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Guidelines
for InterAction Staff Realtions with Military Forces Engaged in,
or Training for, Peacekeeping and Disaster Response
I. Affirmation of HPPT Relations
with the Military
InterAction Humanitarian Policy
and Practice Committee (HPPC) members affirm that there should be relations
between the Humanitarian Policy and Practice Team (HPPT) and the military
forces identified below, and that such relations should be guided by this
document.
II. Military Forces Covered
Military forces covered by
these guidelines include those of the United States, of NATO and Partnership
Countries, and of states being trained by the United Nations Department
of Peacekeeping Affairs to participate in peacekeeping and humanitarian
missions. In addition, the guidelines apply to contacts with those US
civil and military authorities responsible for training African military
contingents for humanitarian and peacekeeping missions within the context
of the African Crisis Response Initiative.
III. Objectives of Relations
- To improve the effectiveness
of humanitarian response while preserving NGO independence.
- To persuade governments
to accept NGO views on what constitutes appropriate use of military
assets in disaster response.
- To influence government
and military policy and doctrine and to educate the military rank and
file on what use of military assets is appropriate and effective in
humanitarian crises.
- To inform the military
as to:
- The primary role and capabilities of NGOs and international organizations
in humanitarian response.
- The principles governing the behavior of NGOs engaged in disaster
response, including their independence from the military and their needs
based and impartial approach to assisting all affected populations.
- The forms of assistance the military may appropriately be asked by
the humanitarian community to provide to NGOs and the populations they
serve in an emergency.
IV. Scope of Relations
The means to achieving the
above objectives are mutual education and advocacy. While this document
does not attempt to script HPPC member involvement in these processes,
HPPC members representing the InterAction community should emphasize the
precepts of the IFRC/NGO Code of Conduct.
V. Specific Activities
Mutual education and advocacy
initiatives in which InterAction staff and HPPC members representing InterAction
may engage will include:
Presentations and dialogue
at military schools and conferences which advance the objectives defined
above.
Role playing NGOs in military
exercises and simulations of humanitarian and peacekeeping missions.
Participation in the planning
for these exercises and simulations as required to see that the activities
scripted for NGOs are appropriate.
Review for appropriate content
of military guidelines addressing the relations between military forces
and NGOs during peacekeeping and humanitarian missions.
Pre deployment consultations
with military forces about to engage in humanitarian and peacekeeping
missions.
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