Tracking Aid Workers
GPS Tracking Personal SafetyPublished July 30, 2009 at 3:20 pm No CommentsBy Harriette Halepis
Every day, aid workers place themselves in harm’s way in order to help those in need. Sadly, far too many aid workers go missing while attempting to help people. Up until this point, ensuring the safety of an aid worker was largely impossible, but GPS tracking may change all of that.
Equipping an aid worker with a GPS tracking device may help countries track down these workers when they disappear. Since many GPS devices are small, it is possible to attach a tracker to clothing, shoes, or inside of a backpack.
While any abductors are sure to remove wristwatches and other noticeable GPS devices, smaller, undetectable, devices may be the best way to provide aid workers with some safety. While GPS trackers will not stop kidnappers from abducting aid workers, they will help officials find workers that have been snatched.
The abducting of aid workers is quite common in a number of developing countries. Often, citizens and radical groups within a country see foreign involvement as a massive threat to their way of life. This leads to the kidnapping of those foreign aid workers that happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Why do aid workers continue to travel to countries where they are not wanted? Many believe that attempting to help people is the best way to ensure that all humans have access to basic necessities such as medical treatment, clean water, and proper sanitary measures.
To some, it may seem silly that kidnappers would focus upon those aid workers trying to help improve life. To others, kidnapping foreign aid workers makes perfect sense. Regardless, these aid workers are in real danger every time that they step off an airplane onto the soil of a population in need of help.
If GPS trackers can help aid workers from becoming victims, should government be willing to invest in GPS tracking systems? Should governments have any control over private aid groups? If so, should GPS trackers be mandatory for all aid workers traveling to dangerous countries?
From a practical point of view, the search for one aid worker can cost governments a lot of money. Simply attempting to coordinate with other country leaders, looking for a lost person, and bargaining with radical groups is a costly affair. The introduction of GPS tracking systems within the aid-working world may cut down on government costs in addition to saving the lives of those that save others.
