NGOs often operate in situations of humanitarian crisis. A push is the meaning and value of the human being, solidarity, humanitarian imperative that “obliges” them to assist and protect people fleeing or in danger due to war, famine and natural disasters. Many NGOs have long taken measures to protect the safety of the operators, considering it a priority.
Following this assessment, and after years of presence on the ground in the most important and complex scenario of international crisis, the most important Italian NGOs – represented by the three networks AOI, CINI, Link 2007 – are meeting at the International conference hall of the Foreign Ministry to discuss the protection and safety of emergency workers, with the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni. The intention was to adopt rules, procedures and adequate training to deal with the risks in the various contexts of intervention. Attention has turned to the indispensable balance between the humanitarian imperative that drives them to persevere in the action of help and protection, and the risk assessment for operators, Italians, internationals and locals.
Another point of reflection was provided by the new law n.125/2014 that has rightly opened the Italian system of development cooperation to new civil society operators. If some have already gained a good experience, with solidarity activities and cooperation in contexts of conflict, others must deepen the culture of emergency and risk management, to guarantee the safety of staff. There are also voluntary groups or individual volunteers who, despite the positivity of generosity and brotherhood that express, may inadvertently put at risk themeselves if not inserted or connected to organizations with experience in such contexts and knowledge of the political dynamics, social, religious , economic, tribal.
For this reason it is required an increasing connection between humanitarian operators and institutions and the conference “Safety is a serious matter” aimed straight to this point: create a table of comparison between NGOs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Maeci) Crisis Unit, in order to identify the best and effective ways to combine safety and humanitarian action. Finally it was promoted the goal of fostering a widespread cultural sensitivity, to discourage initiatives based solely on generosity, not adequately take into account the difficulties that can be created for himself and for others.
The conference was the ideal forum to present a dossier result of joint work between NGOs and Crisis Unit: “Tips for risk management and the safety and security of organizations of international cooperation and solidarity.” This dossier condenses, in a few short chapters, useful information to provide an overview of issues related to security in potentially dangerous environments and suggests behaviors and rules to be adopted
NGO’S AND PERSONNEL SECURITY
