Civil Military Relationship in Complex Emergencies

This paper has thus been prepared, following the request of the Working Group of
the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)5, with the overall goal of enhancing the
understanding of civil-military relations, including the difficulties and limitations of such
relations. While numerous complicated questions arise out of this relationship, what
remains vital for the humanitarian community is to develop a clear awareness of the nature
of this relation, as well as a common understanding on when and how as well as how not to
coordinate with the military in fulfilling humanitarian objectives.

The purpose of this paper is three-fold. First, it attempts to highlight, in a generic
manner, the nature and character of civil-military relations in complex emergencies.
Secondly, it reviews some fundamental humanitarian principles and concepts that must be
upheld when coordinating with the military. Thirdly, attention is given to practical key
considerations for humanitarian workers engaged in civil-military coordination.
 

The paper will serve as a general reference for humanitarian practitioners: a tool to
which they can refer when formulating operational guidelines that are tailored specifically
for civil-military relations in a particular complex emergency, such as the ones developed
for Iraq and Liberia during 20036. Any situation-specific set of guidelines requires
sensitivity to the special circumstances of the particular operation and hence has to be
developed on a case-by-case basis.