AFGHAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

The client brief was to ensure that the Independent Election Commission (IEC) of Afghan had the capacity to carry out the presidential elections of 2014 as securely as possible.

The planning started in 2012 with Pendry Risk Managements senior consultant being contracted by the United Nations to act as the security lead to the Afghan, IEC. The 18 months assignment involved a security budget in access of $100m, staff members running into several hundred and a presence that was needed in all 34 provinces of the country.

The main threat was from the Taliban who’s aim it was to undermine the elections through violence and intimidation at every opportunity. What followed was top-down,

bottom-up holistic security strategy that enabled the IEC to understand the operational context and mitigate the identified risks.

The presidential election went ahead in April 2014 and although there were some minor incidents, the overall objectives of electing a new president was achieved.

UK GOVERNMENT OWNED ORGANISATION

The client brief was to assess existing policies and procedures to ensure they were fit for purpose.

The UK government owned organisation was transitioning away from a reliance of MoD Police towards an in-house security team. Existing policies and procedures had to be evaluated, gaps established and rewritten to ensure they were fit for purpose. The consultant worked with management in designing the new policies and procedure and then trained the security team on their application.

CONTEXT ANALYSIS SOMALIA

The client brief was to carry out a context analysis of Puntland, the region of Somalia located in the tip of the Horn of Africa, an area synonymous with piracy.

Although the organisation had conducted operations there previously, it had pulled out when the civil war erupted in the 1990s.

The objective was to find out if the area was permissible enough to allow a return and commencement of a large EU funded infrastructure programme.

The methodology used in drafting the report consisted of:

  • Face-to-face interviews with high-ranking politicians, host country security actors, and international organisations.
  • Research on the regions dynamics collected over several weeks of intensive investigation.
    The outcome was that the organisation had sufficient information to make informed decisions that resulted in a return to the area after an absence of 23 years, in order to undertake a €100m European Government funded programme.