Humanitarian Affairs and Practice (HAP) Unit
The Humanitarian Affairs and Practice (HAP) Unit provides the Center with resident expertise on the conduct of international civilian humanitarian operations and access to an extended network of experienced humanitarian practitioners that enables the integration of current humanitarian practice and emerging trends in the international relief community into civil-military training and education programs.
The unit currently has three full-time staff with expertise in international law addressing humanitarian issues, security sector reform, and humanitarian coordination. The ongoing work of the unit can be categorized into four main pillars: Military Exercises and Simulations Support; Academics and Curriculum Development; Humanitarian Community Initiatives; and Operational Support.
Military Exercises and Simulations Support: The HAP unit enhances U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) and upon request other combatant command's civil-military training exercises and workshops by supporting the development and scripting of scenario and training events to ensure the exercise products are realistic from a humanitarian perspective. The unit also coordinates the participation of members of the international humanitarian community - giving the training audience a more realistic training experience.
Academics and Curriculum Development: Members of the unit are often called upon to support academic pursuits of partner organizations, providing lecturers to the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), the University of Hawaii, Hawaii Pacific University, and others upon request.
The HAP unit also manages the Combined Humanitarian Assistance Response Training (CHART), COE's standardized flagship course, which will be re-launched in March 2007. In addition, members of the unit manage and participate in the Center's Training Assistance Program (TAP), which provides tailored curriculum to the requesting training audience.
The HAP unit is responsible for COE's co-sponsorship of the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Civil-Military Coordination (CMCoord) course twice annually in the Asia-Pacific region. Unit staff provide instruction and facilitate the engagement of external lecturers to teach in the Health Emergencies in Large Populations (H.E.L.P.) Course, co-sponsored annually in Hawaii with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Humanitarian Community Initiatives: Working with key civilian partners, the unit seeks to identify new requirements that meet the education and training needs of the international humanitarian community. Examples of this include the unit's facilitation of U.S. Marine support to the World Vision security training program held annually in Hawaii, and initiation of the development of the video "Civil-Military Relations: Working with NGOs", the first in an ongoing series.
The unit has developed the concept for the Center's Practitioner in Residence Program, planned to be launched in the second quarter of FY07. Through this initiative, seasoned practitioners from humanitarian organizations would be asked to spend an extended period of time (up to 12 months) at the Center to teach and train participants in COE-sponsored and -supported courses and events, give public lectures, write one or more critical articles for COE's journal Liaison, and assist in the development of cutting-edge curricula and programs that benefit both civilian and military response communities.
Operational Support: While COE's primary mission is education and training, there are circumstances in which COE may be called upon to act in selected contingencies across the relevant spectrum of military operations involving humanitarian action and civil-military coordination. In this context, the unit's role is one of advisor and/or facilitator.
The HAP unit may be called upon to provide advice to the PACOM senior leadership and/or planning staff, recommend the appropriate interface between civilian and military actors, and provide other relevant guidance as commanders/planners develop their concept of military support to civilian agencies and affected populations.
In addition, HAP unit personnel have been selectively deployed to support partner organizations during the response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami (Dec 2004); the Pakistan Earthquake (Oct 2005) and the Leyte Mudslide in the Philippines (Feb 2006). This greatly enhances staff currency in the most recent issues facing humanitarian action and expands the professional network of the Center.
To learn more about the HAP unit and its personnel, visit www.coe-dmha.org.
To request HAP unit support, please e-mail frontoffice@coe-dmha.org.