On the Front Lines: Travel Insurance for Volunteer and Humanitarian Workers Abroad

As they say every flight: put your own oxygen mask on first. Volunteering to help others abroad is an incredibly meaningful endeavor, but you need to make sure you’re carrying adequate insurance. Domestic health insurance won’t cover travel illnesses, lost baggage, trip interruptions, and emergency evacuation.

Whether you run an NGO or you’re an individual volunteer, travel insurance ensures you can afford medical care, evacuation, and other expenses. Let’s go over what insurance you need for volunteer and humanitarian work abroad.

The Unique Risk Profile of Volunteer Travel

Unpredictable Conditions

It only makes sense that places that benefit the most from volunteer travel have worse living conditions and greater threats.

Remote locations: Many volunteer travel destinations are remote, with spotty Internet and phone signals. Travelers should carry satellite communicators, PLBs, or other recommended devices for safety in case they get into an emergency.

Unstable regions: Some places even have limited Internet access on purpose due to local politics and tensions.

Limited infrastructure: Remote, unstable, or undeveloped areas often lack infrastructure and sanitation services.

Exposure to Disease and Injury

Humanitarian workers work in medical, construction, and crisis zones. These places often have high risks of injury, whether that’s physical, chemical, or biological.

Diseases are also a serious threat to those who travel outside of where they grew up. Localized diseases like malaria can have devastating symptoms and require significant healthcare.

Legal and Political Risks

If you’re entering a conflict zone, you could be subjected to searches, detainment, and political risks. Lack of embassy access is a very real possibility in many places.

Psychosocial Strain

Stress builds up rapidly in high-pressure environments. Seeing people who are suffering up close can be traumatic, and many humanitarian workers do end up with burnout and fatigue. Being in a place where you have limited rights and freedom can also be extremely stressful, since you don’t know if you would be able to access emergency or embassy services if needed.

Standard Travel Insurance vs. Humanitarian Coverage

Standard travel insurance is meant for leisure or business travel. It doesn’t account for the great risks of war zones and evacuation needs. If you want adequate coverage, consider volunteer travel insurance, which suits charity and humanitarian workers abroad.

Where Standard Coverage Falls Short

Most regular travel insurance policies do not cover war zones or civil unrest. They may cover unexpected terrorism threats that lead to trip interruptions or cancellations, but they may refuse to cover regions like Ukraine or Iran that have active war risks or sanctions.

High-risk volunteer activities are rarely covered by standard insurance. You will need volunteer insurance or insurance for humanitarian aid, which may cover expenses that arise from medical aid and traveling in disaster zones.

What Volunteer Insurance Covers

Volunteer travel insurance can cover a wide range of emergency expenses that humanitarian workers may incur while abroad. Here are some of the major expenses that can become very expensive without insurance.

• Emergency evacuation and repatriation in remote or hostile areas
• Medical treatment in non-network countries
• Kidnap, ransom, and political evacuation coverage
• Liability for actions taken in aid work

Key Insurance Features for Humanitarian Missions

24/7 Emergency Assistance with Global Reach

Many travel insurance companies and humanitarian organizations will offer emergency assistance hotlines around the world. Being able to communicate that there is an emergency can greatly improve the crisis response, potentially saving lives.

Search and Rescue Services

SAR services may be considered separate expenses from medical/emergency evacuation insurance. This means that you need to make sure your insurance policy covers search and rescue. The main SAR types include:

• Mountain rescue
• Sea rescue
• Wilderness rescue
• Combat search and rescue

Evacuation for Political Unrest or Natural Disasters

Evacuation for political unrest is a crucial part of travel insurance for humanitarian aid. Emergency evacuations may involve sea or air lifts out of high-risk zones, which could cost over $100,000.

Natural disasters and weather events are another point of consideration. If there is a surprise sandstorm or flood, emergency evacuation can be expensive.

Coverage for Pre-Existing Conditions

If you have any pre-existing conditions, such as diabetes, they may impact your travel insurance coverage. Those traveling for a while may want insurance for pre-existing conditions.

Mental Health & Trauma Counselling Coverage

Trauma is no joke. Going to the front lines can expose you to traumatizing experiences, and not everyone is naturally equipped to deal with them. Many people who provide humanitarian aid in person end up with mental health conditions like PTSD.

Because of this, your chosen insurance policy should cover trauma counselling and mental care expenses. Specialized volunteer insurance is much better than standard insurance in these cases.

Personal Belongings & Equipment Insurance

If you plan on bringing or purchasing any valuables, consider baggage insurance and/or equipment insurance. Baggage insurance is useful for covering any loss or damages to your belongings that occur on common carriers.

Commercial trains and planes might be responsible for your damaged bags, but small jets and local ridehailing services may not offer you any recompense. Any specialized gear and equipment that gets damaged may require an equipment insurance add-on. For example, expensive medical gear you bring for humanitarian aid may not be covered by regular baggage insurance.

What Insurance Do Different Volunteer Organizations Have

Large NGOs

Large NGOs like Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), and Save the Children usually offer special group insurance policies. If you’re joining an NGO, read what insurance benefits and payment protection options they offer.

For example, Doctors Without Borders offers psychosocial care support, life insurance, AD&D insurance, disability coverage, medical evacuations, vaccination reimbursements, and more.

Faith-Based and Grassroots Organizations

Organizations based on faith or grassroot movements often require volunteers to obtain their own insurance coverage or are partnered with insurance companies for better coverage options. Habitat for Humanity and Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. are two examples of these humanitarian communities.

Independent Volunteers and Crowdfunded Missions

If you’re heading to the front lines to help independently just because it’s your calling, you won’t have an organization planning your insurance or healthcare for you. Since you’re going by yourself, you can benefit from highly customizable, individual policies. Tailor the travel insurance coverage to your specific needs.

Crowdfunded missions usually provide large lump sums that you can then use for your humanitarian mission. You would have to be financially responsible and budget for your own medical and evacuation expenses.

Choosing the Right Policy: What to Ask

It’s important to make sure you’re buying the right policy for your situation. Here are some key questions to ask the travel insurance company when buying volunteer travel insurance.

• Is coverage valid in the country of service?
• Does it cover my type of aid work (e.g. construction or healthcare)
• Do you cover both political and environmental emergencies?
• Are dependents or partners included?
• How do I renew or extend insurance coverage while abroad?

Top Insurers and Plan Comparisons

Insurers with strong humanitarian worker policies usually focus on providing travel insurance to humanitarian and social workers. These companies provide specialized insurance policies for aid workers, NGOs, and volunteers.

Let’s go over some of the best volunteer travel insurance companies from around the world.

Humanitarian Life

Humanitarian Life connects you to discounted insurance products to those who are working in the humanitarian sector.

The extra features of Humanitarian Life can be extremely useful, since they can help you negotiate discounts, connect to global and local networks, obtain mental health services, and more. 24/7 support lines also help aid workers who run into issues abroad.

High Risk Voyager

High Risk Voyager provides aid worker travel insurance that covers emergency medical expenses, repatriation, trip cancellations, baggage, piracy, hijackings, and more. The main advantage of this insurer is that they cover destinations where the FCDO advises against travel and risks common in high risk territories.

Since coverage options and premiums can vary widely, it’s a good idea to get multiple quotes from different companies for your destination before you choose one. You can speak with an insurance agent for more assistance. You can also check out our ranked list of the best travel insurance companies.

Best Practices for Volunteers

Work with organizations that explain coverage up front

You don’t want to find out that your coverage is lacking only after you’re in the middle of a warzone and need to be evacuated. Before setting off on your humanitarian work, it’s best to know exactly how well you are covered. Know what medical expenses and trip interruptions are not covered.

Assess risks

Every line of work has its own risks. If you’re going on a humanitarian trip, you may be exposed to unusual risks that most people don’t encounter in their day to day life.

Medical risks: Aid workers exposed to blood and bodily fluids could catch diseases. Pollution and air quality concerns from wildfires can impact those with respiratory conditions. Those with pre-existing medical conditions may find it difficult to obtain certain medications and pain relievers.

Political risks: Detainment, capture by a hostile force, kidnapping, and hostage situations are just a few of the possible political risks.

Death and disability: Every trip comes with potential for death or dismemberment. Not all travel insurance policies come with life insurance or AD&D insurance. Make sure you have the right insurance coverage if you have dependents or beneficiaries.

Carry physical and digital proof of insurance

It’s a good idea to always carry proof of insurance on your person on top of your identification documents. Physical proof, like an insurance card, ensures you can offer it even if you don’t have access to your electronics.

Pre-trip medical screening and vaccinations

Before going on your trip, it’s wise to perform a comprehensive medical exam. That way if there are any issues, you can take the proper treatment and medications before embarking on your volunteer journey. Vaccinations are also important because of the risk of diseases. Many places require or strongly recommend you to have taken a list of vaccines.

Example vaccination requirements for humanitarian workers abroad:

• Hep A, Hep B, and Typhoid for Thailand
• Yellow Fever for Zambia
• MMR and Tdap for South Africa
• Extra vaccines for if you expect to be in contact with bodily fluids/blood

Have a crisis communication plan

Plan ahead what needs to be done in case of each type of major incident. This means that you should know details such as:

• Regional health systems
• Local emergency group contact info
• Evacuation pathways

The Future of Humanitarian Travel Insurance

As technology advances, we can hope for insurance and travel innovations that allow for improved safety for volunteers. Instant evacuation drones and real-time alerting can ensure prompt emergency responses. Telemedicine can make medical care more accessible even if you’re volunteering in a remote region. Policy development and new regulations can help mitigate the risks of geopolitical instability and climate crises.

Conclusion

Volunteers help save lives, but they also need protection. Medical bills, political risks, and evacuation costs can be financially devastating. Don’t overlook your travel and medical insurance policies when signing up to serve on the front lines.

Assess your coverage before departure and work only with reputable organizations that prioritize safety. Review the best travel insurance companies to get started.