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).