Regional Consultative Group (RCG) on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination for Asia and the Pacific: Eighth Session Briefing Book

RCG 8th Session Concept Note

Regional Consultative Group (RCG) on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination for Asia and the Pacific – 8th Session Concept Note

Building upon the outcomes of the Asia-Pacific Conferences and related guidelines, a multi-stakeholder Regional Consultative Group (RCG) on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination for Asia and the Pacific was formed in 2014 to act as a regional forum to bring together the humanitarian actors, local organizations, government officials, and military actors involved in disaster response and disaster preparedness in the region. Since then, the RCG has held seven annual sessions, bringing together key stakeholders in the region to share lessons learned and best practices, discuss disaster preparedness and response, operational Humanitarian Civil-Military coordination planning and identify and address emerging policy and thematic issues.

Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has directly affected the continuity of activities of the RCG as well as of other regional Humanitarian Civil-Military coordination efforts, including halting or changing the ways in which joint military exercises, capacity-building and networking activities have been applied. Despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the RCG continued to meet, with the first ever virtual annual session held in December 2020. This abbreviated 6th session of the RCG explored the need to adjust to new operating realities and issues brought about by pandemics. The RCG drew on the expertise of military officials, academics, regional organizations and UN entities to discuss challenges from the Humanitarian Civil-Military perspective in the provision of humanitarian assistance in the context of COVID-19. The abbreviated virtual RCG 7th session in December 2021, followed by the breakout session of the RCG Information-Sharing Working Group (ISWG) in March 2022, continued to focus on emerging aspects and trends related to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the heightened relevance of localized responses and what the localization agenda means for Humanitarian Civil-Military coordination.

As the world is increasingly coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in 2022, the RCG is also able to again hold an in-person annual session. Informed by the RCG midterm consultation, which was held virtually in July 2022, as well as the outcomes of the Global Consultative Group on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination held in Geneva, Switzerland earlier RCG 8th Session Concept Note this year, the RCG 8th annual session will focus on disaster triggers and issues that increasingly drive humanitarian needs in the Asia Pacific region.

Climate related disaster events are more frequent and variable. Monsoon rains, tropical cyclones, floods, earthquakes and landslides as well as other climate-related disasters presents an immediate existential threat to the lives and livelihoods of many. At the same time, the climate emergency is a threat multiplier fueling food insecurity and poverty, displacement and conflict.
In this context, humanitarian action and disaster response must adapt. The sessions on “Climate change, Adaptation and Humanitarian Civil-Military-Police Coordination: Lessons from Countries and Organisations in the Region” seeks to share good practices and experiences from RCG member countries and organisations on climate change and climate security and the military, climate adaptation in national disaster preparedness plans and anticipatory action.

Over the past years, the operational linkages between Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination, protection and access have become increasingly apparent. When disaster strikes, people are often in need of protection from violence, coercion, exploitation and deliberate deprivation and protection risks affect people differently. Similarly, humanitarian access, which refers to humanitarian actors’ ability to reach populations in need and affected populations’ access to assistance and services, is often and for various reasons constrained in the context of natural disasters. For humanitarian organizations, protection is about advocating for and supporting actions that aim to reduce and prevent people’s exposure to risks and to ensure respect for the rights of individuals by those responsible, in accordance with international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Principals’ statement on the Centrality of Protection (2013) emphasize that actors engaged in humanitarian response must engage collectively to achieve meaningful protection outcomes that reduce overall risks to affected populations. Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination may support protection and access outcomes in disaster response by facilitating effective and appropriate coordination with protection actors as well as by supporting engagement with relevant actors on humanitarian access issues.
The session on “Protection in Emergencies: Mainstreaming protection to maximise the protective impact of humanitarian assistance and mitigate risks” aims to explore the importance of protection to promote meaningful access, safety and dignity in humanitarian aid and highlight how it relates to humanitarian civil-military-police coordination. The session “Negotiations and Humanitarian Access in Natural Disasters” seeks to share some reflections on approaches to Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination for reaching people-in-need during disaster response.

The 8th annual session of the RCG will also continue to provide a platform for the exchange of information and ideas in order to enable well-coordinated, quality and needs-based efficient and effective disaster response to a broad range of humanitarian emergency operations. Presentations from RCG member countries and regional organizations, as well as panel discussions will contribute to share good practices and experiences on effective coordination and information-sharing mechanisms and practices.

As we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic and as the RCG reaches is ninth year of existence, it is also time to take stock of the progress made towards the intended deliverables and the impact of the RCG on the Humanitarian Civil-Military landscape in the region. The perspectives and reflections of RCG members were sought through a survey carried out in November 2022 and the findings of the survey will be presented to trigger a wider discussion on key priorities for the RCG in the next five years.