State of Practice: The Evolution of Security Risk Management in the Humanitarian Space | GISF at HNPW

Summary

Hundreds of humanitarian aid workers each year fall victim to violent attacks, 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 (SRM) for humanitarian operations is a set of measures aimed at mitigating this risk as far as possible to allow critical relief work to continue. A study released in January 2024 by GISF and Humanitarian Outcomes, assesses the current state of practice in humanitarian SRM, and whether it is fit for purpose in the changing landscape of humanitarian crises. 

Members of the research team and aid practitioners from current high-risk settings will come together for a panel discussion on the state of security risk management and where the sector can go from here. Following the panel discussion, audience breakout groups will weigh in on different humanitarian security topics. 

Speakers

Dimitri Kotsiras (Research and Programmes Manager, GISF)

Abby Stoddard (Partner, Humanitarian Outcomes)

Beginning her career as a humanitarian aid practitioner, Abby Stoddard worked in headquarters and field positions at CARE USA and later served as Program Director for Doctors of the World (Médecins du Monde-USA). Prior to founding Humanitarian Outcomes, she coordinated research on humanitarian action at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation. Her areas of expertise include humanitarian operational security and risk management, financing, coordination, and institutional reform. She is the author of Humanitarian Alert: NGO Information and its Impact on US Foreign Policy (Kumarian Press, 2006) and Necessary Risks: Professional Humanitarianism and Violence Against Aid Workers (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), along with many articles, reports, and book chapters on humanitarian action. 

Mariana Duque-Diez (Research Assistant, Humanitarian Outcomes)

Mariana Duque-Diez, MA, has worked with Harvard Humanitarian Initiative as a research collaborator in localization and humanitarian access as the Venezuela local point. Before that, she worked with OCHA as a field information assistant in the border region between Colombia and Venezuela and with Heartland Alliance International in the Kurdistan region of Iraq as a Global Fellow. She holds a Master of Arts in International Security from Sciences Po – Paris and a bachelor’s in Political Science from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Colombia.
 

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