As attacks against aid workers continue to rise in some of the world’s most unstable environments — 2013 claimed the lives of more humanitarians than ever recorded — international development agencies have gradually been changing the way they work.
In Somalia, al-Shabab’s relentless targeting of aid professionals have caused organizations to increasingly rely on remote programming arrangements as a solution to continue providing relief while getting part of their staff out of harm’s way.
Through the temporary withdrawal or reduction of international and managerial personnel from the field, remote management is an operational approach that aims to ensure the continuation of aid by transferring greater operational responsibilities to national staff, local employees or external partners.