Archives (27th October 2017): Civil Military in Humanitarian Action Training in Colombo of Sri Lanka

01/12/18 02:00

After spending 2 weeks in Europe, time to set off for Sri Lanka. Finally after years of attempts, I managed to secure my place at the course that I always wanted to complete: the course on cooperation between civilian organisations (NGOs, some UN agencies, civil society bodies, etc.) and military (army, police, civil protection agencies, etc.) during humanitarian crises (for example caused by natural disasters, or by conflicts).

NGOs and armies are not natural allies necessarily, yet it is often obligatory for organisations that are as different as they are to coordinate to deliver effective and fair aid to people in distress. Humanitarian organisations’ mandate usually responsibilities them to serve the needs of the victims/most vulnerable regardless of the status of the person in need (political affiliation, gender, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.), whereas armies, more often than not, serve the interest of the governments that fund them. Sometimes the mandates of NGOs and interests of governments may go together, but this is not always the case. The training is meant to help us understand the differences and synergies of the two types of organisations and train us in bringing them in service of those who need their attention.

Really excited and look forward to next week!

In case, you would like to learn more about some basic issues relating to Civil Military Cooperation, the basic materials and resources can be found on this link of UN OCHA website.

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Archives (27th October 2017): Civil Military in Humanitarian Action Training in Colombo of Sri Lanka