Thursday, May 12, 2011

How Not to Do Safety and Security

If you haven't been following the US Congressional hearing on the victimization of Peace Corps volunteers, read this disturbing AP news article. This is a classic example of why thinking about and implementing safety and security is so important. While there are always two sides to a story, for a large and well-funded organization to behave in the manner described is appalling. What is especially pathetic is this situation has been known about for years, but officials chose not to do anything about it. In my opinion, a humanitarian organization has a moral obligation and duty to mitigate risk as best as possible for its staff members and to support them following an incident. To do anything less, runs counter to basic humanitarian principles. You always look out for your people...