Abstract
There has been growing awareness in recent years of the wide-ranging negative impacts that counter-terrorism measures and sanctions impose on humanitarian action. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with the staff of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), this paper examines these impacts on INGOs based in the United Kingdom. This is a context where a particularly complex array of laws, policies, and regulatory regimes have emerged alongside an increasingly hostile political and media setting for INGOs, creating an environment characterised by uncertainty. The paper shows that counter-terrorism measures and sanctions are leading INGOs to adopt more conservative approaches to partnership in areas controlled by proscribed groups, undermining broader commitments to the localisation agenda. The analysis reveals that perceptions of risk within INGOs vary considerably, but that despite this, INGOs have developed strategies to reduce the impacts of counter-terrorism measures, which over time, have led to improved coordination, and in some instances, a willingness to push back against regulations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e12603 |
| Journal | Disasters |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 6 Oct 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Apr 2024 |
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Keywords
- counter-terrorism
- humanitarianism
- non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
- risk management
- sanctions
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Access to Document
- Disasters - 2023 - Nadel - Counter‐terrorism and humanitarian action UK INGO responses since 2015 (1)
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Counter-terrorism and humanitarian action: UK INGO responses since 2015, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12603. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.