Spearfish Host online Roundtable Event ‘Risk & Duty of Care under Covid -19’

Our Chairman Lord West opened our first online roundtable event, bringing together a small group of senior directors and well-respected experts from the International development sector to share their concerns, trends and hopes for the future. The event covered the following three discussion points;

DISCUSSION POINT 1

“To what extent has the shift away from deployment of international consultants increased reliance on national / in-country staff or partners? How is your existing duty of care model coping with this?”

Darren Kelly, Spearfish Senior Security Advisor comments: “Due to the logistical challenges to international travel posed by Covid-19, many organisations will likely see an increased reliance on local national consultants. For most international organisations, Duty of Care policy focuses primarily on the deployment of international staff, neglecting the risks to local nationals.  In most situations, we have no reason to assume local consultants are at a lower risk than internationals with regard to typical security threats. Organisations should be using the same model for any person under their Duty of Care.”

Areas of Discussion

Insurance:

• Do we need to readdress insurance policies & cost recovery regarding local nationals?

We often find there’s a gap in coverage for local national staff. Organisations must ensure locals are covered by insurance policies in the same way internationals are, including a comprehensive medical insurance policy and Kidnap & Ransom cover.

Change Management:

Our organisation has existing systems in place to both deploy and remotely manage team, but the balance between how much we rely on these will likely shift. We’re well-placed to manage a move towards increased reliance on local teams, but there are several factors we’ll need to consider, including:

• Reviewing our ‘Do No Harm’ policies – assessing the risks posed by our deployed teams to the local communities, including potential transmission of the virus.
• Change management – handling the shift towards a localised model and determining how our policies and ways of working will be reshaped to suit this.

Practical Challenges:

We should consider the challenges posed by the practical implications of Covid-19  for local staff on the ground, for example, use of public transport.

• Can we still expect local staff to rely on local public transport?
• We must consider the increased risk of viral transmission, as well as widespread disruption to public transport due to lockdown measures.
• How do we re-cost/budget for projects if we can no longer use public transport?

The Information Deficit:

How can we make effective operational decisions without accurate and reliable informational about the live situation on the ground? For example, how safe/reliable/accessible is public transport?

• With local knowledge becoming more valuable, more decisions will now need to be made at the local level. This may be very different from our existing delivery model, requiring a shift in policy and operational systems, as well as a change in resources.
• In order to facilitate this change, our local teams need to be adequately equipped and financed. This may mean changing the way we distribute resources and reassessing the way our budgets are structured.

DISCUSSION POINT 2

“In the absence of an internationally-coordinated response, how will fragmented approaches to the lifting of movement restrictions change our travel security processes? How does it affect our ability to look after national and deployed staff?”

Areas of Discussion

Logistical Challenges:

1. The immediate and long-term impact to local and international travel will create a multitude of logistical challenges for the foreseeable future.

• This is particularly challenging when it comes to quick response teams travelling to remote operational areas. What was a 24-hour journey may now be several days of travelling.
• This will cost us time and money.
• This logistical barrier will force us to consider employing more local national staff and relying less on international deployments.

2. We may also face increased bureaucratic and diplomatic challenges – a US Passport will no longer be a free pass into most countries.

3. This means we’ll need to consider a significant change in business model, shifting towards complete remote management and increased reliance on local teams.

• This may mean a decentralisation of funding, giving more financial power to local teams.

NGOs vs. International Development Sector:

• Many NGOs with humanitarian response experience have faced similar logistical challenges in the past, for example, when needing to reach remote communities in conflict zones.
• More risk-averse International Development Sector organisations will need to adapt to these new challenges and may be able to learn from the NGO model of delivery.

Duty of Care for Subcontractors:

1. Can we forego Duty of Care obligations by employing subcontractors?

• No – we have both legal and moral obligations to provide Duty of Care to all those working for us, whether they are employed staff or subcontracted consultants.

DISCUSSION POINT 3

“What are the implications of these changes on how we look after staff over the longer term; what does effective duty of care look like in this ‘new normal’? How can we structure projects to take advantage of these conditions?”

Areas of Discussion

 Funding Challenges:

1. We can expect the major economic impact of this pandemic to be seen globally. This will inevitably affect the economies of the countries where our organisations are based, where we operate in the field, as well as where we receive our funding.
2. The way we distribute funds within our organisations will need to adapt to our new ways of working.

• The shift towards reliance on national staff means we need to invest more in the capabilities of our local teams.
• We must invest more in resources, training, and capacity building for our local teams.

Challenges of Increased Reliance on Local Nationals:

1. The ability to adapt to this model will depend on the project type and the sector.

• For example, some projects rely on access to local governance. Often the governments we work with want to work exclusively with internationals.

2. HR Requirements

• Organisations will need to ensure their HR departments and management staff have a sound understanding of the unique needs of their local teams.
• They must be adept at managing teams remotely, and doing so with patience, empathy, and cultural sensitivity.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

1. If we shift towards greater reliance on local teams, tighter M&E will be required. This can be very difficult to conduct remotely.

• Measuring the practical and technical outcomes of a project may be easy to do remotely, but monitoring the qualitative output of a project, such as its ethical/cultural/psychological impact on local communities, may not be possible remotely.
• In most organisations, M&E will require more resources and more funding.

Mental Health Support:

1. Organisations must invest in high quality aftercare following the deployment

• This is particularly important for local teams working remotely, without the support of face-to-face management
• It’s difficult to monitor the mental health and stress levels of our staff remotely. More time and resources will need to be dedicated to supporting remote teams to make up for this shortfall.

2. This is an essential element of Duty of Care to our teams and should be built into out DoC policy.

We would like to thank everyone who took par and thought that the calibre of discussion was high and thought-provoking.

Even in this challenging times, when face to face contact is limited, balanced debate and open conversation still dominate.