In the first episode of Compounding Crises, the third GISF Podcast series, we speak to Léa Moutard, GISF’s Research Advisor. Since joining GISF in August 2019, Léa has been managing a pioneering new research project on Partnerships and Security Risk Management: from the local partner’s perspective.  

In recent years, limited access and growing risks have meant that more and more international NGOs collaborate with local and national NGOs to implement humanitarian responses. With the travel restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, international NGOs’ reliance on local partners is likely to increase, while renewed attention to the localisation agenda has already been sparked.  

GISF’s upcoming project places the local perspective at the forefront and is one of the first pieces of research to focus entirely on security risks within NGO partnerships. Based on a series of case studies, interviews and questionnaires, the project seeks to raise awareness of the security issues faced by local partners, challenge common understandings of ‘risk transfer’, and encourage greater dialogue on security risk management between partner organisations.  

The first phase of the project, a research paper aimed at exploring the attitudes, experiences and needs of local NGOs in terms of security risk management, will be released in Autumn 2020. In 2021, a good practice guide building on the research findings will be developed to support both local and international NGOs partners in sharing responsibility for security risks.  

To open GISF’s latest podcast series, in this episode, we discuss the state of security risk management within NGO partnerships, in an era of compounding crises.