracted driver to be killed in Somalia this year.
WFP says gunmen kill driver in Somalia
Aid Workers Attacked by Camp Residents
The De Klerks Oord Centre serves as a shelter for 2,000 immigrants who were displaced by last month's xenophobic violence in Pretoria North.
Vacancy - WFP Security Officers - Italy
Abduction of Sri Lankan Aid Worker
You can help by going to Amnesty International’s Online Action Center and send a message to President Mahinda Rajapakse and Ambassador Bernard A. B. Goonetilleke.
If you are a blogger please help by linking to the Action Center’s message page.
Vacancy - ANSO Director - Afghanistan
ANSO is a project to support security awareness and security management capability amongst, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Afghanistan with offices in Jalalabad, Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-I-Sharif and Kabul.
You can find more details, including how to apply, at the link below.
Gunmen kill senior aid worker, driver in Mogadishu
The gunmen opened fire on Mahdi’s car as he was travelling through the Suqbad neighborhood of Mogadishu. Mahdi’s driver was also killed in the incident.
Gunmen kill humanitarian chief, driver in Mogadishu: aid worker
Top Somali aid worker shot dead
30% of aid money is spent on security for aid agencies?
If you read this blog you’ve probably already seen the article above. I almost didn’t read it because it looked like yet another “aid is inefficient and ineffective article”. It was the reference to NGO security costs that caught my eye. According to Integrity Watch Afghanistan, “Between 15 to 30 percent of aid money is spent on security for aid agencies, the IWA report said...”
What? Really? Where did those numbers come from? Given the difficulty I’ve had in finding money for things as simple as burglar resistant doors and decent fencing I really have my doubts.
If you download the full report you’ll see this:
For instance, the contracted security of the Kabul-Kandahar road during its reconstruction* prevented the disarmament of the equivalent of a whole private militia. Serious estimates put the number of armed guards who were used by the aid agencies at tens of thousands. An estimated 15 to 30 percent of aid money has been spent on security.
Maybe that’s where things got confused. To be clear the meaning of the statement “15 to 30 percent of aid money has been spent on security” is nowhere near the same as, “Between 15 to 30 percent of aid money is spent on security for aid agencies...” While considerable donor money might go to ‘security’ in Afghanistan it includes things like security sector reform, demining, counter-narcotics, police training, etc. This is not the same thing as “security for aid agencies.”
I’m pretty confident that aid agencies are not spending 15 to 30 percent of their budgets on their own security. I know mine isn’t. Most NGOs do not use armed guards and security budgets are generally small even if you include what are traditional safety costs.
* To the best of my knowledge the vast majority of the work done on the Kabul-Kandahar road was done by private contractors, not aid workers.
Safer Access gets it!
Imagine that. No exclusive copyrights. No caveats. No weasel words. No “if you use our security manual we’ll sic our lawyers on you”. Just open source safety and security information provided for the benefit of the humanitarian community.Safer Access supports the open-source philosophy, and seeks to apply it to humanitarian access issues involving safety and security. Safer Access training documents and best practice are not regarded as proprietary material, and are intended to be shared widely and discussed within the humanitarian community as an open source resource. This philosophy, when applied to vital information and training, reflects our desire to ensure that our support reaches all of those that are in need.
Be sure to check out their open source security documents and assessments. There are documents covering topics from personal trauma kits to laptop security as well as security assessments for a number of countries.
Maritime Safety Resources
The weekly Worldwide Threats to Shipping Report is published by the Office of Naval Intelligence. It contains a summary of recent piracy acts and hostile actions against commercial shipping (including ships transporting relief goods) worldwide.
Anti-Shipping Activity Messages include the locations and descriptive accounts of specific hostile acts against ships and mariners. The reports are useful for recognition, prevention and avoidance of potential hostile activity.
The World Port Index is a good place to find useful information for all but the world’s smallest ports. If you need to be sure that a port can support the ship your evacuation plan relies upon this should be your first stop.
Safer Access has a Safety Guide for Use of Boats in Relief Work. It’s basic but so is boating safety and you might be surprised at what you’ve overlooked.
Vacancy - Senior Operations Manager/NGO Security Coordinator - Afghanistan
Under the direct supervision of AED’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), and working closely with the AED Chiefs of Party (COPs), the Senior Operations Manager/Security Coordinator will ensure that AED staff in Afghanistan can accomplish project goals in a safe and secure manner. Based in Afghanistan, the Security Coordinator will develop a set of minimum safety and security standards, and security procedures and guidelines, in co-ordination with the COPs and AED’s contracted security firm, to be agreed upon by the COO and implemented through existing organizational lines of authority within Afghanistan. The individual will work closely with the AED COPs to ensure adherence to the security standards which will be monitored and reviewed regularly and updated as necessary given the changing security context. He/She will provide ongoing advice and guidance in relation to such things as establishing curfews where needed, money management policies and practice, dealing with checkpoints, tracking systems for staff movement and location, general transport policies and staff preparedness for handling acts of violence. He/She will also liaise with the designated security company to ensure smooth and timely provision of guards, personal security details, armored vehicles, and transport convoys and monitoring staff stress levels, as required.
More details and directions for applying are on the AED website.
Volunteer Aid Worker Killed by 'Freak Wave'
Natalie Higgins was paddling with two colleagues at the water's edge when the wave struck and pulled all three into the Gulf of Guinea. A rescue effort managed to save her friends but Natalie was pulled under water. Her body was found a while later.
Natalie had been in Ghana for 10 days as part of what was to be a three month stint with UK-based Projects Abroad.
Body of drowned aid worker flown home.
'Freak wave' killed aid worker.
Vacancy - NGO Security Officer (ARC) - Darfur
Desired Qualifications:
• 5 years field security related experience with humanitarian agencies and/or military/peacekeeping experience in insecure and/or hostile environments.
• 2 years supervising national staff.
• Training skills and experience in security/safety related subjects such as threat/risk assessment, security management, personal & organization security awareness, and incident analysis.
• Competency and training experience in field based communications systems such as Codan, IKOM, Barrett, HG, Motorola, BHF, fixed and mobile satellite systems