Regional Consultative Group (RCG) on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination for Asia and the Pacific: Second Session Summary Report

BACKGROUND

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 that brings together the humanitarian, civilian and military actors involved in disaster response preparedness planning and disaster response in the region. As outlined in the RCG Terms of Reference, the RCG was formed to: a) discuss response preparedness planning, with a focus on coordination of operational planning between civilian and military actors; b) facilitate exchange of information and innovative ideas to enable well-coordinated and needs-based effective disaster response to a broad range of humanitarian emergency operations; c) strengthen linkages with other relevant platforms with an emphasis on the relationship with Regional Organizations and the Global Consultative Group on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination.

The First Session of the Regional Consultative Group (RCG) on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination for Asia and the Pacific took place on 3-4 December 2015 at the United Nations Building, Bangkok, Thailand. The event resulted in a number of outcomes, including:

• Response preparedness planning: the key focus of the RCG First Session was for members to develop country level work plans aimed at enhancing the coordination of operational planning between civilian and military actors in priority countries (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar and the Philippines);
• Predictability of civil-military coordination in response: RCG members defined approaches that can enhance the predictability of civil-military coordination mechanisms by examining lessons learned from recent responses and the extent these lessons were applied in subsequent operations;
• Use, allocation and tracking of foreign military assets (FMA): RCG members agreed on the need to develop predetermined agreements with specific government/militaries on FMA that can be immediately mobilized. They also explored what interoperable system could track the use and allocation of military assistance. Similarly, they agreed that exit strategies in the use of FMA need to be streamlined and communicated as soon as possible into the operation.
• UN-CMCoord Global Consultative Group: an important focus of the RCG First Session was placed on strengthening the link between the RCG and the UN-CMCoord Global Consultative Group, so as to allow information sharing and cross-fertilization between the two platforms.

RCG SECOND SESSION OBJECTIVES

The Second Session of the Regional Consultative Group (RCG) took place on 11-12 October 2016 at the United Nations Building, Rajadamnern Avenue, Bangkok, Thailand. The event continued to build on the outcomes of the RCG First Session and addressed additional key issues that are central to advancing the civil-military coordination agenda in Asia and the Pacific:

• Update on the work plans that were agreed during the RCG First Session to strengthen the coordination of operational planning between civilian and military actors in each of the RCG priority countries (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar and the Philippines);
• Overview of the outcomes of the Annual Meeting of the UNCMCoord Global Consultative Group (Geneva, February 2016) as well as the results of the UN-CMCoord side event at the World Humanitarian Summit (Istanbul, May 2016);
• Outline of new UN-CMCoord projects such as the development of Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination Standards and their relevance for the Asia-Pacific region;
• Overview of regional hazards and trends that can affect disaster response operations and pose a threat to disaster responders and outline of security management and what would be the essential elements of security information that would be needed for the humanitarian response community.
• Establishment of the RCG working group for the Pacific;
• Follow-up to the RCG First Session recommendation to establish an RCG Logistics Working Group (LWG). The LWG purpose is to enhance the predictability and appropriate use of foreign military logistics assets to further augment known humanitarian logistical capabilities.
• Follow-up to the RCG First Session recommendation to develop a dedicated publication that would outline the civil-military coordination mechanisms and platforms in each of the five priority countries.

The Second Session of the RCG gathered a total of 96 participants from more than 25 countries including humanitarian personnel, disaster management officials and military actors from Member States and regional organizations throughout the Asia-Pacific region.