Future security trends: Implications for human rights

In this episode we speak to Rémy Friedmann, Senior Advisor on Business and Human Rights at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs who was ICoCA's first Chair of the Board of Directors and guided the Association through its early years.

In this episode, we welcome Andrew Clapham, professor of international law at the Geneva Graduate Institute, and member of  ICoCA's Advisory Group. Having been involved in the development and drafting of the International Code of Conduct, he will walk us through the context, as well as the process of the negotiations that have preceded the Code's establishment. 

After a career in the Gurkhas and Singapore Police, Ian Gordon founded his own private security company, IDG Security, an ICoCA Certified Member Company with operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Myanmar. So what are the pitfalls in recruiting private security personnel from South Asia, and how does Ian avoid these? We talk to Ian about the powerful role agents play, and how this is leading to third country nationals contracted as private security guards ending up as bonded labourers in many complex environments.

In the 13th episode we talk to Simon Pears, Chair of the International Professional Security Association (IPSA). Simon is implementing a plan that could potentially provide IPSA with key data about the treatment of frontline security personnel around the world. So why is this important, and if successful, how might this data inform policy and practice related to the private security sector and human rights across different jurisdictions? 

Richard Robinson is a Senior Advisor for GardaWorld. His vast experience has seen him working in and across all sectors, corporate, non-profit and government. He was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and spent the last two decades there, which included setting up one of the largest tin mines in the world in a remote region of North Kivu. So what have his experiences working for and contracting private security companies in DRC taught him about the role responsible security can play in settings renowned for corruption and conflict?

Candace Rondeaux, Professor of Practice at the School of Politics and Global Studies and a Senior Fellow with the Center on the Future of War at Arizona State University, shares her insights on the rise of Russian mercenaries, including the Wagner group, in various conflicts around the world. What's driving the increasing prevalence of mercenaries, and what, if anything, can be done to reign in these actors to ensure human rights and International humanitarian laws are respected? 

In the first episode of the second series, we talk to two members of the ICoCA Board of Directors, Jo Anthoine, Director of Risk and Welfare, GardaWorld and Michelle Quinn, Senior Vice President, Patriot Group International. Why did they choose careers in the private security sector? What has their experience been of the challenges and opportunities women face in a male-dominated industry. How and why do private security companies and the communities in which they operate, benefit by bringing more women into the workforce?

We talk to Jonathan Drimmer, a Partner at Paul Hastings law firm and Strategic Advisor with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights to find out why companies should care about human rights and the risks they face if they ignore these risks. Jonathan shares his insights on the challenges organisations face in ensuring human rights compliance throughout their global operations and supply chains. So why is private security so central to this, and what trends should we look out for in the years ahead?