Non-Governmental Organisations

As the world's disasters shift from being primarily those of the natural variety to those brought about by human-caused violence, Non-Governmental Organisations [NGO’s] have had to reassess their methods of providing aid to victims.

We fully understand that the use of Private Security Companies [PSC’s], especially by humanitarian non-governmental organisations, not only poses management and control issues for NGO’s, but can also have a serious impact upon the execution of humanitarian policy. However, given the increasingly violent nature of the situations in which relief agencies find themselves, what steps should be taken to ensure the safety of their workers? To what extent should armed guards be employed to protect staff, and how ethical is it to do this if agencies profess non-violence?

CRS are a specialist consultancy and security services provider to many Non-governmental organisations [NGO’s] operating in moderate-to-high risk areas across the world and, have been instrumental in helping to change the emphasis from protection, to prevention through a series of specially designed training programmes aimed specifically at NGO’s.

Hostile Environment Training courses for NGO’s cover the following:

  • Security management
  • Risk assessment
  • Personal security awareness
  • Security incident briefings & reporting
  • Communications networking
  • Contingency & evacuation planning
  • First Aid & Trauma life support

To learn more about our specialist training programmes, please click here...

There will always be exceptional situations that dictate when NGO’s should only operate under the protection of a Private Security Company. In these circumstances CRS can provide a full range of services to mitigate risk, such as:

  • Full risk assessment & area reconnaissance
  • Project management
  • Transit & Convoy security
  • Manned Guarding (including armed guards)
  • Communications
  • Close personal protection
  • Specialist medical cover
  • Electronic security

CRS also recognise that whilst our interaction can facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, NGO’s face complex political and operational challenges vis-à-vis the culture, norms and practices of PSC’s, which is why our experience of dealing with NGO’s over many years is of vital importance.