Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination Guidance - Ethiopia, March 2019

This guidance was developed by the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in Ethiopia, with the purpose of fostering a principled and coordinated interaction between humanitarian actors and armed actors and police in Ethiopia. The guidance applies to humanitarian responses of members of the HCT and their implementing partners. The guidance is based on the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) global guidelines.

For the humanitarian community, adherence and perceived adherence to the key principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence are critical in the implementation of the humanitarian mandate. Acknowledging the need for humanitarian actors, armed actors and police to operate effectively within the same environment, the guidance aims to strengthen the constructive coordination and preserve humanitarian space, access and principles.

In view of the changing humanitarian context in Ethiopia, and the involvement of Government armed actors and police in humanitarian operations, it is important that the humanitarian community establishes dialogue and relationship with them through Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination (CMCoord) mechanisms to ensure principled humanitarian operations and a clear distinction between different actors. It is with this background in mind that these guidelines have been developed.