The International Committee to Protect Aid Workers

The 1990s have seen a marked rise in security incidents involving aid and development workers. While insecurity has always been a threat to aid workers, the recent trend indicates that aid agencies are being specifically targeted by combatants, bandits and political forces seeking further instability within countries and regions already wracked by war, disease and disaster.

The ICPAW is group of aid workers dedicated to collecting, documenting and analysing data on threats and attacks made against their colleagues, with the intent of defining problems and advocating changes to make aid assistance safer.

The Committee believes that exposing the prevalence of incidents and by encouraging discussion within the community of donors, organisations and governments, realistic solutions can be found to improve the security of aid workers around the world. The ICPAW is an impartial organisation, free from other programming constraints, whose sole concern is with the safety of humanitarian assistance and development workers.

The ICPAW is currently engaged in a research project to define and analyse the basic problems of security in assistance work. A questionnaire has been designed to develop a bank of statistical information on aid and development-related security incidents and track trends in innovative solutions for these problems and is seeking contacts with international, non-governmental and development organisations for distribution of the questionnaire and additional programme planning. The ICPAW is also seeking potential donors to support research, dissemination of data and future projects, including training, conferences and support of a website.

For additional information on ICPAW or to obtain a copy of the questionnaire (specify computer application), please contact:

Jim White
3630 E. La Salle Street
Colorado Springs, CO
80909
USA
Email: ICPAW@pcisys.com