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 the fourteenth episode of ICoCA's podcast series we talk to Mike Blythe, Chief Operating Officer at Risk and Strategic Management, Corp (RSM). With a background in the military, Mike has decades of experience helping humanitarian actors with their security needs and recently completed a PhD on the topic. We ask him about his research and what his experience working with humanitarian agencies and NGOs has taught him about how the sector approaches risk, resilience and security. 

Simon Pears, Chair of the International Professional Security Association (IPSA) shares his vision for gathering data on the treatment of private security personnel around the world.

In the twelfth episode we talk to Stella Kagwi, Group HR Coordinator for WS Insight, an ICoCA Member Company with operations across Africa, about why and how human resource management plays such a critical role in the provision of responsible security.  

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 has included setting up one of the largest tin mines in the world, deep in the jungle 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...

Candace Rondeaux, Professor of Practice at the School of Politics and Global Studies and Senior Fellow with the Center on the Future of War, Arizona State University, shares her insights on the rise of Russian mercenaries, including the Wagner group.

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...

Jonathan Drimmer, Partner at Paul Hastings law firm shares his insights on why companies should care about human rights.

Dr. Christopher Kinsey, Reader at Kings College London, describes how the private security sector has changed over the last two decades, how accountability mechanisms have developed during this period and how he sees them developing over the coming decades.

James Sinclair, Executive Director of Ethical Innovations shares his insights on the issue of modern slavery within the private security sector.

A conversation with Emily Munro, Head of Strategic Anticipation at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GSCP).

An interview with Dr Sorcha MacLeod, Associate Professor and Marie Skłodowska Curie Individual Fellow in the Centre for Private Governance (CEPRI) in the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen and an independent human rights expert on the United Nations Working Group on Mercenaries and the UN Intergovernmental Working Group on private military and security companies.

Dr. Jean-Marc Rickli considers whether technology is a force for good or bad, and what mechanisms can be put in place to effectively govern the use of technology across the private security sector.

An interview with Richard Wylde, Director for Government and Defence at Control Risks and Chair of the UK Security in Complex Environments Group (SCEG) on what COVID-19 teaches us about ensuring responsible security that respects human rights.

Jamie Williamson, Executive Director of the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA) shares his perspectives on the future of responsible private security provision.