program took between 6-8 weeks ; the exact procedure was above my pay-grade . By the end of my time with the program , my employer had pro-actively and successfully worked with the State Department to establish a more streamlined process , however delays still impact the operational tempo .
Vetting female candidates is complicated by the fact that many women have not previously had formal employment , therefore background information and evidence of formal skill sets are limited . On the other hand , women are less prone to have active affiliations with opposition factions that are not in line with U . S . foreign policy regarding cooperation through foreign assistance , even by several degrees of separation . Finally , the politics of Syria ' s neighbors hosting programs involved in Syria has caused tensions regarding for instance , the current Administration ' s policy to assist Kurdish-affiliated groups despite Turkey ' s protests ; and consternation over Iran and Russia ' s roles in the ongoing conflict . Just as the Local Councils with whom an implementing partner works requires real-time , regularly updated information on affiliations applies not just to Known Terrorist Organizations ( KTO ), but involves insights regarding the kaleidoscope of interlinking relationships among other elements of the opposition . Vetting those employed using U . S . Government-funding requires similar caution so as not to jeopardize the safety of U . S . allies in Syria .
As of late 2016 , of the four MER field specialists , only one was female . During the 2016 battle for Aleppo , she was forced to flee with her husband .[ 3 ] She was three months pregnant at the time . As she fled , she had the presence of mind to remove her hard drive from her laptop and leave the computer . She and her husband hid out for several days at his place of work which happened to be one of the last places during the siege that was not over-run . They then managed to make it over the border to the town where our program was headquartered . Her bravery and dedication is humbling . She was fully vetted , but due to host-country work license requirements , we were unable to keep her in our employment . By September 2017 , the MER team had recruited an additional four field specialists , however of the total field team of eight , not one is a woman . This raises the question of ‘ Duty of Care ,’ “ A moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others ” [ 4 ], particularly if women are to be informally involved in field monitoring . Already the inability of a USGfunded program with Syrian staff in the field to be actively involved in their physical protection provides a moral and ethical dilemma given that emergency evacuation of field staff is not an option . Field specialists are on their own . My employer learned over the course of 2017 that the internal politics of our host country were changing , as was the U . S . relationship with the government of our host . This resulted in office raids and detainments and in the case of other NGOs and companies performing work similar to ours , some deportations . There were no such incidents of detainment or deportation of our program staff ; however that is in large part due to precautions taken by my employer , which included training on what to do and say if stopped by security forces ; and the retainment of a host country lawyer and public security advisor . Meanwhile none of these resources are available to MER field specialists .
While the circumstances that led to the [ operational ] loss of the female Aleppo City field specialist were security and politically-driven , not gender-related and it was by chance that the field specialist who needed to flee was a woman , it highlights the question of implementing partners ' responsibility for the safety of their local field staff . We must consider the implications for informally ' employed ' female field specialists . If their ' supervisors ' are male relatives , they most likely will face situations in which they are not able to make their own judgment calls about their safety while implementing MER tools .
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