Burnout
Excessive, prolonged stress can lead to an emotional and physical exhaustion commonly referred to as burnout. It often begins as normal stress but then you start to feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to humanitarian work in the first place. If left untreated burnout can eventually threaten your job, your relationships, and your health.
According to the Mayo Clinic you may be at greater risk of developing burnout if:
* You identify so strongly with work that you lack a reasonable balance between work and your personal life
* You try to be everything to everyone
* Your job is monotonous
* You feel you have little or no control over your work
* You work in a helping profession, such as health care, counseling, teaching, aid worker or law enforcement
The signs of burnout tend to be more mental than physical. They can include:
* Feeling detached
* Isolating yourself
* Irritability
* Frustration
* Feeling trapped
* Feeling like a failure
* Despair
* Cynicism
* Apathy
* Feeling powerless
* Feeling hopeless
* Emotional exhaustion
It is important to catch burnout quickly. Doing so can save a valued, experienced aid worker. Failure to do so can result in yet another bitter, cynical, possibly alcoholic, aid worker who is merely going through the motions.
One final note of caution: NGO security officers are as prone to burnout as other aid workers. You’ll need to monitor yourself for the signs and symptoms and take action because there is a very good chance that no one else will. Don’t try to work through it. It won’t work... and the only thing more dangerous than a bitter, cynical, alcoholic, aid worker is a bitter, cynical, alcoholic, security officer.
IFRC Aid Workers Leave Chad After Threat
Red Cross aid workers leave Chad after threat
Two Merlin staff killed in Afghanistan
You can read Merlin’s statement at the link below.
Justice for Muttur Video
The WolfGroup
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Old Choices Come Back to Haunt NGOs in Afghanistan.
To quote the ghosts again, “All it takes is for either the US, the Taliban, the locals or the central government to see it as political and becomes so...” Unfortunately that means your organization’s carefully crafted, acceptance based, security strategy disappears along with your perceived neutrality.
Read the whole post to see how your NGO’s choice of friends in the 80’s might be affecting your security today.
More Cartoons and More Threats
The drawing seems to be circulating quickly on Arabic websites.
In an apparently unrelated, but likely synergistic threat, AQ seems to include Norway as well as other EU countries on its target list as the story below highlights.
NGOs would be wise to monitor the situation closely. Any indicator of negative reactions to the new cartoon should be taken seriously and any necessary risk reduction and mitigation measures implemented.
Islamabad Bomb Damages Local NGO
more
Canadian Aid Worker Kidnapped in Haiti Released
Gunmen Threaten INGO Staff in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka
Young gunmen in civilian clothing have caused a series of disturbances on the town streets in recent days, threatening civilians and aid workers in broad daylight.
At least one International NGO has gone into hibernation until the situation stabilizes.
Medecins du Monde Aid Worker Kidnapped in Haiti
How Many Kidnapped Aid Workers?
First off the mark was DawnNews via Twitter with the headline "Two Italians among three aid workers kidnapped in Somalia." OK, so we have two Italians and somebody else. Maybe they just don't know his nationality yet.
"Two Italians kidnapped in Somalia" - PRESS TV Hmmm... what about the other guy?
"Italian aid workers kidnapped in Somalia" - Independent Online
"Somali gunmen kidnap two Italian aid workers" - Reuters South Africa OK... so maybe its just two Italians?
"Officials say gunmen kidnapped aid workers" - Reuters Or maybe the other person wasn't an aid worker?
"Somali gunmen kidnap two Italian aid workers: officials" - Reuters
"Somali gunmen kidnap two Italian aid workers: officials" - Washington Post
"Witness: Somali gunmen seize 2 Italian aid workers" - The Associated Press Just two Italians I guess.
"Somali gunmen kidnap two Italian aid workers-officials" - AlertNet Newsdesk
"Witness, diplomat: Somali gunmen seize 2 Italians" - The Associated Press
"Somalia: Two Italian aid workers kidnapped" - آكي adnkronos
"Somali official: Gunmen seize 3 aid workers" - The Associated Press Five hours after the DawnNews report the AP editor realizes that it was three aid workers.
"Somali official: Abduction of 3 aid workers, including 2 Italians ..." - PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung)
"Somali official: Gunmen seize 3 aid workers" - The Associated Press
"Somali official: Gunmen seize 3 aid workers" - Adal Voice of Eritreans
"Somali official: Abduction of 3 aid workers, including 2 Italians" - Adal Voice of Eritreans
"Gunmen Seize 2 Italians, One Somali Aid Worker In Somalia" AHN via Hiiraan Online. And finally Hiiraan Online points out that there is such a thing as a Somali aid worker.
Of the seventeen headlines that crossed my virtual desk more than half would have had me believe that only two aid workers were kidnapped. Seven of seventeen acknowledged that in fact three aid workers were kidnapped. Only one clearly identified the nationality of the Somali aid worker.
With headlines like these it is no wonder that so many national staff in INGOs feel like the second class citizens of the aid world.
Three Aid Workers Kidnapped in Somalia
Two Italians among three aid workers kidnapped in Somalia: officials
Somali gunmen kidnap two Italian aid workers-officials
Witness: Somali gunmen seize 2 Italian aid workers
Military Humanitarian Relief?
Red Cross Website Hacked to Steal Quake Relief Donations
Crossing Borders with your Laptop
So how do you keep prying eyes from accessing your sensitive files while travelling? The EFF has some good advice for protecting your laptop from arbitrary searches. Bruce Schneier has his take as well. Finally you shouldn't overlook Front Line's "Digital Security and Privacy for Human Rights Defenders".
Gunmen Kill Aid Worker in Southern Somalia
The killing comes as central Somalia enters a humanitarian emergency amid fears of a full blown famine.
Press TV: Somali aid organizer shot dead.
Kidnapped Aid Workers Released in Pakistan
Darfur 'No Fly Zone'?
NGO security advisors are advised to reassess their medical evacuation plans for Darfur. The lack of reliable aeromedical evacuation capability increases the threat to life and limb of even relatively minor medical events.
WFP Head of Sub-office Killed by Gunmen in Northwestern Kenya
KENYA / GUNMEN KILL WFP HEAD OF SUB-OFFICE IN NORTHWESTERN KENYA « APO-SOURCE : The African News Source via kwout
See also:
UN food agency shocked by killing of staffer in Kenya
Zimbabwean Aid worker killed in Kenya
Another WFP contracted driver killed in Somalia
A similar incident occurred on 13 February when the leader of a WFP contracted aid convoy was shot and killed by militia in southern Somalia.





