I am #notatarget : the development of ICRC security procedures in response to attacks on humanitarian aid workers

Abstract

With each passing year, the cycle of armed conflicts and humanitarian crises places more and more people in need of humanitarian assistance. From the changing climate leading to droughts and various dangerous weather conditions placing people at risk, to the growing number of refugees and internally displaced people, humanitarian aid organisations have their work cut out for them to assist those in need. From 2015 to 2020 the estimated number of people in need of humanitarian assistance grew from 125 million to 166.5 million with funding pleas up to almost thirty billion US dollars by the end of this period to target and cater for just around 65% of those in need. With pledged funding, the staff of humanitarian aid organisations set up assistance programmes, healthcare facilities, refugee camps and other initiatives to meet the needs of those at risk. As such, in order to reach their target populations, humanitarian aid workers must also operate in dangerous areas placing them at risk of taking collateral damage or being targeted intentionally. Between 2015 and 2020, the reported security incidents involving humanitarian aid workers grew incrementally from 289 to 484. These figures partly reflect the growing number of humanitarian aid workers globally. Meanwhile, while the International Committee of the Red Cross’ (ICRC) staff grew from some 14,000 staff members to about 20,000 between during the same period, it is reported that the number of security incidents involving their staff decreased by about 60% during the six-year period. This dissertation sets out to understand the context in which humanitarian aid workers operate, the security incidents they face and how the ICRC goes about their security management for their staff in the field. While most ICRC security related documents are confidential and unavailable for research purposes, this research examines open-source documents, academic articles, media posts and journalistic articles to extrapolate as much context and detail as possible within the scope of this study. This is done with the aim of understanding the ICRC’s security management and to further suggest the adoption and adaptation of effective security strategies to other humanitarian aid organisations.