Civil-Military Guidelines & Reference for Complex Emergencies
CIVIL-MILITARY GUIDELINES & REFERENCE
FOR COMPLEX EMERGENCIES' is the first collection of core humanitarian instruments
developed by the United Nations (UN) and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee
(IASC) on civil-military relationship in complex emergencies. Its goal
is to help promote respect for international law, standards and principles
in these situations.
Engaging military support for humanitarian
operations is not a new endeavour. In today's security environment, however,
the military are ever more involved in the 'direct' provision of aid, while
humanitarian actors are often faced with situations where there are no
alternatives but to rely on the military, as a last resort, for safety
and to access populations in need - at the serious risk of compromising
their neutrality, impartiality, and/or independence, and thus their ability
and/or credibility to operate.
Combined with the tides toward 'integration'
and 'whole-of-government' approaches, as well as the increased propensity
of some Governments to deploy mixed civilian-military teams to provide
aid as a 'tool' to address security threats, the situation calls for enhanced
understandings between the military and humanitarian professionals at all
levels.
International law, standards and principles
can assist both actors to properly and legitimately discharge their respective
missions in far-away lands. Adhering to these and de-conflicting each others'
activities can maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of the respective
operations. These tasks are crucial when working in the same area.
Written in a practical, user-friendly
style that brings together the essential guidance materials on the subject
into a single form, the Booklet aims to assist professionals to handle
civilmilitary issues in line with such law, standards and principles, in
a manner that respects and appropriately reflects humanitarian concerns
at the strategic, operational and tactical levels.