Aid Worker Security Report 2012: Host states and their impact on security for humanitarian operations

Long-term historical trends show violence decreasing across the globe. Particularly after the
Cold War, statistics show that all manner of warfare has declined, both between and within
states, as have state-sanctioned torture and human rights abuse.2 In contrast, the number of
attacks against aid workers shows an upward trend. This may be partly a function of the relatively
short time-span since this data has become available (1997-present), but it is also explained by
the willingness of aid agencies and individuals to maintain an operational presence in the small
number of very violent settings.
Data from the Aid Worker Security Database show that in the past several years, major violence
against aid workers is increasingly concentrated in a small number of extremely insecure
countries. In this report we explore why that is the case. We examine these outlier contexts, the
countries where aid worker casualties continue to mount, despite organisations’ best efforts to
strengthen operational security. The analysis measures relationships between aid worker
violence and country-specific conditions: governance indicators, stability measures, conflict
events, corruption levels and other variables. In addition to the statistics, the report draws on
interviews with officials and aid practitioners on the main issues and challenges in those settings
and on other current research in this area.
The perennial caveat applies, of course: correlation does not imply causation. Moreover, simply
identifying broad patterns does not necessarily lend itself to security solutions on the ground,
which must always be carefully contextualised (in the words of UN Security chief, Greg Starr,
‘all security is local’). With that in mind, however, the report seeks to elucidate some
important features in aid recipient countries that may contribute to or detract from the
security of humanitarian operations.