Safety and Protection in Dangerous Places—Part 6

Final Thoughts for Ongoing Threats

Photo ©Adel Yahya/IRIN

(A photo with guns could have been used from any country)

**

Special sticks.

Of wood and metal.

For young and old alike.

For recreation and crime.

For protectors and predators.
For peace-making and war-making. 

(For a fascinating history about guns, read

AK47: The Story of a Gun, 2007)

**

How much risk is one willing to take in order to do what is right?

How much force is one willing to use in order to do what is right?
How much peace is one willing to make in order to do what is right?

**

In these six entries we have looked at a variety of “dangerous places.” The places of greatest need are often the places of greatest danger. We identified five types of environments, often overlapping, that require our best efforts to provide/develop safety and protection strategies.

•Physical environments marked by life-threatening hazards including conflicts (war) and calamities (natural disasters), human rights violations, disease, domestic violence, road traffic accidents (1.3 million people/year die from driving-related accidents)

•Organizational environments in which work conditions and poor management/governance can wreak havoc on both staff and operational objectives (including unresolved relational difficulties, political maneuvering,  and ongoing organizational dysfunction)

•Moral environments contaminated by human corruption which exploits and injures others (Corruption is defined by Transparency International as the ‘abuse of entrusted power for personal gain.’ Covering up or ignoring corruption can be as reprehensible and damaging as the corruption itself.)

•Personal environments whereby an individual's serious problems can significantly interfere with his/her work/wellbeing and that of others (addictions, disorders, unhealthy behaviors)

•Poverty environments as reflected in some of the ways to group the poorest of humanity: a) the nearly one billion "slum dwellers"; and b) the “bottom billion” who reside in the 58 poorest countries in the world in which the average life expectancy is 50 years, one out of seven children die before their first birthday, and over one-third of children suffer from long-term malnutrition (see The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier (2007, pp. 7,8).

*****

Here are our final two resources, as we bring this discussion topic to a close.

Resource Eleven

Challenging Choices: Protection and Livelihoods in Conflict (HPG Policy Brief 40, May 2010); Humanitarian Practice Group. People in conflict settings often adopt strategies that promote personal safety/dignity but at the expense of their economic livelihoods, or vice versa. This four-page review calls for aid agencies to develop strategies that deal with these overlapping issues of physical and livelihood protection.

Resource Twelve

Crisis and Contingency Management for Senders and Workers. Four pages of handouts from the Member Caravan website, including: a grid to manage crises (before, during, after), principles for supportive crisis counseling, and short crisis vignettes for discussion.

Reflection and Discussion—Plus Add Comments Below

1. To what extent is safety and protection for the people served by mission/aid workers a relevant focus for member care? Can this be a distraction or a direction for member care?

2. What type of crisis and contingency plans does your organization/setting have?

3. Which of the 12 areas of resources described in these entries are the most helpful for you?

4. Is there another area—environment—in addition to the five listed above--that you think is important to also include in the safety/protection discourse?

5. What questions would you like to ask your organization, your colleagues, or the member care field regarding safety and protection in mission/aid?

Safety and Protection in Dangerous Places—Part 5

Heroic People in Poverty

Pakistan,  August 2010. ©Abdul Majeed Goraya/IRIN

More and more areas are being inundated as floods spread south.

Over 20 million people are affected in the worst floods in Pakistan's history. 

**

  Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;

maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

Psalm 82:3-4
(Scriptures on the poor/afflicted: click here)

**

But the world is not so happy a place. Billions of people suffer impoverishment, many until the end of their miserable lives…[Such things] should not deter us from responding as best we can, using our talents to improve this always mixed record of trying “to save generations from the scourge of war,” “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights,” and to promote “social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.” The question is, can we do it? Paul Kennedy, The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations (2006, pp. 279, 289).

*****

Everyone loves real heroes. Right? They inspire us. They can protect or even save us. We want to emulate them. I have thought a lot about heroic people. On the top of my list are the poor: who have no exit visas from misery; who are plagued by problems without passports; who live in dangerous places; and who nonetheless continue onward in life as dignified human beings with integrity. These people are my heroes and my heroines.

Poverty Environments

In this entry I want to continue to expand our definition of “dangerous places.” It now includes five broad areas or "environments" with the latest one being "poverty environments." Notice in the list below that the first letter of each of the five areas forms the acronym POMPP. The word “pomp”—stately splendour—is virtually antithetical to the “stagnant squalor” being discussed in this current entry.

•Physical environments marked by life-threatening hazards including war, human rights violations, poverty, and disease (as well as road traffic and household-related accidents)

•Organizational environments in which poor management/governance can wreak havoc on both staff and operational objectives (including unresolved relational difficulties and ongoing organizational dysfunction)

•Moral environments contaminated by human corruption which exploits and injures others (Corruption is defined by Transparency International as the ‘abuse of entrusted power for personal gain.’ Covering up or ignoring corruption can be as reprehensible and damaging as the corruption itself.)

•Personal environments whereby an individual's serious problems can significantly interfere with his/her by th work/wellbeing and that of others.

•Poverty environments as reflected in the living situation of the nearly one billion slum dwellers and overlapping with the “bottom billion” who reside in the 58 poorest countries in the world in which the average life expectancy is 50 years, one out of seven children die before their first birthday, and over one-third of children suffer from long-term malnutrition (see The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier, 2007, pp. 7,8). Note that eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations for 2015.Watch the short overview about the MDGs called Make It Happen, in the MDG link above. 

I am now shifting the safety and protection focus of these entries–-from the mission/aid workers themselves to the vulnerable people for whom mission/aid workers provide services. Many of these people are in dangerous places marked by conflict, calamity, corruption, and poverty. Here are two resources to better understand and develop skills to help some of the people in these places. They are oriented to states, agencies, and field workers.

(Note: for more information on staff security issues, see the previous entries/resources as well as the June 2010 issue of the Humanitarian Exchange Magazine especially the article “Staff Management and Security.”)

*****

Resource Nine

Humanitarian Protection (Issue 46, March 2010), Humanitarian Exchange Magazine, Humanitarian Practice Network (text below from the online summary at HPN)

“…After little more than a decade, ‘protection’ has grown from a collection of activities executed by a handful of specialised agencies to being a key component of humanitarian action. Yet protection issues are still not systematically identified and addressed in humanitarian response and advocacy. In his thought provoking lead article, Marc Dubois argues that humanitarian actors must develop a more critical perspective on humanitarian protection, including an honest acknowledgement of their limitations. Related issues are examined in articles focused on the civilian protection mandates of peacekeeping missions and the challenges the protection cluster in Timor-Leste faced during the transition from emergency to development programming.

We also examine World Vision’s work to develop and test minimum standards in protection, a new field manual from ActionAid Australia, and efforts to develop more community-based approaches to protection in Afghanistan, Burma, Kenya and Pakistan.”

Resource Ten
UNHCR Handbook for the Protection of Women and Girls (2008)
(text below from the Introduction; note: also avaible in several other languages)

“This Handbook describes some of the protection challenges faced by women and girls of concern to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and outlines various strategies we should adopt with our partners to tackle these challenges. It sets out the legal standards and principles that guide our work to protect women and girls and outlines the different roles and responsibilities of States and other actors. UNHCR’s own responsibilities in this respect are explained, both as part of its mandate to secure international protection and durable solutions and as a United Nations (UN) agency. Suggestions for actions by UNHCR and partners to support women’s and girls’ enjoyment of their rights are also included. Examples of innovative practices from the field illustrate how these principles can be applied.

Who are women and girls of concern? This Handbook refers to the protection of women and girls with the understanding that we are referring to all women and girls of concern to UNHCR, namely women and girls who are: asylum-seekers, refugees, internally displaced, returnees, stateless, or who have integrated into new communities."

*****

Reflection and Discussion—Add Comments Below

1. Fill in the blanks:

You never really understand that________is all you need, until_______is all you have.

a. God

b. integrity

c. love

d. nothing

e. other

2. The more things you have, the less you realize what you really need.

True, False, or?

3. Three ways that I know I am in a safe place are…

4. Three ways that my sending group/organization helps people (especially poor people) who are in dangerous places…

5. Three ways that my sending group/organization (or I) could better help people (especially poor people) who are in dangerous places…

Safety and Protection in Dangerous Places—Part 4

Attention!     Pas op!      ¡Ojo!     Look Out!

Detail from the cover of Safety First (2010), Save the Children

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"There is a perception that giving too much priority to staff safety and security will create constraints on the fundamental mission of the organisation. That mission is to provide assistance to people in need. There is indeed an incomprehensible element of risk in humanitarian aid work. Nonetheless good security management is also a tool to help agencies enter and remain in danger zones. It can help to avoid the loss of assets and especially staff, through accident or incident, and thus helps the agency to provide assistance. In addition, sometimes a laudable emphasis on being "operational" can also hide an institutional self-interest in market share, visibility, and cash flow, at the expense of staff safety and security."
K. Van Brabant, Mainstreaming Safety and Security Management in Aid Agencies, Humanitarian Practice Group Briefing (March 2001, p. 1-2, slightly adjusted for clarity).

*****

What types of risks do mission/aid workers encounter? What type of training can sending groups provide to help mission/aid workers manage these risks? And how do sending groups put into practice Principle 7 from the People in Aid Code of Good Practice (2003): “The security, good health, and safety of our staff are a prime responsibility of our organization" (http://www.peopleinaid.org/code/). This entry describes two more resources about safety and protection. 

We continue to clarify and expand our definition of  “dangerous places.” It now includes four broad areas or "environments."

•Physical environments marked by life-threatening hazards including war, human rights violations, poverty, and disease (as well as road traffic and household-related accidents)

•Organizational environments in which poor management/governance can wreak havoc on both staff and operational objectives (including unresolved relational difficulties and ongoing organizational dysfunction)

•Moral environments contaminated by human corruption which exploits and injures others (Corruption is defined by Transparency International as the ‘abuse of entrusted power for personal gain.’ Covering up or ignoring corruption can be as reprehensible and damaging as the corruption itself).
•Personal environments whereby an individual's serious problems can significantly interfere with his/her work/wellbeing and that of others.

Resource Seven
Safety First: A Field Security Manual for NGO Staff (2010 edition), Save the Children.

This practical and highly recommended book offers guidance on a variety of safety/security issues relevant for mission/aid workers and sending groups. For example, do you have any idea what to do if you or a colleague gets stuck in the middle of a mine field? The book covers these broad areas with lots of advice and "how to's":

• “personal security awareness and staying healthy in the field
• working in conflict environments and dealing with security threats
• travel and site safety and security
• field communications
• natural hazards and disasters
• relocating and evacuating staff
• incident monitoring and information management.”
(http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/54_2353.htm); go to this link and click on the Google Preview icon to have a look at some of this book's content)

“Before they start work in areas of armed conflict, newly appointed employees should be briefed on the local security situation and the relevant safety precautions. There after provide your staff with security updates at regular intervals throughout their employment. These could take the form of team meetings in which responsible officers provide accurate, up-to-date information on the security situation. During these meetings employees should be encouraged to: share their experiences, voice their anxieties, express their opinions, and suggest improvements in security.” Safety First: Protecting NGO Employees in Areas of Conflict (1998 edition)

Resource Eight

Supporting Expatriate Women in Difficult Settings is the title of chapter 40 from Doing Member Care Well (2002). The author, Annemie Grosshauser, looks at the coping challenges and strategies of women regarding their personal, spiritual, and team life and their roles/identity/lifestyle. Much of the material is also applicable to men.
(http://www.theimtn.org/resources/index.php?main_page=product_book_info&products_id=252&zenid=0uaak46o5dnsff6hv12g14l3i3)

“Going through the marketplace in a male-dominated country, being single in a family-centered society, working in the context of very different and sometimes hostile cultural and religious settings, educating children without proper school systems, trying to show compassion to people in need, serving together in a multicultural team—these are some of the challenges confronting expatriate women.” “Supporting Expatriate Women in Difficult Settings” (Doing Member Care Well,  p. 419).

*****

Reflection and Discussion—Add Comments Below

1. Recall an experience that you have had in a physical, organizational, and/or moral environment that was dangerous. What were a few things that you did to help you to survive and stay healthy?

2. Whose safety comes first: that of mission/aid staff or those who mission/aid staff are helping? Why?

3. What criteria/values do you use to determine acceptable risk for mission/aid staff?

4. Does your sending group provide pre-deployment and field briefings regarding security and safety matters? If so, how?

5. List a few differences between the challenges for women and men in a mission/aid setting with which you are familiar (e.g., acceptable gender roles, work load, issues for singles). Think in terms of both local and international staff.

Safety and Protection in Dangerous Places—Part 3

Protecting Yourself and Others

Cover from Refugees magazine, 2000, UNHCR  

I’ve managed my stress levels pretty well in the past. But we saw some really horrible things in the places where I worked. I’ve seen rotting bodies. I’ve seen people who died of dysentery and cholera in the camps. How do you process that?…That’s not the norm. We’re not prepared for that…it pushed me to my limit in terms of trying to manage those experiences while in the middle of it. As a result of those experiences I attended stress management and stress debriefing courses which helped me a lot…Heather MCLeod, Development, (World Vision International, July-Sept. 1998), p. 16

*****

What do mission/aid workers and others who live is dangerous places need to do to survive? What types of member care resources help? This entry describes two additional resources to consider.

Keep in mind that “dangerous places” is being defined broadly. It primarily refers to physical environments marked by life-threatening hazards including war, human rights violations, poverty, and disease. It also refers to organizational environments, in which poor management/governance can wreak havoc on both staff and operational objectives. Interlaced with much of the above can be human corruption, which exploits and injures others, defined by Transparency International as the ‘abuse of entrusted power for personal gain.’ Covering up or ignoring corruption can be as lethal as the corruption itself.

Resource Five

Too High a Price? This landmark issue of Refugees magazine (Number 121, 2000) addresses the hard and shifting realities of life for aid workers, especially those in the United Nations. It is filled with personal stories, photos, and brief articles from around the world. Ten years after its publication, this special issue is still so relevant for workers/senders!

‘Staff safety is not a luxury but a necessary part of saving lives. Vulnerable people like refugees are most in need of assistance at the very same moment when refugee/aid workers are most exposed to personal danger.’ Paraphrase from: Refugees Magazine, Number 121, 2000 (p. 2).

Resource Six

Surviving War as a Caregiver is a personal account of the challenges of living in a country embroiled in war (Chechneya). The author, Paula O’Keefe, explores not only the external dangers to herself and others but also her internal world of struggles, growth, and faith. Here is an excerpt summarizing her spiritual growth, from chapter 25 of Doing Member Care Well (2002).

“There are many things that the Lord has taught me in the past few years in working in a war zone. He has taught me the importance of spending quality time with Him, of worshipping, of taking adequate rest and looking after myself, of taking breaks and having some fun. He has shown me that I can’t do everything alone and that I need other people with whom I can be vulnerable and share my heart. I also need to have adequate support from my home church, along with a good covering…He has done much healing and refining and is teaching me to enjoy just being His [child]. I am learning to get my self-worth from who I am in Him, not from what I do” (p. 226).

Reflection and Discussion--And Leave a Comment Below

1. What is the most “dangerous place” in which you have lived? Why is/was it dangerous?

2. What did you do (or do you do) to survive in this dangerous place?

3. Briefly describe any places where corruption has seriously affected you and others.

4. List a few ways that you have spiritually grown through your experiences in dangerous places.

5. Consider how you can use the above two resources in your current setting. What parts of these resources will help you and others to stay safe and/or help protect others?

Safety and Protection in Dangerous Places: Part 1

Mission Workers:

Hostile Hosts or Hostile Guests?

Lebanese authorities bury 30 bodies in wasteland outside Tyre, Lebanon.

The bodies had lain unclaimed for 10 days in the burned-out shells of cars,

or scattered around the war-ravaged villages of south Lebanon. [civilians]

(Courtesy IRIN. ©2006 Hugh Macleod/IRIN http://www.irinnews.org/)

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The single greatest problem facing the United Nations is that there is no single greatest problem. Rather, there are a dozen different ones each day clamoring for attention. Some…are obvious and trying. Others we call “problems without passports”—issues that cross all frontiers uninvited, like climate change, drug trafficking, human rights, terrorism, epidemic diseases, and refugee movements. Their solutions, too, can recognize no frontiers because no one country or group of countries, however rich or powerful, can tackle them alone. Shashi Tharoor, Newsweek, September 4, 2006

*****

We want to focus on serious threats to life in mission/aid settings. The emphasis is on issues regarding resources to support mission/aid staff, sending agencies, and civilians in the midst of dangerous places.

What are Dangerous Places?

• Dangerous places are areas affected by calamities and conflicts, including those not in the public limelight such as neglected emergencies and forgotten wars.

• Dangerous places are those vast, trans-border regions where uninvited “problems without passports” can linger and take their deadly toll (malaria, corruption, human trafficking). 

• Dangerous places are also the sending group contexts for mission/aid workers in which unresolved interpersonal conflict and poor organizational/management practices can have major negative impacts on staff well-being and operational effectiveness.

Resource One

Dangerous Mission is a special 28 minute BBC audio documentary and part of their “Heart and Soul” series. Have a listen—it is well-worth it. The documentary features interviews with mission workers whose lives are in danger due to the nature of their work. Why do they work in places hostile to the Christian gospel and why do they take risks? The documentary also includes some perspectives from those who believe their own mission work can be jeopardized by people who overtly evangelize in hostile countries and perspectives from people from other religions who oppose their work. This is a fascinating subject and obviously not one without controversy!

Resource Two
Doing Member Care in Red Zones: Examples from the Middle East is on of several articles in Doing Member Care Well (2002) that deal with surviving/working in dangerous places. The authors do a great job looking at warning signs of serious stress for workers in "red zones": areas marked by ethno-political tensions, social instability, and violence. There is also material to help administrators and sending organizations as they manage/support their staff.

Reflection and Discussion

1. What are a few of the main issues overviewed in the Dangerous Mission interviews above?

2. What are acceptable risks for you in your work (or for yourt workers if you are an admistrator/leader) in mission/aid? How far do you go (risks) to help vulnerable people?

3. Would you want your adult child to be an aid/worker in a risky area, such as a war zone?

4. Would you want your child to be converted to another religion or to no religion, via the influence of foreign workers or “proselytizers.”

5. Is it OK to come into another country for reasons other than the stated ones, with the primary intent to share one’s religious faith/and/or convert others? How does this practice relate to Articles 18 and 19 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, regarding the right to have a religion or not to have a religion and freedom of conscience?

Member Care and Human Rights--4

The Maims and Moans of Fallen Creation

Have a seat, and have a think with me:

Life maims and we moan.

How do human rights abuses relate to these maims and moans?

How does member care help to alleviate them?

*****

Note--I am still thinking...This topic is way too big for me!

Human dysfunction is part of the maiming/moaning reality. It includes things like deception, addictions, denial, shifting blame, and human rights abuses including violations of people’s consciences and religious liberties, murder, rape, and economic servitude. All of these areas and more can affect mission aid workers as they interact with colleagues and the people that receive their services.

The source of dysfunction from a Christian perspective relates directly to something tragic that happened between God and humans. Something horrible interfered with their relationship, as related in the Genesis narrative, influenced by humans and fallen angels alike. Humans became ontologically, morally and socially fragmented, beset with the intractable flaws of self-centeredness, self-deception, and self-depreciation. We deny who we really are and try to be something we are not. We do things to benefit ourselves at another’s expense. In spite of our moral goodness and beauty—having been made in God's image—we are all guilty of “crimes against ourselves and crimes against humanity”. The pernicious combination of human and devilish wrongs leads to a demise of our well-being with the maiming of our rights and the moaning for our rights.

Let’s look again of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). I want to use a few terms from the Preamble (in caps below) to express three types of problems that ensue when our human rights get overlooked.

There are problems when we do not RECOGNISE the reality that humans have dignity and rights. Certain people (especially those we don't like) can be viewed as being less human and thus merit human wrongs and not merit universal human rights. Hence it is OK to hurt or neglect people and to excuse it or even not be “aware” of it. This denial and distortion of human reality is reflected in Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it?”

There are problems when we do not REGARD the dignity and rights of humans. This distortion of reality leads to controlling and exploiting others. Freedom of speech, of conscience, and of religion, at the state level for example, are the first to be repressed. At the family, group, or organisatinal levels, the maladaptive trio of ‘Don’t talk, don’t feel, don’t trust” becomes pervasive. At the individual level it is all about staying safe and pretending, not disturbing the status quo, and not jeopardising ones position. Fear reigns and leads to blind loyalty, self-protection, poor practice, low morale, and group stagnation. But we do all these things at the cost of our dignity and of our rights (and responsibiliity!) to respond to reality authentically.

There are problems when we do not PROMOTE dignity and rights and instead oppress people. We think more of our own interests than the interests of others. Rebellion results. In its healthiest form such rebellion is a sincere and virtuous attempt to create change that will protect people from abuses and promote their well-being. The UDHR refers to this as fostering “social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom". One example of "virtuous rebellion" is in I Samuel, in which Saul responds to serious human rights violations (the threat for all the right eyes of the inhabitants of city to be gouged out). He puts his livelihood (oxen) and life on the line in order to fight and protect others. A second example is in I Kings 22 where Micaiah takes unknown risks in order to speak publicly to two kings and their entourage about what he senses God tells him to say: “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak" (v. 14). He prophesies, is struck in the face, then thrown in prison, and never heard of again in the pages of Scripture. Seeking to protect/promote human rights, especially to those who are oppressed, and in ways which are seen to challenge the stats quo and to be politically incorrect, does not always have a happy ending.

Article 29 of the UDHR says that “Everyone has duties to the community…” It is this sense of duty that makes us want to RECOGNISE, REGARD, and PROMOTE the rights and well being of others. This duty is synonymous with our sense of “moral obligation" or what Kant referred to as the “categorical imperative”. Underlying the notion of human rights then is the reality of moral law.

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Member care is intertwined with human rights, as we have seen over the last four weeks of entries. But human rights cannot stand on their own, both philosophically and practically. Human rights are based on moral law. And moral law comes from a Moral Law-giver. These thoughts are reflected in the "Guiding Principles” recorded in “A Message from the National Study Conference on the Churches and a Just and Durable Peace” which convened in the USA in 1942 under the auspices of the National Council of Churches.
*

“1. We believe that moral law, no less than physical law, undergirds our world. There is a moral order which is fundamental and eternal, and which is relevant to the corporate life of [humans] and the ordering of human society. If [humankind] is to escape chaos and recurrent war, social and political institutions must be brought into conformity with this moral order….13. We believe that the Eternal God revealed in Christ…is the source of moral law and the power to make it effective." (Section II, Guiding Principles, pp. 10-14).

*

*

Reflection and Discussion

Three type of problems are mentioned when human rights are overlooked.

**In what ways does member care for mission/aid workers deal with the prevention and treatment of such problems?

**Recall a "happy ending" that resulted from protecting/promoting the well-being of mission/aid staff and those that receive their services.

**What helps you to survive the mains and moans of fallen creation?

Dysfunctional Kisses

Dysfunctional things dupe.

Enemies will deceive.

But only friends can betray.

Member care is not just about development or restoration.
There is a key in-between dimension--protection.

Development---------Protection----------Restoration

Good member care helps to protect us from things like dysfunction (inlcuding our own). But nothing can totally protect us, especially from the negative consequences when deception and betrayal seek us out. Doing mission/aid well requires our being vulnerable: including the possiblity of being duped by the deceiving promises of an enemy or the betraying kisses of a friend.
**
We protect ourselves by our commitment to good practice: transparency, accountability, sound judgement, and promoting the well-being of one another. We do good practice even if it inconveniences us. We act with integrity even if there are dire consequences.
**

Reflection and Discussion
Creatively connect the thoughts above and the quotes below:
**Kiss me, you fool.
**Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?