RCG First Session (2015)
The First Session of the Regional Consultative Group (RCG) took place on 3-4 December 2015 at the United Nations Building, Rajadamnern Avenue, Bangkok, Thailand. The objectives of the First Session of the RCG were the following:
- To discuss response preparedness planning: the key focus of the RCG First Session was for participants to form working groups that will collaborate throughout 2016 in the coordination of operational planning between civilian and military actors preparing to respond to major disasters in the region (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal and Philippines). Aspects that will be taken into consideration shall include: coordination of logistic planning processes aimed at harmonizing logistic efforts; revision/update of information-sharing platforms to facilitate civil-military coordination in the preparedness and response phase of large-scale natural disasters; agreement on structures for civil-military coordination mechanisms to be activated during disaster response operations;
- To establish linkages between the work of the RCG and other relevant frameworks, with an emphasis on strengthening the engagement of Regional Organizations with the Regional and Global Consultative Groups on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination;
- To identify, address, and, where required, review and update policy issues and publications in the field of response preparedness and Civil-Military Coordination.
The First Session of the RCG gathered a total of 70 participants to have a manageable working group discussions and concrete outcomes. Representatives had the appropriate decision-making authority to bring forward and contribute to the implementation of the agreed outcomes.
The First Session of the RCG brought together humanitarian personnel, disaster management officials and military actors from Member States and regional organizations throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Background
Building upon the outcomes of the Asia-Pacific series of Conferences on Military Assistance to Disaster Relief Operations (APC-MADRO), the ASEAN-U.S. Informal Defence Forum, held in Hawaii in April 2014, highlighted the need for greater engagement and enhanced coordination between civilian and military personnel engaged in disaster management in the Asia-Pacific region. OCHA’s Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ms. Kyungwha Kang, proposed to organize a civil-military coordination workshop on disaster preparedness and coordinated operational planning in response to this call.
Ms. Kang’s proposal was met with broad agreement and OCHA’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) hosted a regional Civil-Military Coordination Workshop on 16-17 October 2014, in Bangkok, Thailand. The event gathered 72 participants from 20 countries. They represented key actors that possess a comparative advantage in the rapid mobilization of relief assistance and logistical capacity required to increase the effectiveness of response efforts, particularly in large-scale natural disasters: national authorities, armed forces, representatives from the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA CENTRE), the NGO community, IFRC, the UN and donors. In addition to clear acknowledgement by participants of the need for better coordinated planning and agreement on how this could be achieved in critical areas of disaster response, a key outcome of the workshop was the recommendation to create a multi-stakeholder Regional Consultative Group (RCG) on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination for Asia and the Pacific to take this planning forward at a practical level.
In April 2015, a Global Forum on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination in support of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) was held in Singapore to discuss how civil-military coordination can contribute to an innovative and forward-looking agenda for humanitarian action. On that occasion, the Introductory Session of the Regional Consultative Group (RCG) on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination for Asia and the Pacific was organized. The main objective was to present the draft Terms of Reference (ToR) for the RCG and reach agreement on some key issues.