THE 2nd ASIA PACIFIC CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS FORUM

Kuala Lumpur, 2nd to 6th October 2017

“Effective Disaster Response – Preserving Humanitarian Space”

The 2nd Asia Pacific Civil-Military Relations Forum took place 2nd to 6th October in Kuala Lumpur, jointly hosted by
ICRC and IFRC APRO. This seminal event was attended by almost 100 participants from 30 countries and
representing 50 organisations, with addressees by both IFRC Under Secretary General Jagan Chapagan and ICRC
Deputy Director General Balthasar Staehelin. Internally, there was strong Movement representation from Asia
Pacific (AP) region, as well as from PNS, Geneva, and IFRC Americas and Africa regions. External participants
included 28 representatives drawn from regional militaries, US PACOM, UN, EU, ASEAN, INGOs, a national
disaster management agency and government donors

As a space for dialogue on Civil-Military Relations (CMR) internally and with partners, the Forum exceeded our
expectations as co-hosts, both in terms of quality and output. The objectives, discussions, summary and
conclusions can be found at www.humanitarianmeeting.com (password: CMRFORUM2017), and a final report
for external participants will follow. In addition to these elements, we felt it was important to highlight a number
of key issues for your consideration, as we look ahead to next steps on this agenda.

Movement Internal Dialogue – Regional CMR Agenda (Day 1 and 5)

The Forum provided a platform for Movement participants to refine the proposed AP Movement CMR
Framework, designed to promote effective disaster response, whilst preserving humanitarian space. A draft 2-
year collaborative action plan in support of this objective – entitled the “CMR Roadmap” - was circulated to all
Regional IFRC, ICRC and NS stakeholders prior to the Forum1 as a basis for discussion.

Key outcomes from Movement participants dialogue included:

• Strong consensus in favour of the Roadmap and proposed Lines of Activity (LoA) covering operational
guidelines, training and outreach. The AP context and dynamics mean CMR needs to be a priority.

• Sustain momentum through “rapid deliverables” during roll-out of the LoAs, including a 1st draft CMR
handbook and a pilot training module for CMR Focal Points by Spring 2018

• Making it relevant for NS through collaborative ownership from senior leadership downwards, leading
to the Regional Conference in Philippines next year and beyond

• Mobilise CMR Champions from within the Movement to take the agenda forward, as well as strategic
external stakeholders to position ourselves with regional platforms, contributing to the CMR dialogue

• Ensure continuous engagement by NS as a primary beneficiary of the output; including systematically

through a CMR Working Group and a CMR Focal Point system

1IFRC Director APRO mail to CCST, CO, and AP NS Secretary Generals “DRAFT Roadmap for Movement Asia Pacific Civ-Mil Relations 2018-
2020” dated 19-09-17
Movement Internal Dialogue – Global CMR Agenda (Day 5)

Beyond the regional discussion, the IFRC and ICRC presence from Geneva, IFRC Regional Office and other offices
from both institutions gave an opportunity for a wider dialogue on the global dimensions of the CMR agenda.
This highlighted potential concerns for Red Pillar space, such as the strong US/OCHA push in both AP and
Americas at regional and country level to operationalise a highly UN-centric model for civil military coordination.
This approach potentially mixes the scope of domestic and international response, as well as conflict and non-
conflict scenarios. In parallel, co-located coordination models are being proposed by the UN and other regional
actors as a standard SOP, expecting the RC/RC to be drawn into these mechanisms.

In the face of such challenges, a joint ICRC/IFRC proposal was developed during our exchanges to support the
global Movement dialogue, enhance our positioning and strengthen the normative framework for CMR. We
believe the environment now necessitates a more proactive global CMR agenda which, in preserving Red Pillar
space, positions the Movement as a reference for the humanitarian community. In developing such an agenda,
National Societies, IFRC and ICRC considered that the space at the RC2 event in November provides an
opportunity to canvass and mobilise support. There would also be benefit in a future Movement Advisory Group
on CMR incorporating ICRC, IFRC and NS “Champions” on the civ-mil agenda, along with a dedicated global
focal point to take work forward.

Dialogue with External Partners (Day 2, 3 and 4)

Forum engagement with external partners focused initially on understanding UN OCHA and ASEAN regional
agendas as key CMR players. Subsequently break-out groups addressed a range of CMR challenges in relation
to disaster preparedness, response and operating in a conflict environment. The importance of this dialogue
cannot be understated in terms of the opportunity to create mutual understanding of our respective mandates,
principles and roles.

A summary of the discussion and conclusions is on the website, but key outcomes which merit particular note
include

• Proactive country level engagement between domestic military, NDMA, and humanitarians, including
opening internal training, preparedness and planning events to external actors, is important to achieve
mutual understanding and more effective disaster response
• A co-organised disaster preparedness exercise, hosted by the military but run from a humanitarian
perspective, would significantly improve our response capacity and potentially influence the wider
regional exercise cycle and format. US PACOM offered to consider this jointly with RC/RC in 2019
• Humanitarian civ-mil coordination architecture requires to be collectively rationalised through
increased dialogue between key CMR actors to increase coherence and predictability in the face of
potentially competing coordination platforms
• Maintaining humanitarian access and avoiding blurring the lines will require finding criteria to ensure
humanitarian principles are respected by militaries engaging in the “whole of government” approach
increasingly adopted by States.
Beyond the Forum – Next Steps

At the national level, the Forum has illustrated a need to be proactive in engaging the military, national disaster
management authorities and external partners on CMR issues in country, including on disaster preparedness and
planning. In some context, these relationships are already well established and the Roadmap process should
serve to reinforce them. But where gaps exist, we would encourage you to discuss a tri-partite CMR approach
with Movement partners in country and reach out on this basis within our respective mandates. In addition to
providing formal CMR training for your focal points, please feel free to approach the ICRC and IFRC regional teams
for further support as necessary.

From a regional perspective, the Forum has been invaluable in taking forward our thinking on future
development of the CMR Roadmap, particularly NS input. The Roadmap remains centred on NS capacity
development to ensure CMR which are fit for purpose, across the spectrum of preparedness and disaster
response, and including the relationship with domestic militaries.

We will continue to solicit your support and engagement to champion this agenda, using the current Roadmap
as a working document to guide our collective effort through to the Regional Conference in 2018 when we can
take stock. The ICRC and IFRC regional teams will work together to provide technical support in delivering a CMR
handbook and pilot training module for Focal Points by Spring. We will shortly reach out to National Societies
for your engagement in formalising the Regional CMR Working Group to guide this process, and for your support
in identifying CMR focal points within your organisations.

At the global level, the Forum has highlighted CMR risks and challenges to Red Pillar space, as well as an
opportunity to re-position ourselves should Movement partners agree on the need to strengthen our global CMR
agenda. The next step is this dialogue will be the RC2 event, and we hope for your active support in profiling
these issues. We will also continue to discuss with Geneva colleagues in respect of a future Movement Advisory
Group on CMR, as well as the need for a global focal point to act as a civ-mil coordinator.

Finally, both internal and external participants underlined the need to institutionalise the Forum process as a
space for dialogue and we will look at modalities for this over time. In the interim, should you require any
further detail on the regional CMR agenda, please contact either Mr Nelson Castano, IFRC APRO Head DCPRR
Unit (nelson.castano@ifrc.org), Mr Paul Keen, ICRC Regional Cooperation Adviser (pkeen@icrc.org) or Mr Ken
Hume, IFRC APRO Civ-Mil Coordinator (ken.hume@ifrc.org).

Yours sincerely,

Xavier Castellanos Boris Michel

Regional Director
Regional Director
for Asia and the Pacific
for Asia Pacific
ICRC
IFRC