What you will learn
- Analyse a risk on the basis of threats, vulnerabilities and capacities.
- Apply the rules of a security plan: movements, communications, alert levels, hibernation, relocation and evacuation.
- Respond appropriately to common incidents and report them.
Course information
- Level
- All levels
- Study time
- 12 hours over 2 days (lessons, case studies, exercises)
- Format
- Online, at your own pace, free and unlimited access
- Assessment
- Daily quizzes + final exam of 20 randomly drawn questions (30 min, pass mark 70%)
- Credential
- Named, numbered certificate of achievement, verifiable online (QR code)
- Reference frameworks
- Humanitarian Practice Network (ODI) · GISF · International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO)
Programme
- Day1Understanding and managing risksThreat, vulnerability and risk · Acceptance, protection, deterrence · Security plan and procedures · Movements and communications Scenario: The Monday morning mission
- Day2Responding to incidents and taking care of yourselfCheckpoints, carjacking and armed robbery · Abduction and explosive devices · Sexual violence and health · Reporting and taking care of yourself Scenario: The checkpoint and the carjacking
- Final assessment and certificate20 questions · 70% to pass · 3 attempts per 24 hours
Who is it for?
Humanitarian staff deploying to or working in high-risk areas, national teams, drivers, security focal points and office managers.
The certificate
With at least 70% correct answers in the final assessment, you receive a certificate in your name, with a unique code that recruiters can verify on Humanitaires Jobs. A free Members area account is required.
Key concepts
The vocabulary you need to master for this course and the exam.
- Risk
- A combination of a threat, a vulnerability and the organisation's capacities.
- Acceptance
- A strategy based on the trust of communities and other actors.
- Protection
- Measures that reduce vulnerability (procedures, equipment).
- Deterrence
- The threat of a counter-measure (rarely appropriate for NGOs).
- Warning indicators
- Signals that trigger a change in security level.
- Hibernation
- Sheltering in a safe place during a critical period.
- Residual risk
- The risk remaining after measures have been taken, whether accepted or not.
- Crisis management
- A mechanism activated in the event of a serious incident (kidnapping, attack).
References and recommended reading
The official texts and sector reference works on which the course is based.
- Humanitarian Practice Network (ODI) (2010). Good Practice Review 8: Operational security management in violent environments. odihpn.org/publication/operational-security-management-in-violent-environments-revised-edition
- GISF (2024). Global Interagency Security Forum (GISF) resources and training. gisf.ngo
- International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO) (2024). Security analyses for NGOs. ngosafety.org
- IASC / United Nations Security Management System (2019). Security Risk Management framework. interagencystandingcommittee.org