The relationship between advocacy and security in the humanitarian sector can be complex, with advocacy posing both risks and opportunities for aid worker security. Security staff can play a crucial role in ensuring advocacy efforts enhance security measures, rather than compromise them.
Humanitarian advocacy aims to influence the policies and behaviour of powerful actors for the benefit of crisis-affected people. Organisations can conduct advocacy through a variety of different means, both in public and behind the scenes, tailoring their approaches to the context and their objectives. The effectiveness of advocacy can depend on how well these approaches align with overall strategic goals, and how they are supported by security risk management measures to mitigate potential negative impacts.
Advocacy efforts, particularly in contexts with shrinking civic space, can provoke backlash such as harassment, violence or expulsion, compromise access to affected populations and increase the risk of aid workers and organisations being targeted. To manage these risks, it is advisable to integrate security considerations into advocacy planning through clear internal guidelines. This includes assessing potential risks to staff and operations, using mitigation measures and prioritising private over public advocacy when necessary. Leveraging collective advocacy, engaging senior leadership or external messengers, and monitoring the impact of advocacy efforts can further protect aid workers and operations.
Advocacy can also be used – with support from security staff – to enhance aid worker protection by promoting respect for humanitarian law, building local acceptance, pursuing justice for violations and collaborating with others. For example, security staff can provide evidence, such as anonymised incident data, to highlight areas where aid workers are most at risk, which can then be used to advocate for better protection measures from governments and armed groups.
When dealing with the media more generally, organisations need to exercise caution as poorly worded statements can put staff at risk. Establishing clear guidelines is essential, including designating media contacts and authorised spokespeople, and obtaining approval from individuals with security expertise, such as country leadership, before making public statements. Careful planning of media strategies, especially for crises, is crucial to define objectives, shape messages and set ground rules for effective media engagement.
CARE International (2014) The CARE International advocacy handbook.
Davidson, S. (2013) Managing the Message: Communication and media management in a security crisis. EISF.
Humanitarian Outcomes (2024) Aid worker security report 2024. Balancing advocacy and security in humanitarian action.
Oxfam (2019) Civic space monitoring tool.
Rubenstein, L. and Fairbanks, A. (2018) Evidence based advocacy: How incident information can help. GISF.
Working Group on Protection of Humanitarian Action (2018) Toolkit: Responding to violence against humanitarian action on the policy level.
