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Humanitarian Assistance & Resiliency

CHART Course
TAP Course
UN-CMCoord Course

Increasingly, military forces are called upon to assist civilian humanitarian agencies in providing humanitarian relief to victims of natural or man-made disasters, or provide humanitarian relief in complex emergencies where there is a humanitarian crisis as a result of conflict in a failed or failing state. The mission of the Humanitarian Assistance & Resiliency Unit (HAR Unit) is to provide to military forces through training, information sharing, exercise support and consultations an understanding of how the civilian humanitarian community operates in such humanitarian crises while, concurrently, helping foster a dialogue between the military forces and the humanitarian community. Our goal is that through this training, information sharing and dialogue, military forces will be better able to support international, civilian-led, humanitarian crisis responses under internationally recognized civil-military coordination guidelines, and provide to the victims of such crisis effective, efficient and timely humanitarian relief.

Increasingly, military forces find themselves tasked in providing humanitarian relief to victims of disasters or conflict as part of a larger international response. However, most military training does not include training on the civilian humanitarian community, the Humanitarian Principles they follow, how they plan, coordinate and conduct their operations, and the issues and concerns the humanitarian community has with military forces engaging in humanitarian relief operations. As a result, military personnel often lack the necessary knowledge and understanding to navigate through what appears to be a confusing international humanitarian crisis response.

Through its own courses, and through courses it sponsors, such as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Civil-Military Coordination Course (UN OCHA CMCoord), the HAR Unit provides to military personnel an operational understanding of who are the various civilian humanitarian actors and what are their respective mandates. The HAR Unit also provides to military personnel an understanding of the Humanitarian Principles of Humanity, Neutrality and Impartiality, and how these Principles influence all actions of the Humanitarian Community. Further, through HAR Unit courses and sponsored courses, military personnel will gain the needed knowledge and understanding of how the humanitarian community plans, coordinates and conducts its operations and an operational understanding of internationally recognized guidelines that address coordinating military support to civilian-led humanitarian crisis responses. Finally, the HAR Unit seeks to provide to military personnel the often missing “Why”: Why the humanitarian community acts as it does when working with or near military forces and the valid concerns and issues of the humanitarian community in overlapping areas of operation. With this knowledge, military personnel will be better able to execute their relief missions in support of civilian authorities and agencies, and provide effective, efficient and timely relief to victims of disasters or conflict.

Secondly, the HAR Unit assists US Military Forces by providing realistic humanitarian scenarios in military exercises. The HAR Unit assists by helping develop exercise scenarios that require military forces to address realistic humanitarian issues. The HAR Unit also helps bring civilian humanitarian personnel to role play and share information on their agency’s operations during exercises. Finally, when necessary, HAR Unit staff engages in role-playing of civilian humanitarian actors or act as exercise controllers for the humanitarian component during military exercises.

Further, the HAR Unit provides to US Military Forces and other US Government agencies through consultation and subject matter expertise, information on civilian humanitarian operations. HAR Unit staff and retained subject matter experts help US Military and Government leaders unfamiliar with international humanitarian operations understand the agencies, principles and agreed-upon procedures and guidelines for international humanitarian response operations, especially those involving the use of military assets in support of civilian-led humanitarian responses. Further, HAR Unit staff actively participates in international and regional fora dealing with disaster and humanitarian crisis responses, especially those dealing with the complex issues of civil-military coordination.

Finally, the HAR Unit acts as a liaison between military forces and the civilian humanitarian community in order to foster dialogue. Through education and training, military exercise support and participation in international civil-military fora, the HAR Unit works to introduce military and civilian humanitarian agency personnel to each other so that they may begin a dialogue wherein they may discuss ideas, concerns and issues that affect each other. This dialogue helps break down barriers between the two, thereby allowing each to learn from each other, share experiences and find mutually acceptable solutions to common issues and concerns.

Through its training, information sharing, exercise support and liaising activities, the Humanitarian Assistance and Resiliency Unit works to foster mutual understanding between military and humanitarian personnel, thereby enabling both to work more effectively together for the benefit of victims of humanitarian crises through effective and timely relief operations.

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