Crisis Management of Critical Incident

The European Interagency Security Forum is an independent platform for Security Focal Points from European humanitarian agencies operating overseas. EISF members are committed to improving the safety and security of relief operations and staff, in a way that allows greater access to and impact for crisis-affected populations.

Safety and security incidents are a daily reality for aid and development workers. By default, deployment of staff to remote and often insecure areas lacking basic infrastructure, implies acceptance by humanitarian organisations that incidents may occur. Instances in which staff are threatened or experience serious harm are commonly referred to as critical incidents. A small percentage of critical incidents may become crises: those requiring an immediate, dedicated organisational response beyond the scope of in-country contingency planning and management structures.

Establishing and maintaining capacity to adequately respond to incidents is thus a priority for aid organisations.

This EISF Briefing Paper focuses on preparation for responses to critical incidents constituting crises. As is the case for all risk management mechanisms, a one size fits-all template for incident response does not exist: crisis plans must be tailored to organisational structures and capacities. The purpose of this document is thus not to prescribe a blueprint for crisis planning, but to emphasise the importance of robust crisis response capacity as part of a comprehensive security risk management system. The essential facets and mechanisms required in designing such a plan are also outlined here.