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Toolkit for principled humanitarian action
1. Introduction to the toolkit
This toolkit is designed to help you identify counterterrorism-related risks so that your organisation can manage and mitigate these. It aims to make risk management approaches accessible to a broad range of staff who can use these in their day to day work. Before you get started, we recommend you read Introduction to the toolkit.
- Develop your understanding of counterterrorism measures and how they can impact principled humanitarian action
- Identify potentially problematic wording related to counterterrorism that appears in grant agreements
- Engage with donors to discuss counterterrorism clauses, and develop an internal process for decision making on whether and how to proceed with funding opportunities that pose risks related to counterterrorism measures.
- Increase your understanding of practical aspects of risk management and steps your organisation can take to strengthen its policies and practices, while maintaining a principled approach.
- Enable your organisation to mainstream consideration of counterterrorism related risks throughout the project management cycle.
- Staff responsible for partnerships with donors
- Staff involved in programme planning and implementation
- Staff with risk management responsibilities, including those focused on security, humanitarian access, and legal advice
- Policy staff
- Support staff
- Decision-makers
Acknowledgements
This toolkit was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The toolkit benefits from the contributions of staff from various international non-governmental organisations and other international organisations, United Nations agencies, and donor governments. The Norwegian Refugee Council would like to thank those who contributed their time and expertise to this work.
The Norwegian Refugee Council is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee.
For further information, please contact [email protected]
Disclaimer
The contents of this document should not be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union or the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The document does not necessarily reflect the position or views of the Norwegian Refugee Council. The document should not be regarded in any way as the provision of legal advice by the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Introduction to the toolkit
The four principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence are the foundations of humanitarian action. Organisations are guided by them in their work to ensure that those most in need receive assistance and protection. They are fundamental to humanitarian organisations’ work and enable them to gain and maintain the acceptance of communities and parties to conflicts, which helps to facilitate access and ensure the safety of staff and project participants.
National and international counterterrorism measures have become increasingly common since 2001, and sanctions have been imposed ever more frequently in recent years. Humanitarian organisations are concerned about the impact of these measures on their ability to operate in line with the humanitarian principles and international law, including international humanitarian law (IHL).
Humanitarian organisations themselves are not usually the target of these measures, but they can still pose risks for principled humanitarian action. They create challenges at all stages of the project cycle and may impede access, operational efficiency and the safety and security of staff and beneficiaries. The risk aversion of some donor countries further complicates the challenges.
Private entities that provide services necessary for humanitarian action, such as financial institutions, tech companies, insurers, freight companies and commodity providers, must also comply with sanctions and counterterrorism measures. To minimise the risk of liability, many have significantly restricted the services they are willing to offer to humanitarian organisations, particularly for operations in countries they perceive as high risk. These practices, also known as derisking, often have a significant impact on humanitarian organisations’ capacity to operate in many cases.
The impact of sanctions and counterterrorism measures on principled humanitarian action has been extensively documented, and important progress has been made in recent years to address some of the challenges involved. There have been significant changes to policy and legislation designed to protect principled humanitarian action, but the situation is constantly evolving as new tensions arise.
What are the toolkit’s objectives?
This toolkit is intended to raise awareness of the risks that sanctions and counterterrorism measures pose so that humanitarian organisations can identify and mitigate them, and to make risk management approaches and tools accessible to a broad range of staff for use in their day-to-day work.
It is designed for use by a wide variety of staff from headquarters to the field, ranging from those responsible for programme implementation or partnerships with donors, to those with operational, risk management or advocacy and policy responsibilities.
It has four objectives:
- To contribute to a granular understanding of what sanctions and counterterrorism measures are, how they can affect principled humanitarian action and the measures in place to protect such action
- To highlight risks related to sanctions and counterterrorism measures that humanitarian organisations may need to manage, and to clarify some common misconceptions about them
- To provide practices and tools to help humanitarian organisations manage risks related to sanctions and counterterrorism measures.
- To encourage organisations to mainstream consideration of sanctions and counterterrorism-related risks throughout the project management cycle while avoiding overcompliance
This is the third edition of the toolkit, which was originally published in 2015. It updates the 2020 edition and expands its coverage to include risks related to sanctions in addition to counterterrorism measures, reflecting changes and shifts in the policy landscape. It offers more details and nuance than previous iterations, building on greater knowledge across the sector. It summarises the situation as of August 2024.
The toolkit is not exhaustive or prescriptive, and it is not intended to provide specific legal guidance. It is therefore recommended that humanitarian organisations seek their own legal advice on sanctions and counterterrorism issues. The toolkit also does not aim to provide details of evidence on the impact of sanctions and counterterrorism measures on principled humanitarian action or people in need. It does not take a position on the legitimacy or effectiveness of such measures, beyond the need for adequate safeguards to ensure that principled humanitarian assistance reaches those in most need.
Methodology and approach
engagement with representatives of governments, the private and financial sectors, national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and UN agencies. Information has been gathered via interviews, training sessions, workshops and roundtables in countries including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, Senegal and Somalia, and this has been complemented with desk research. A steering committee of Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) staff has also provided guidance and comments.
Information that is not publicly available has been anonymised.
The tension between sanctions, counterterrorism measures and principled humanitarian action
Humanitarian organisations are committed to ensuring that assistance based on need alone reaches its intended beneficiaries, but sanctions and counterterrorism measures can impede their capacity to operate in accordance with the humanitarian principles.
Tensions may arise between sanctions, counterterrorism measures and respect for international law. They result from concerns about the humanitarian impact of sanctions and counterterrorism measures, including their potential to restrict access to essential goods and services for civilians. The measures also have the potential to exclude certain beneficiaries and people in need, in contradiction of the humanitarian principles and the principle of non-discrimination, which is clearly protected under international law, including IHL.
Humanitarian organisations have well-developed policies and procedures that cover security, human resources, finance and administration to ensure that assistance reaches its intended beneficiaries. They have increasingly invested significant funds and resources in professional risk management and compliance mechanisms to ensure that robust controls are in place.
Despite these efforts, it is impossible to eliminate all risks in the complex environments in which humanitarians work. This toolkit focuses on helping organisations identify, manage and address risks related to sanctions and counterterrorism measures while recognising that residual risks will remain. Once mitigation measures are in place, organisations can assess whether the residual risks are outweighed by the expected humanitarian outcomes of a proposed activity.
