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Security Awareness Induction Training

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  On August 19, 2003, 22 UN staff, including the Special Representative of the Secretary General, were killed when a suicide truck bomb struck the UN Headquarters based at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad.

  In response to this incident and in recognition of the clear need for urgent security training, IOM Iraq, on behalf of a request from the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), established the Security Awareness Induction Training (S.A.I.T.) Programme in February 2004. S.A.I.T. provides UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations with a comprehensive training package to prepare them for the highly risky and unstable environment in Iraq. The course is mandatory for all UN staff entering Iraq, and since its inception has trained over 3,500 UN and partner organization staff.

  S.A.I.T. equips participants with the basic security knowledge and skills necessary for operating in Iraq. The four-day training course covers a range of subjects including convoy and travel procedures, communications, improvised explosive device (IED), mine and ambush awareness and avoidance, medical evacuation procedures, hostage survival, and hijacking and incident management. The course culminates with a practical field exercise in which the students are put through a number of realistic scenarios that they could encounter while in their humanitarian space.

  

  By preparing UN staff and other aid workers for the threats they will face while operating in Iraq, S.A.I.T. makes it possible for vital humanitarian initiatives to continue to be implemented inside the country, and for humanitarian spaces to maintain the most updated security procedures.