Agency Reports and Open Source Data
Most of our knowledge about humanitarian security hot spots comes from publicly-reported events. This briefing summarizes confidential information from 10 agencies about a range of security events, from those that severely affect staff to those that affect agencies’ ability to deliver aid.
In addition this briefing contrasts hot spots dependingon their source, whether open sources or agency-reported sources. Open sources tend to report events with a high profile impact and from countries where insecurity is a concern. Agency reports reflect where agencies are present, the variety of incidents agencies experience, and the security management and programming approaches they adopt in a particular country.
Neither type of data is representative. A higher number of reported security incidents does not indicate more insecurity, nor does the absence of reported incidents guarantee a low risk. These differences may be due to the quality of reporting practices of country offices, aid agency presence or access to affected populations, or the numbers of aid workers in a country. Nevertheless, reported incidents are a clear indication of security concerns. Both sources are important in better understanding the complex puzzle of humanitarian insecurity.