Humanitarian and Peace Operations: NGOs and the Military in the Interagency Process

The workshop on Humanitarian and Peace Operations: The NGO/Interagency Interface was held at the National Defense University on 18-19 April 1996, the seventh in a series that explores advanced command relationships. The workshops are sponsored by the Directorate for Advanced Concepts, Technologies, and Information Strategies (ACTIS), National Defense University. The Nongovernmental Organization (NGO)/Interagency workshop was structured to examine and discuss three areas critical to the NGO/U.S. Government interface during humanitarian and peacekeeping operations: (1) pre-deployment planning, (2) effective coordination in-country, and (3) problems of transition. This report summarizes the workshop's free-flowing discussion. It does not offer solutions to problems with the NGO/Interagency interface independently of ideas expressed by workshop participants. Chapter 2 explores the composition and traits of the NGO community in an effort to place NGO participants' comments in context and to identify underlying causes of the apparent divergence between U.S. Government agencies, the military, and the NGO community. Chapter 3 identifies aspects of the interface that have worked well in the past and that serve as the foundation for future improvements. Chapter 4 focuses on the problems confronting NGOs, U.S. Government agencies, and the military when trying to improve their working relationship. Chapter 5 presents the suggestions generated by the workshop participants to enhance communication between the communities and to create systems to foster better coordination, planning, training, and use of technology. Appendix A: Civil-Military Relations in Complex Humanitarian Emergency Response: Progress and Problems; Appendix B: The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations in Disaster Relief; Appendix C: OFDA Role in Disaster Relief. Report of a workshop on Humanitarian and Peace Operations: The NGO/Interagency Interface held in Washington, DC, on 18-19 Apr 1996. Sponsored by the Directorate for Advanced Concepts, Technologies, and Information Strategies (ACTIS), National Defense University, Washington, DC.