USA Africa Dialogue Series - Aid Worker Security Report 2013

This fourth edition of the Aid Worker Security Report provides the latest verified statistics on global violence against aid workers, and takes an in-depth look at kidnapping, which in 2012 affected more aid workers than any other form of major violent attack. Although kidnapping outcomes are less lethal than other means of violence (over 80 per cent of aid worker kidnap victims survive) the growing prevalence of kidnapping and its unique potential to disrupt operations warrant special consideration. The ordeal of the two Spanish MSF workers, kidnapped in 2011 near the Kenya–Somali border and held hostage for 21 months, illustrates the high human cost the kidnapping threat entails.

Part 1 of this report updates the statistics on attacks against aid workers worldwide. Part 2 examines kidnapping trends more closely, looking at geographic and other patterns, and the ways in which kidnapping poses individual, organisational, and collective threats to humanitarian action. Part 3 discusses the various ways aid organisations approach risk management for kidnapping, including mitigation measures and crisis response, and the difficult issue of ransom payment. The report concludes with a series of recommendations.