Health, Safety, & Security: Resources for Monitoring Conditions Abroad

by Les McCabe and Michael Steinberg

As an education abroad professional, you need the most current and accurate information available to make decisions about your programs, faculty, and students. The Internet resources below offer information from various sources to help you make decisions about safety and security. The U.S. Department of State is considered an essential resource by many education abroad professionals, with OSAC and the CDC providing excellent supplemental information. The additional resources listed are also used in some offices.

1. U.S. Government Sources
2. Sources from Governments of Other Countries
3. International Health Agencies
4. Private, Pay-for-Service Companies
   

1. U.S. Government Sources

U.S. State Department
These country-by-country safety and health assessments by the U.S. State Department are updated frequently. Free subscription allows receipt of announcements via e-mail as they are issued.
Three types of announcements are provided. The following wording is from the U.S. State Department Travel Advisories Web site:

• Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department decides, based on all relevant information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. (…)
• Public Announcements are a means to disseminate information about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term and/or trans-national conditions posing significant risks to the security of American travelers. (…) In the past, Public Announcements have been issued to deal with short-term coups, bomb threats to airlines, violence by terrorists and anniversary dates of specific terrorist events.
• Consular Information Sheets are available for every country of the world. (…) If an unstable condition exists in a country that is not severe enough to warrant a Travel Warning, a description of the condition(s) may be included under an optional section entitled "Safety/Security."

Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)
OSAC is a division of the U.S. State Department that fosters the exchange of security information between the government and the private sector operating abroad. The general Web site provides information regarding “recent events” as well as links to current public announcements and consular information. Detailed reports that are country-specific are available to OSAC members, who need a password to conduct a site search. The password can be requested on the Web site at no charge. (Note that only one person at a given institution may register.)

Online Registration with U.S. Embassy
Registration at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate makes the presence and whereabouts of your staff, faculty, and students known in case it is necessary for a consular officer to contact the group/individual in an emergency. During a disaster overseas, U.S. consular officers can assist in evacuations if that becomes necessary. In order to do this, they need to know the whereabouts of your faculty, staff, and/or students. Registration is voluntary and free, but it should be a big part of travel planning and security.

Local U.S. Embassy and/or Consulate
U.S. Embassies and Consulates overseas traditionally use warden systems to transmit important public announcements and travel warnings to U.S. citizens abroad. These messages may have a direct impact on students' safety and security. U.S. students and staff should register with the Embassy. Registration will make their presence and whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact them in an emergency. However, in accordance with the Privacy Act, information on their welfare and whereabouts may not be released without their express authorization. Registration will also include students and staff in the DOS warden system, which is used to keep U.S. citizens advised of what to do in case of an emergency (students and staff will be included only if they give their permission).

Federal Aviation Administration
This FAA site contains up-to-date information about which airports (domestic & foreign) “meet current aviation security requirements.” It also includes an FAQ section that is updated frequently.

Transportation Security Administration
This site contains information on aviation security.

2. Sources from Governments of Other Countries

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Consular Travel Advice
Travel advisories provided by the Australian government.

Foreign Affairs Canada
Travel advisories provided by the Canadian government.

United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Consular Division Travel Advice
Travel advisories provided by the British government.

U.K. M15 Security Service
Provides information on the current major threats to UK security and practical advice to help businesses and organisations to protect against them.

French Foreign Ministry (in French)
Travel advisories provided by the French government.

Swiss Government (in French, German, and Italian)
Travel advisories provided by the Swiss government.

New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Travel information provided by the government of New Zealand.

Italian Government (in Italian)
Travel advisories provided by the Italian government.

Spanish Government (in Spanish)
Travel advisories provided by the Spanish government.

Japanese Government (in English and Japanese)
Travel advisories provided by the Japanese government.

3. International Health Agencies

Centers for Disease Control, CDC Travel Information (CDC)
Provides official U.S. government information about health conditions worldwide, including recommendations for immunizations.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

World Health Organization (WHO)
The United Nations specialized agency for health.

Korean Ministry of Health

Victorian Government Health Information
Blue book: Guidelines for the control of infectious diseases.

Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
Contains information about health alerts.

4. Private, Pay-for-Service Companies

In addition to the governmental resources available to international educators, a number of private, pay-for-service companies exist to assist in monitoring safety conditions abroad. In addition to the services, briefings, and consultation they provide to their clients, some of these companies also offer some information free of charge on their Web sites. Several such companies are:

• Air Security International (ASI)
• IJet Travel Intelligence
• Mayer Nudell
• Stratfor Strategic Forecasting
• Terrorism Research Center

NAFSA's Yellow Pages includes information and links to some of the risk management and consulting firms that have joined the NAFSA Global Partnership Program.