Civil-Military Coordination Working Group meeting
30 September 2010
Participants: OCHA, IRC, Oxfam, Save the Children, SPO, UNDP, UNDSS, WFP,
HHRD
1. Civil-military coordination structures for floods response
OCHA provided an overview of current civil-military coordination structures
related to the floods response and debriefed the group on the CMCoord Advisers’
recent visit to Punjab and ongoing efforts to improve operational coordination
between military actors and humanitarian clusters. OCHA CMCoord Advisers
will carry out a similar field visit to Sindh next week.
(Powerpoint presentation attached)
2. Use of armed escorts
Working group members noted that the humanitarian activities have been
hampered in recent weeks in some districts as a result of local authorities’ request
for international staff to utilize armed (civilian police) escorts. The chair of the
Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (IRC) noted that several PHF members had global
policies prohibiting the use of armed escorts, and had therefore been unable to
continue with field activities that required international staff support/presence.
Working group members noted that pressure from authorities to utilize armed
escorts was mainly being experienced in specific districts of KPK (Charsadda,
Nowshera, DI Khan and Tank), Punjab (DG Khan, Rajanpur, RY Khan and
Multan) and Sindh (Jacobabad and Kashmore).
Both NGOs and UN agencies (including UN RC, Head of OCHA, UNDSS/Chief
Security Adviser, etc.) have already carried out meetings at district, divisional and
provincial levels in an effort to find workable solutions that would allow
international staff to move securely but without escorts, ie through the
establishment of more fixed or mobile police checkpoints, increased use of patrols
in high-risk areas, etc. It was agreed that the situation on the ground remains
dynamic and requires further analysis and improved communication with
authorities.
ACTION POINT: OCHA to follow up with PHF and with UN Security
Management Team to gather further analysis on the challenges faced in the field
and monitor the impact of local-level negotiations to refer to Humanitarian
Country Team for action if necessary.
3. Use of military assets
Working group members noted that the use of military assets in Pakistan requires
approval by the HCT (Pakistan Civil-Military Guidelines, p.12). On 5 August and
again on 20 August, the HCT approved the use of Pakistani and foreign military
assets inside Pakistan, judging their use to be in line with agreed civil-military
criteria. On 20 August, the HCT rejected the use of NATO air bridge on the
grounds that the air bridge did not meet agreed civil-military criteria. This
decision was re-stated at subsequent HCTs.
Working Group members noted that some HCT members (including WFP and
UNHCR) had made use of the NATO air bridge in contravention of the agreed
HCT decision.
Working Group members also noted that the decision on the use of military assets
within Pakistan requires review to establish clearer criteria/triggers to limit the
time and scale of the use of such assets.
ACTION POINTS:
- WFP representative confirmed the WFP had used NATO air bridge and agreed
to consult internally with senior management to share CMCoord WG concern that
this requires HCT approval.
- It was agreed that the CMCoord WG should liaise with logistics cluster to
review the use of military assets within Pakistan and determine whether there was
a need for criteria to draw down this activity.
4. Moving forward with CMCoord WG
It was agreed that the CMCoord WG should resume regular meetings to discuss
civil-military relations within the floods response as well as broader policy
frameworks (including follow-up on negotiations with Pakistan Armed Forces on
the Civil-Military Guidelines).
ACTION: OCHA to convene next CMCoord WG meeting in mid-October.