Interview with Michael O‘Neill, Chair of INSSA

INSSA Insights

Key Takeaways:
0:00 Intro
1:10 Michael talks about how he got into the international development and humanitarian aid sector and specifically the NGO security space
3:49 Michael shares an incident that occurred in his career in international development and how it influenced his path to NGO security
9:30 Michael explains if the way that NGOs practice security management has matured or if it’s still languishing
12:31 Michael talks about what differentiates the security management in the NGO sector from other sectors
15:25 Michael talks about the current state of security management around the world, within the NGO community and how mature it is
18:31 Michael talks about the acceptance of the importance of security risk management in the NGO sector both nonprofits and for-profit
22:51 Michael talks about the importance of having information analysis and analysts and how it will help security risk management mature
26:13 Michael explains if organizations are integrating the security risk management personnel with analysts and implementers in the program designs
28:55 Michael talks about the study they did on acceptance, the core principles of acceptance, and what organizations should do to implement acceptance
31:46 Michael talks more about the acceptance model that they did during their study and the people that they did it with
39:06 Michael talks about World Humanitarian Day and the significance it has on the NGO’s security or humanitarian security
42:55 Michael talks about the current biggest threats to aid workers in terms of security operations and what they should do
47:09 Michael shares his thought on the future threats that might impact the security operations of the security agencies
49:21 Michael talks about the most important lessons that he has learned over the course of his career in NGO security management
54:13 Michael shares some of the resources that he feels are essential for people who are interested in NGO security risk management
56:07 Michael talks about INSSA, what it is and what was the force or the need that led to the formation of INSSA and its initiatives
1:04:42 Michael talks about the future of INSSA and where he is hoping to see it go
1:05:47 Michael talks about where he sees the NGO security sector going as a whole
Books Mentioned:
Operational Security Management in Violent Environments: https://books.google.com/books/about/Operational_Security_Management_in_Viole.html?id=Bb6FAAAACAAJ&source=kp_book_description
Never Split the Difference: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26156469-never-split-the-difference
Player Piano: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9597.Player_Piano
Shows Mentioned:
http://acceptanceresearch.org/
Peace Corp: https://www.peacecorps.gov/
GIZ: https://www.giz.de/en/html/index.html
Save the Children: https://www.savethechildren.net/
OFDA: https://www.usaid.gov/who-we-are/organization/bureaus/bureau-democracy-conflict-and-humanitarian-assistance/office-us
ICRC: https://www.icrc.org/en
GPRA: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/mgmt-gpra/index-gpra
ISO 31,000: https://www.iso.org/iso-31000-risk-management.html
USAID: https://www.usaid.gov/
GISF: https://gisf.ngo/
CRS: https://www.crs.org/
Lockton International: https://www.locktoninternational.com/gb/homepage
Quotes Mentioned:
“Duty of care is an employer's responsibility to put reasonable measures in place for foreseeable risks.”
“Using staff safety as your indicator of success becomes less of a true indicator of effective security risk management as opposed to accessing vulnerable populations in the most complex environments.”
“No matter which approach you take to security risk management, it all requires an understanding of the context and identifying and analyzing key stakeholders.”
“People with good analytical skills need to be valued.”
“Acceptance is as much a programmatic initiative as it is a security risk management initiative, and it works best when it's done together.”
“Be propositional; give somebody a possible solution to the problem.”
“Build on your assets and be propositional on how to carry forward.”
Guests Social Media Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-o-neill-a0b36441/
Website: https://www.oneillparagon.solutions/
Company website: https://inssa.org/