Civil-Military relations from an NGO perspective

Andrea Schneiker

30. Juni 2011, Münster

Humanitarian assistance

• assistance given to people in need in order for them to survive in contexts of natural or human disaster

• minimum: the provision of food, water, shelter, medical supplies and logistics

• maximum: the reconstruction of critical infrastructure (e.g. hospitals, water pipes), mine clearance, the accommodation and rehabilitation of refugees and preventive action

Basic principles

• Humanity

• Neutrality

• Impartiality

• Independence

Development assistance

long-term aid to peoples and countries, with the

main objectives of poverty reduction and

achieving the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs), democratic governance, crisis

prevention and recovery, as well as sustainable

development (UNDP, 2009).

Basic principles

• Development assistance should be carried out

by civilians

• do-no-harm

• local ownership, participation, empowerment

-> long-term assistance, sustainability

• close and trusting cooperation with local

stakeholders, acceptance

Major changes within the aid sector

• humanitarian assistance ‘has become a big

business’ (Smillie and Minear, 2004, p. 8).

• the number of actors delivering aid has grown

• privatization of aid

• NGOs: professionalization, competition,

marketization

Changing context

• aid increasingly is delivered during or after violent conflicts

• NGOs and armed actors operate in the same areas

• the widening of the understanding of security -> human security

• the changing nature of peacekeeping missions -> complex emergencies, integrated mission

• comprehensive approach (vernetzte Sicherheit)

• Security-development nexus

• CIMIC

Humanitarian assistance & CIMIC

• non-binding international guidelines

• for example: Oslo Guidelines (on the use of

military and civil defence assets in disaster

relief)

• military resources/support as „last resort“

Development assistance & CIMIC

1. information exchange: improve understanding

of the situation, (informal) dialogue

2. ad-hoc cooperation: use of military

infrastructure and logistics

3. institutionalised cooperation: joint planning and

implementation, pooling of resources

FriEnt 2011: 8f.

Conflicting principles

Military:

• Security

Development assistance actors:

• local ownership, participation, empowerment -> long-term assistance, sustainability

• close and trusting cooperation with local stakeholders, acceptance

Humanitarian assistance actors:

• Neutrality, impartiality, independence

(In-)Security

• CIMIC blurs the distinction between military actors on the one hand and civil aid actors on the other

-> aid workers may be considered to be legitimate targets

• CIMIC increases insecurity of aid workers

German Agro Action (DWHH)

Military = conflict party

Military = no conflict party

Informal communication

no yes

Coordination yes yes

Security relevant information

no yes

Infrastructure no (yes) yes

Joint implementation

no no

(Germ

an Agro A

ction 2008)

References

FriEnt (2011) Entwicklung in unsicheren Gefilden. Briefing No. 10/2011.

German Agro Action (2008) Zusammenarbeit mit Militärischen Streitkräften. Standpunkt No. 1/2008.

Smillie, I. and L. Minear (2004) The Charity of Nations. Humanitarian Action in a Calculating World. Kumarian Press, Bloomfield.

UNDP (2009) Fast Facts, http://www.undp.org/publications/fast-facts/about-undp-en.pdf (accessed 17 May 2010).