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The UK NGO Security Focal Point Group

Published:
22 February 2017
Region:
Global
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The UK NGO Security Focal Point Group

Overview

The UK Security Focal Point Group is a group of UK-based staff, who in their role act wholly or partially as the Security Focal Point for their organisation. The Group first met in February 2015 as an initiative encouraged by EISF (later GISF) to provide security networking and support for UK-based organisations regardless of whether they qualified for EISF membership. There are 125 members representing 73 organisations.  The group aims to convene on a quarterly basis. Each meeting is chaired by the host. The next meeting date and venue is agreed during the meeting.  It is cost-free to join the group. All members are responsible for funding their own attendance at meetings.

Purpose and Mission

The group exists as an independent network to hold discussions on safety and security with peers from across the sector working in comparable roles with similar responsibilities. This includes discussions on contextual developments, sharing learnings, best practice and new approaches and supporting members to address their challenges.

Membership

Membership is open to the security lead or security focal point employed by a UK-based organisation working internationally.  Specific requests to join from those who do not meet these criteria will be decided by the Steering Committee on a case-by-case basis.

Members come from different types of organisations, typically: humanitarian, development, peace building, educational and learning institutions. Service providers are not permitted.

Recent topics discussed

  • Updates from GISF
  • Objective-based risk management
  • Duty of Care
  • Geographical and thematic areas of interest
  • Digital Security
  • Insurance in High-Risk Locations
  • Legalities and Assessing Risk

Contact details

To become a member, contact the Steering Committee at uksfpgroup@gmail.com.

Related:

Securing aid worker safety through effective budgeting

In this article for the Crisis Response Journal, Aisling Sweeney, GISF's Communications Officer, puts forward the case for remodelling funding processes for humanitarian security risk management.