Personnel Management in Iraq

This Focus on Operationality Briefing Paper concentrates on lessons learned about the people upon which humanitarian operations in Iraq depend. It is based on ongoing conversations with Iraqi and international staff of a variety of humanitarian agencies currently active in Iraq, and incorporates the often-surprising observations of field staff, programme coordinators and senior managers. The paper examines lessons learned about how organizations have cultivated stable, effective and contented staffs in a difficult programming environment. By examining the experiences of humanitarian organizations that are doing relatively well in Iraq, a number of instructive patterns emerge.