1. High Risk Travel Gates Foundation Mary K Koon Sr. Program Manager
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

2. MITIGATION STRATEGIES
Risk Mitigation
RISKS
MITIGATION STRATEGIES
Changing risk environment for aid workers
Increased Co-Chair and foundation visibility
Increased Co-Chair & foundation program visibility
Increased international foundation presence
We are following best practices by instituting training programs for preparing staff who travel - whether to low or to high/very high risk locations.
We invest in and are deepening our security and political analysis to better understand evolving environments and to provide useful information to the program areas.
POI/GOI correspondence analysis
Social media monitoring
Regional Security Advisors
We develop security plans based upon our knowledge of the risk and threats of the locations we work.
We strategically deploy security assets to support travelers to high/very high risk areas.
GST is working with our foundation partners to ensure that when considering grants in high/very high risk areas, security-related issues and risks are considered.
We are strengthening our communications and coordination with our program area partners and outside organizations (UNDSS/UNICEF/WHO, CARE, Save the Children, OSAC, etc.)
Risk Mitigation ≠ Zero Risk
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

3. SECURITY RISKS Changing Threat Environment for Aid Workers
Attacks on aid workers
1997 – Nov
SECURITY RISKS
Changing Threat Environment for Aid Workers
This heat map reflects the increased risk of attack
Countries that are not included on map due to changes in borders and authority during the time period reflected on map.
Previously, aid workers were collateral damage, not principal targets. Since 1997, there have been 1866 reported and verified attacks on Aid Workers.
In 2014, 190 major attacks against aid operations occurred, affecting 329 aid workers in 27 countries. This represents a decrease of roughly 30 per cent from last year’s all-time high. However, numbers of attacks remained higher than in previous years. The 2013 spike in casualties and subsequent decline have related causes. Escalating
conflicts in South Sudan and Syria, as well as ongoing violence in Afghanistan, drove the surge. In all these contexts, attacks declined by over a third in This was
due mainly to reduced or reconfigured operational presence in these countries, with fewer aid workers deployed to field locations deemed insecure.
In 2014, the five contexts with the greatest number of attacks on aid workers were Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Pakistan.
This is the first year Central African Republic appears on this list, due to the civil conflict that broke out in late 2012 and escalated in late 2013 and early 2014.
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

4. SECURITY RISKS Increased foundation global presence Workplace
Risk Levels & Employee Travel
2010 – 2016
Workplace
1 Very High
2 High
Legend
Dots denote foundation travel by number of tickets used
3 Moderate
On the last slide you saw where it was dangerous for aid workers, on this slide, we show overall country risk and where the foundation travels.”
International travel has increased by 258% since 2010 ( tickets used > tickets used).  We may be looking at additional travel to Very High Risk Levels,
South Sudan
Yemen
Somalia
Syria
Risk levels vary and are adjusted, see our home page for current risk status
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

5. SECURITY RISKS VERY HIGH RISK TRAVELERS over time
Increased foundation global presence
2013: : : 123
INCLUDE?
By virtue of the foundation having made decisions concerning our strategies and how we pursue them, we have accepted an increased the risk to our personnel. This includes our increased presence internationally in our offices, with remote and seconded employees, as well as an increasing number of travelers going to areas with higher security challenges.
We have been fortunate in that during the existence of the foundation, no foundation employee has yet to be kidnapped, seriously injured or killed.
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

6. Security Risks Increased Co-Chair & foundation program visibility
The foundation supports causes that can be controversial and this increases both our visibility and security risk.  The photo on the left was taken last fall in front of the Seattle campus.
The Communications team carefully considers the pros and cons of highlighting the activities of the foundation and the co-chairs in particular.  However, we cannot and should not hide.  As an example, the foundation posted a photo of Melinda and Malala Yousafzai taken at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards to Melinda’s Facebook page and her Instagram account on November 11,   In response to the photo, several Facebook users posted violent and/or threatening  comments. Communications removed some of the worst comments and banned users from posting future comments on Melinda’s page. They also hid some comments that were inappropriate, but not violent or threatening. Overall, Communications removed or hid about 10 to 15 comments from Melinda’s Facebook page and banned four users.  The post on Melinda’s Facebook page had about 630 comments. They saw more negative feedback about this post that they typically see on Melinda’s page due to the fact that Malala is a controversial figure, but only a smaller handful of those comments were violent or threatening posts.   I highlight this as an example of the fact that while the foundation actions were deliberate and intentional, the work that we do and our visibility can increase our risk.
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

7. Travel Smart – a 1 hour e-learning
Services Offered as part of our Risk Mitigation
Travel Smart – a 1 hour e-learning
High Risk Travel – 2 day intense class
Gender Based Violence – 4 hour class
LGBTQ – Travel Safety
Country Risk Analysis and ISOS Trip Briefs
Ground support
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

8. Situational Awareness Pre-Trip Planning Road and Vehicle Safety
High Risk Travel Course Overview
Situational Awareness
Pre-Trip Planning
Road and Vehicle Safety
Medical
Weapons and Explosives
Trauma care
Hostage Survival
You will learn how to respond to specific incidents in dangerous locations – traumatic medical events, kidnapping, vehicle accidents, roadblock and ambush and general personal security and awareness. These are all important aspects of travel to high and very high risk locations.
It is hands on, instructor led with demonstrations, student practice and then scenario exercises to demonstrate skills learned
Scenarios involve role playing and are designed to put you into a situations you may encounter
Some scenarios are intense and may be outside of your comfort zone, but are safe and designed to prepare you to respond in a high stress environment
Some of the images of traumatic injuries are very graphic
The skills become progressively more complex during the training
The course will follow a team on a fictitious trip to Nigeria, to illustrate some of the things that you may encounter in any of the very high and high risk locations.
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
© 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

9. Thank you © Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation