Humanitarian Military Interventions and their impact on Civil Military Relations

1
Humanitarian Military Interventions and their
impact on Civil Military Relations (reiterer_at_un.or
g)
3rd Meeting of the Working Group on Civil
Military Relations Vienna, 6 April 2002
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Outline of Key Points

•  
• The scope of Civil Military Relations
• Humanitarian Assistance versus Military Civic
  Action
• Operational and Systemic Risks for Humanitarian
  Actors
• Criteria for the Use of Military Assets
•   Coordination, Cooperation, and Coexistence
•   Training, Education, and the Impact on
  Operations
• Strenghtening Civil Military Relations

3
Civil-Military Relations and CIMIC
Civilian
Domestic
International
Internal Civil-Military Relations
Traditional Focus of Humanitarian Actors
Domestic
Military
Traditional Focus of Military CIMIC
International Civil- Military Relations or
UN-CMCoord
International
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Humanitarian Assistance versus Military Civic
Action
Humanitarian acts are guided by humanitarian
principles. .assistance is provided based on
need. It is impartial without political
conditions. Humanitarian providers strive to
deliver this help in a neutral manner, without
taking sides in disputes or political positions
on the underlying issues.
Military civic action is conducted based on needs
of the force and the mission (it) is conditional
and may cease when the mission changes, the unit
moves, or if the population becomes
uncooperative.
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Operational and Systemic Risks for Humanitarian
Actors
Within the same emergency different civilian
actors will view the presence of military forces
as either an asset or a liability, and both
positions may be right. the decision to use
military assets in an emergency affects all of
the actorshas political consequences, and will
impact the perceived neutrality and impartiality
of the assistance effort.
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Criteria for Using Military Forces in
Humanitarian Emergencies

• Is the military force capable of the task?
• Can they be committed for the duration?
• Can they deploy without weapons?
• Can they establish neutrality and/or
  impartiality?
• Can they be placed under direction of a civilian
  actor?
• Are they the only or most appropriate option?
• What are the consequences for other humanitarian
  actors?

7
Coordination, Cooperation and Coexistence
Cooperation is one form of Civil-Military
Relations. Coexistence is another. Unfortunately
competition and conflict occur. At a minimum,
the responding military and civilian actors must
coordinate in critical areas in order to enhance
cooperation and coexistence and minimize
competition and conflict. These areas are
security, logistics, communications,
transportation, and information.  
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Training, Education and Impact on Operations
Training and education are the primary means for
sharing the lessons learned about civil military
relations and encouraging adherence to the
humanitarian principles.
Training has proven effective in building
informal networks between the institutions that
strengthen and support coordination mechanisms
and improve understanding and respect among the
actors.
9
Need for Assistance
Military and Civil Defence Assets
International Civilian Relief
Local/National Response
Time
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Principles for positive relationship

• Understand the Other Actors
• Respect Legitimate Limitations
• Pay Special Attention to Geographic and
  Sectoral Boundaries
• Build and Carefully Use Networks
• Take the Initiative in Information Sharing
• Encourage Training and Preparation for Task
  Sharing
• Provide the Tools to Facilitate Joint Planning
• Avoid Public Criticism of Any Actors

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Conclusion
In most cases, military forces are a last resort
for providing relief in humanitarian emergencies.
Over reliance on the military, or their
imprudent use, will severely damage the
humanitarian system and place humanitarian
activities and workers at risk. However, in many
cases, they are the resource of choice for many
nations.   When supporting humanitarian
activities, forces should be under civilian
control. In all international humanitarian
emergencies civilian and military actors are
obligated to coordinate activities that impact
the delivery of assistance to the victims.