IASC Staff Security Task Force Recommendations to the IASC Working Group: Guidelines for Field Security Collaboration, 2002

In the report “to stay and to deliver” (2011) by OCHA, the issue of national aid worker security is highlighted as becoming critical for humanitarian agencies and their donors. This is due to the declining access of international staff in some high-risk contexts and increasing reliance on national staff and local partners to remain where international staff members have left. The working group from the IASC Staff Security Task Force have come with both general and field recommendations for staff security.

General recommendations:
1) Strengthening security collaboration in humanitarian operations
2) Advocating for security
3) Appointing agency security focal points
4) Strengthening security management including collaboration

Field recommendations:
5) Enhancing the role of the DO in security collaboration
6) Enhancing collaboration in the UN Security Management Team
7) Selecting NGO field security focal point(s)
8) Convening broad-based forums for field security collaboration
9) Including staff security concerns in the CAPs
10) Meeting common, security-related needs
11) Sharing resources
12) Facilitating inter-agency telecommunication
13) Collaborating and consulting in security training
14) Sharing information
15) Identifying minimum security standards
16) Seeking adherence to common humanitarian ground-rules