Community Development Officer. Ba’qubah sub office May 24, 2004 Recruitment and hire of national staff was very challenging for ACDI/VOCA due to the very real threats to the lives of Iraqi employees and their families if they were known to work for a US- based (or indeed, any “international”) organization. Oftentimes advertisement of positions was through word-of-mouth. All IPs in ICAP experienced staff losses due to violence or to resignation from fear of harm or death. Staff members were sometimes denied entry into key cities like Samarra or Ba’qubah. Many community development staff had frightening experiences in life-threatening situations. For example, some staff got caught in crossfires because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. These experiences adversely affected staff morale and reduced staff productivity. ACDI/VOCA instituted a number of careful and compassionate personnel policies for national staff which contributed greatly towards program success, such as: • Keeping all personnel information extremely confidential; • Allowing national staff to check in at IP offices at their discretion; • Permitting national staff to work out of their homes as much as possible, and providing in-home internet access for them wherever possible; • Holding meetings in places where staff would not be suspected of working for international NGOs; • Continuing to pay salaries to staff who had to “drop out” for a time, while personal threats to them blow over; • Helping threatened staff or murdered staff’s surviving family members to reach safe haven; • Giving extra medical benefits or compassionate leave when a staffer or family member is injured or killed. ACDI/VOCA’s partner, Counterpart International, successfully implemented its activities in Anbar Governorate, arguably one of the most insecure areas of Iraq. Their security protocols allowed them to continue operating even in times of insecurity, and they included: • Using a localized approach and low operational profile; • Employing exclusively Iraqis in its programs throughout the country, utilizing expatriate personnel only for short-term trainings and technical assistance as well as for regular program monitoring and evaluation; • Employing ICAP Anbar staff members from Ramadi, the capital city of Anbar Governorate, with only two staff members originally from Baghdad; • Using an Arabic name, Xx Xxxxxxx (later became Al Matheel), to safely and effectively operate in Anbar, as US-based NGOs are still not accepted in the area; • U...
Community Development Officer. Convening meetings for potential voluntary effort – e.g. a Hoggates Wood & Ash Grove group similar to Birchanger Xxxxx, • assist with integration by opening access to existing community services, • helping to develop new resident led initiatives, • support the formation of a residents association, • help to organise community leisure and social events, • liaison with established neighbouring resident groups.
