Working Safely in Conflict Zones

Approximately 280 aid workers and 60 journalists are killed in conflict zones each year. For every fatality, many more are injured, detained, harassed, or psychologically traumatised. Working in a conflict zone — whether as a humanitarian worker, journalist, researcher, development worker, or other professional — exposes you to the full range of security threats that civilians face, plus additional risks arising from your visibility, your information, and your perceived affiliation.

This guide provides a comprehensive framework for working safely in conflict environments: from security strategies and organisational protocols to lone worker risks, digital security, staff wellbeing, and the hardest decision — when to leave.

Three Security Strategies

Security professionals distinguish three complementary approaches to managing risk in conflict environments. Most organisations and individuals use a combination of all three, weighted according to context.

Acceptance — reducing risk by building relationships and trust with all parties to the conflict, so that armed actors choose not to harm you because they understand who you are and value your presence.

• Requires extensive, sustained community engagement
• Most effective for long-established humanitarian organisations with genuine local networks
• Depends on perceived neutrality — if you are seen as partial to one side, acceptance collapses
• Cannot be built overnight; must be cultivated before the crisis peaks

Protection — reducing risk through physical and procedural measures that lower your vulnerability.

• Armoured vehicles, physical barriers, secure compounds
• Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for movement, communications, and incidents
• Evacuation plans, safe rooms, and contingency protocols
• More resource-intensive than acceptance; can signal wealth and attract targeting

Deterrence — reducing risk through armed security that makes attacking you costly.

• Least used by civilian humanitarian actors because it undermines perceived neutrality
• Generally only appropriate for private security or government-affiliated agencies
• Can escalate conflict dynamics rather than reduce them

⚠️ Acceptance is not a passive strategy — it requires active, ongoing effort. Letting your community engagement lapse even briefly can erode the relationships that protect you.

Organisational Security Protocols

Any organisation sending staff into conflict zones has a duty of care to those staff. If you work for an organisation, understand and demand the following:

Protocol	What It Should Cover
Security Risk Management Policy	Acceptable risk thresholds, decision authority, staff rights to refuse dangerous assignments
Security SOPs	Movement approval, communications, check-ins, vehicle protocols
Incident Reporting System	Clear, confidential channel to report all incidents including threats, near-misses, and harassment
Emergency Communication Tree	Who to call first, second, and third in an emergency — with 24/7 contact
Evacuation and Hibernation Plans	Pre-agreed criteria and procedures for both
Critical Incident Protocol	Who takes command, what information is gathered, how staff are supported after a serious incident
Staff Support	Access to counselling and psychological support, including after return

If your organisation does not have these protocols, advocate for them. If you are deploying independently, create your own version of each.

Lone Worker Risks

Working alone in a conflict zone dramatically increases your risk. There is no one to notice if you are detained, no one to provide assistance if you are injured, no one to negotiate on your behalf if you are threatened.

Situations that create lone worker risk:

• Freelance journalists working without editorial backup
• Local staff members who are not included in security briefings or evacuation plans
• Researchers or academics operating independently of established organisations
• Staff members who separate from their team during a crisis

Mitigating lone worker risk:

• Establish a daily check-in schedule with a contact (friend, family member, editor, organisation)
• Provide that contact with your daily movement plan
• Pre-agree overdue procedures — what your contact should do if you miss a check-in
• Establish a relationship with a larger organisation in your area (UN, major NGO, embassy) that can be called in case of emergency
• Carry the phone numbers of: ICRC hotline, embassy emergency line, organisation security desk (or equivalent), local trusted contact

Incident Reporting

All security incidents — however minor they appear — should be reported. This includes:

• Any armed actor contact, no matter how routine
• Any threat, whether explicit or implied
• Any checkpoint detention or search
• Any robbery, assault, or attempted robbery
• Any surveillance or suspicious observation of your movements
• Any incident affecting colleagues, partner staff, or community members

Reporting matters because:

• Individual incidents aggregate into patterns that improve organisational risk intelligence
• Your incident may be the second report of a pattern that changes organisational risk assessment for everyone
• Unreported incidents cannot be responded to or compensated
• Incident records become evidence for accountability mechanisms

Use your organisation's reporting system. If none exists, email a written record to your manager with date, time, location, description, and your immediate assessment of whether action is needed.

Digital Security for Conflict Zone Workers

Your phone, laptop, and online accounts can expose you and your contacts to serious harm in conflict environments. Treat digital security as a core operational requirement.

Risk	Mitigation
Phone seizure at checkpoint	Minimise sensitive contacts and messages before travel; use encrypted messaging (Signal)
Location tracking via phone metadata	Use airplane mode when not actively needed; avoid posting location to social media
Contact list exposure	Keep work contacts in a separate, minimal-information format; delete sensitive contacts before high-risk movement
Email interception	Use end-to-end encrypted email (ProtonMail) for sensitive communications
Cloud accounts revealing identity	Log out of cloud services on devices that may be seized; use pseudonyms for sensitive accounts
Laptop data seizure	Full-disk encryption on all devices; strong unique passwords; remote wipe capability
Social media compromising security	Do not post location or movement details in near-real-time; be aware your followers' networks may include hostile actors

If you are detained and your devices may be examined, you have the right to silence. Do not provide passwords under duress. Explain that you will need legal counsel before providing access to devices.

Staff Wellbeing and Stress in Prolonged Deployment

Conflict zone work causes a specific psychological burden that builds over time and can become debilitating without active management:

Cumulative stress arises from ongoing, low-level exposure to stressors — regular checkpoints, constant threat monitoring, restricted movement, moral distress from witnessing suffering. Unlike acute trauma, cumulative stress does not come from a single event but from sustained exposure.

Moral injury arises when you are unable to help in ways you feel you should, when you witness atrocities without power to intervene, or when organisational constraints prevent you from acting according to your values.

Secondary traumatic stress arises from regular exposure to others' trauma — documenting war crimes, interviewing survivors of violence, treating severe injuries.

Signs that stress requires intervention:

• Persistent sleep disruption or nightmares
• Hypervigilance that extends beyond operational necessity
• Emotional numbing or detachment from others
• Increased alcohol or substance use
• Persistent feelings of guilt, shame, or hopelessness
• Inability to concentrate on work

Active wellbeing strategies during deployment:

• Maintain as much routine as the context allows — regular sleep, meals, and exercise
• Maintain contact with supportive people outside the conflict zone
• Take mandatory breaks — do not allow operational pressure to eliminate rest periods
• Debrief regularly with trusted colleagues — talking normalises experience
• Recognise the signs in colleagues and raise them, even if they do not

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing

After a serious incident — armed robbery, detention, witnessing death or atrocity, near-miss with violence — a structured debrief helps prevent long-term psychological harm.

A critical incident debrief:

1. Occurs 24–72 hours after the incident (not immediately, as shock must be allowed to settle)
2. Is conducted by a trained debriefer (organisational psychologist, peer support trained facilitator, or specialised service)
3. Allows all affected individuals to tell their experience in a structured, non-judgmental space
4. Identifies common reactions and normalises them ("it is normal to feel this way after what happened")
5. Provides practical guidance on self-care and monitoring
6. Identifies individuals who may need individual psychological support

If your organisation does not provide formal debriefs after serious incidents, request them. If working independently, seek a session with a mental health professional experienced in trauma.

Working with Local Staff and Partner Safety

International staff often face more formal security protocols than local staff and partner organisations, despite local staff frequently facing equal or greater risks.

Local staff risks that may be overlooked:

• After international staff evacuate, local staff remain — often with little support
• Local staff may face targeting based on perceived association with international organisations
• Community-based threats (family pressure, harassment) may not be visible to international management
• Local staff may have less access to counselling, medical care, and financial support after incidents

Best practice for local staff inclusion:

• Include local staff in all security briefings and training
• Ensure local staff have the same right to refuse dangerous assignments as international staff
• Develop specific security protocols for local staff remaining when internationals evacuate
• Provide equal access to psychological support and incident reporting channels
• Do not assume local staff are safe simply because they are local — they may be specifically targeted for working with your organisation

When to Suspend Operations and Evacuate Staff

The decision to suspend operations is the hardest in conflict zone management — it means abandoning a mission and potentially leaving communities without assistance. But continuing operations when staff safety cannot be assured is not heroism; it is a failure of duty of care.

Indicators that suspension should be seriously considered:

Indicator	Significance
Deliberate attack on your organisation or staff	Your acceptance has been withdrawn; the security strategy has failed
Staff receiving direct, credible threats	Individual targeting is underway
Your armed actor contacts cannot provide assurances	Loss of acceptance is imminent
Movement restrictions are total and indefinite	Operations are no longer possible
Physical security of your premises is breached	Protection measures have failed
Staff are exhibiting acute psychological crisis	Continued deployment is itself a harm

Suspension does not always mean permanent closure. It may be a temporary hibernation while the security situation is reassessed. But the decision should be made on security grounds, not financial or programmatic pressure.

Quick Reference

Situation	Action
New to a deployment location	Get a security briefing; understand SOPs; identify your security focal point
You receive a threat	Report immediately; escalate security posture; consult security officer
A colleague does not check in on time	Follow the overdue procedure immediately; do not wait to see if they turn up
You witness atrocity during work	Prioritise your own safety; document if safely possible; report to ICRC/OHCHR
You feel psychologically overwhelmed	Speak to a colleague, manager, or mental health support; do not suppress it
You are asked to do something you believe is unsafe	You have the right to refuse; raise it with your manager; document the refusal
International staff are evacuating	Ensure local staff have specific, agreed safety plans before departure
Considering whether to suspend operations	Use the indicators above; never make this decision under operational pressure alone