Fact Sheet on Complex Environments and Responsible Security Management for Companies

In June 2022, DCAF, the ICRC, and the GCBHR will launch cutting-edge practical guidance for companies on responsible security management: The Security and Human Rights Toolkit.

This week, DCAF, ICRC and the GCBHR are launching the complex environments fact sheet as a ‘sneak preview’ of the revised Toolkit. Ensuring business respect for human rights is particularly challenging in complex operating environments where risks and uncertainty are heightened. Security arrangements add another layer of complexity; engaging with private security providers, public security forces, host governments and communities on security-related issues can be difficult in these contexts, especially in situations where tensions are high and trust is low. 

This week’s fact sheet features examples from mining and infrastructure companies. It discusses concepts such as:

• How are risks of exacerbating conflict or contributing to human rights abuses heightened in complex environments? 
• How can businesses assess the operational context? 
• What good practices can companies implement when there is an increased duty of care and a need for heightened human rights due diligence? 

Read the fact sheet here!

Previous Fact Sheets

• Armed conflict and responsible security management 
• Human rights due diligence

Upcoming Fact Sheets

• Gender
• Human rights defenders
• Artisanal and small-scale mining
• Indigenous peoples 

Security and Human Rights Toolkit 

The new edition of the Toolkit on Addressing Security and Human Rights Challenges in Complex Environments supports and guides companies in how to responsibly organise their security arrangements. The Toolkit helps companies identify and mitigate human rights risks related to operational environments where social tensions or armed conflicts occur and where governance and rule of law are weak.  

The updated version of the Toolkit will feature new case studies, tested good practices, resources, tools and fact sheets that provide concise, practical guidance on a series of key concepts connected to responsible security practices. It launches June 2022. 

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