Source: http://www.securitymanagementinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=24&lang=en
Timestamp: 2013-05-21 15:20:05
Document Index: 331007184

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 5', 'art 4', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 5']

The Security Management Initiative (SMI) aims to serve the international aid community and its national and international staff to operate safely and securely across the insecure environments in which they work. SMI strives to contribute to reducing the human and program costs of agencies operating in these environments, thereby enabling agencies to better fulfill their mission.
Read the SMI brochure SMI functions as a focused human resource centre for risk and security management of NGOs and international agencies working in hostile environments. SMI provides authoritative research, training and advisory services in risk and security management for national and international NGOs and aid agencies.
SMI is based in Geneva, and is part of the New Issues in Security program at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP).
Legal Liability / Duty of Care of non-profit organisations	Late 2011, SMI concluded its research project that looked at the legal framework regarding obligations in terms of duty of care/legal liability of non-profit employers towards their expatriate staff. The research had two tracks. On the one hand, it looked at current practice in the aid sector. On the other, in cooperation with A4ID, it obtained legal reviews from law firms in five countries, the USA, the UK, Sweden, Italy and France.
Results of this research were published in the SMI Policy Paper:
"Can you get sued? Legal liability of international humanitarian aid agencies towards their staff"
It was written by Edward Kemp and Maarten Merkelbach (SMI 2011) in collaboration with lawyers in the five countries mentioned above .
The paper concludes that the non-profit sector – e.g. aid, humanitarian and development -- is subject to the same basic legal ground rules and responsibilities as any other enterprise, be it, for example, corporate for-profit, public or media organisations. Obligations and responsibilities are mandatory by law, not optional. It follows, among other, that risk and security management is not only an operational issue, it is a governance issue. Non-profit organisations such as NGO’s are required to take this into account, including, but not exclusively, in their risk and security management.
Late 2012, SMI issued a follow-up Policy Paper with specific focus on Swiss law and implications of legal liability/duty of care for organisations based in Switzerland. This Policy Paper is issued in three language versions: English, German and French:
"Can You Get Sued in Switzerland? Rights and obligations of companies and organisations regarding the responsibility to protect their travelling and expatriate staff.” PDF
„Können Sie in der Schweiz verklagt werden? Rechte und Pflichten von Schweizer Unternehmen und Organisationen gegenüber ihren Geschäftsreisenden und Expatriates“
« Pouvez-vous être poursuivi en justice en Suisse ? Droits et obligations des entreprises et organisations suisses vis-à-vis de leurs voyageurs et expatriés »
This specific Swiss focus is relevant in view of the hundreds of (non-profit) organisations registered in Switzerland, notably in Geneva because of the UN presence there. It was written by Michel Chavanne, a Swiss labour law expert.
This Swiss-specific Policy Paper draws a number of conclusions and provides policy recommendations which are consistent with the cross-country review issued by SMI in 2011. Also in Switzerland employers must increasingly assume responsibility for their travellers and expatriates. This irrespective of whether it concerns a corporate, public, media, or non-profit organisation. Swiss legislation and case law regulating rights and obligations make little distinction as to the nature or goal of an organisation
'The Price of Anything' - Video clips
An advocacy campaign supporting the safety & security of humanitarian aid workers and human rights defenders.
This campaign proudly supports World Humanitarian Day 2012 Part 5: Aid worker security: What does the future hold? (4.11 min)
What direction may the aid sector’s management of insecurity take? This 5th and last clip in the series is part of a campaign supporting the safety & security of humanitarian aid workers and human rights defenders. (Please note that the black & white intro section (50 seconds) is the same for all clips.) Produced by HumanitarianPolicy in support of World Humanitarian Day 2012.
Part 4: Solutions to insecurity (3.44 min)
Is the aid sector effective in finding solutions to insecurity? This clip is part of a campaign supporting the safety & security of humanitarian aid workers and human rights defenders. Produced by HumanitarianPolicy in support of World Humanitarian Day 2012
Part 3: Principles & Pragmatism (3.11 min)
A campaign supporting the safety &security of humanitarian aid workers and human rights defenders.
Part 3 features interviews with: Marc Houben, Patrick Beaufour, Norman Sheehan. Produced by HumanitarianPolicy in support of World Humanitarian Day 2012.
Part 2: Risk (4.05 min)
Part 2 features interviews with: Marc Houben, Alex Ofori, Patrick Beaufour, Norman Sheehan. Produced by HumanitarianPolicy in support of World Humanitarian Day 2012.
Part 1: Access & Acceptance (4.03 min)
A campaign supporting the safety & security of humanitarian aid workers and human rights defenders.
Part 1 features interviews with: Raffaela Schiavello, Larissa Fast, Michael O'Neill, Pascal Daudin. Produced by HumanitarianPolicy in support of World Humanitarian Day 2012.
'The Price of Anything' campaign
This campaign proudly supports World Humanitarian Day 2012 Violence against aid workers
In the past 3 years more than 800 aid workers were victim of recorded security incidents, and over 300 aid workers were killed.
The campaign addresses the importance of safe and secure access for aid workers and human rights advocates who assist and protect civilians in need. By raising awareness among a broad audience, the project contributes to the need of responsible delivery of assistance and protection. ‘The Price of Anything’ is produced by Humanitarian Policy, with contributions and support from SMI, other non-profit organizations and government donors. The pilot clip below shows an incident reenactment which illustrates some of the issues.
The project is being funded through donations. So far, it has received development funding from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, RedR UK and INSSA. If you would like to contribute in any way, either financially or in some other capacity, please contact us.
Pouvez-vous être poursuivi en justice? Droits et obligations des organisations internationales d’aide humanitaire vis-à-vis de leur personnelWritten on 06 February 2013, 00.00 by adminLa perspective juridique développée dans ce document, à l’instar d’autres initiatives économiques, publiques et associatives, constitue une dimension nécessaire vers la professionnalisation des secteurs internationaux et non marchands de l’aide humanitaire et du plaidoyer.
Ce document démontre que les organisations d’aide internationale (OAI), même si elles sont sans but lucratif, sont soumises au même cadre juridique que toute autre entreprise – qu’elle soit de nature commerciale, publique ou associative – ainsi qu’à un contrôle externe, indépendamment des normes et directives spécifiques au secteur ou d’autorégulation interne.
Il met l’accent sur le fait qu’il est obligatoire pour les OAI de s’occuper du bien-être, de la sûreté et de la sécurité de son personnel; ceci n’est ni volontaire ni facultatif. Les OAI sont obligées de se conformer aux normes juridiques, à la législation et aux dispositions relatives à leur devoir de protection et à leur responsabilité juridique envers leur personnel. Ceci complète et renforce les préoccupations actuelles des OAI axées sur le bien-être, la sûreté et la sécurité de leur personnel, y compris la gestion des risques de sécurité. Ces préoccupations sont cependant envisagées comme étant généralement une question de choix et donc, en fait, bénévoles et sujettes à différentes interprétations.
Traduit de l’anglais ‘Can you get sued? Legal liability of international humanitarian aid organisations towards their staff’ (SMI, 2011).
Can you get sued in Switzerland?Written on 14 November 2012, 10.22 by adminNew SMI Publication 2012
This SMI Policy Paper addresses Swiss law and implications of legal liability/duty of care for organisations based in Switzerland. It was written by Michel Chavanne, a Swiss labour law expert. It is a Swiss-specific follow-up to the earlier five-country review ‘Can you get sued?’ issued in 2011. This Swiss-specific Policy Paper draws a number of conclusions and provides policy recommendations which are consistent with the cross-country review issued by SMI in 2011.
This new Policy Paper was launched in Geneva and Zurich in November 2012, in collaboration with the International SOS Foundation which provided support for this project. It has received interest from several media in Switzerland. The original French version is also available in German and English.
PDF English language version (Excerpt)
PDF French language version (Excerpt)
PDF German language version (Excerpt)
Price of Anything - Video clipsWritten on 17 July 2012, 09.49 by maartenViews of practitioners – These short clips are part of an advocacy campaign supporting the safety & security of humanitarian aid workers and human rights defenders.
Part 5: Aid worker security: What does the future hold? (4.11 min)
ALNAP - The State of the Humanitarian System (2012)
This report was launched by ALNAP in London on 4 July 2012. It presents a system-level mapping and analysis of the performance of international humanitarian assistance. The report looks at a wide range of key issues: growth in financial and human resources; funding; relevance/appropriateness; effectiveness and leadership; recipient state and local partners; efficiency and innovation; coherence and principles. It assembles comprehensive information: on the efforts of some 274’000 humanitarian workers, employed by the UN, the Red Cross/Red Crescent, and some 4,400 NGOs; and on total spending of $US 16bn a year to save lives and livelihoods.
It revisits the definition of what is understood by ‘international humanitarian system’ today. The report defines it as the network of national and international provider agencies, donors and host-government authorities that are functionally connected to each other in the humanitarian endeavour and that share common overarching goals, norms and principles. The system also includes actors that do not have humanitarian assistance as their central mission but play important humanitarian roles, such as military and private-sector entities.
The pilot report on the State of the Humanitarian System (SOHS) was published in 2010 and focused on the years 2007 and 2008. The present report includes descriptive statistics from the following two years, 2009 and 2010, and reviews performance assessments from 2009 to the end of 2011, comparing findings from the two periods.
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Pouvez-vous être poursuivi en justice? Droits et obligations des organisations internationales...ALNAP - The State of the Humanitarian System (2012)Can You Get Sued in Switzerland?Pouvez-vous être poursuivi en justice en Suisse ?Können Sie in der Schweiz verklagt werden ?	Security Management Initiative