Managing Stress in Humanitarian WorkersGuidelines for Good Practice

The Guidelines for Good Practice are intended to help organizations define their own needs in relation to stress management and develop their own staff care system. The process will be different for each organization. National and international agencies, big and small organizations, will have to find the process and policies that work for them. The eight principles suggested in the Guidelines can be universally applied, but they will be implemented using indicators based on the specific context and culture of the organization. Protocols and policies for stress manage- ment may vary from just one page to a fully worked, com- prehensive document. In all cases, however, the managers of the organizations will need to feel responsible for the implementation. We hope these principles will assist them in this task.