Archive:
The NGO-Military Contact Group (NMCG) is a neutral platform, established in 2000, and chaired by the British Red Cross as a neutral convener. The NMCG brings representatives from across the British government, including the Department for International Development (DFID), the…
This document has the aim of assisting humanitarian and military professionals to deal with civil-military issues in a manner that respects and appropriately reflects humanitarian concerns at the strategic, operational and tactical levels — in accordance with international law, standards…
Constraints on humanitarian access continue to inhibit the ability of affected populations to receive adequate assistance in numerous conflict situations. This scoping study (2018) was commissioned to determine the feasibility and potential impact of developing new ‘principles’ of access. It…
In this op-ed, Steve Ryan discusses what NGOs should look for when considering hiring ex-military or ex-police as security advisors.
In different settings, the interaction between humanitarian and military actors ranges from close cooperation to sheer co-existence. Humanitarian-military dialogue at all levels is essential – and the basis for effective humanitarian action on the ground. The UN-CMCoord Field Handbook is…
In armed conflicts across the world, millions of civilians need emergency assistance to survive, but all too often fighting parties prevent this relief from reaching them. The Oxford Guidance on the Law Relating to Humanitarian Relief Operations in Situations of…
This paper by Julia Brooks (2016) presents an overview of key challenges and dilemmas faced in the protection of humanitarian action and aims to provide an initial overview of the legal, policy, and operational trends and issues identified by ATHA…
The toolkit by DCAF and ICRC (2016) has the form of an overall guidance document with references to a selection of the most relevant existing resources and tools. It includes four chapters: 1) Working with host governments, 2) Working with public security forces,…
This policy brief (2016) asserts that the scale and severity of human suffering in current armed conflicts represent a distressing race to the bottom in disregard for the basic rules regulating armed conflict. Civilian deaths and injuries resulting from explosive…
At least sixteen hospitals were bombed in Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen over the past few weeks. Powerful nations carried out the aerial bombing campaigns that damaged infrastructure and killed humanitarian staff and civilians. However, the circumstances are usually disputed. Perhaps it is time the humanitarian community installed black boxes to record such events? This article presents a device that records forensic evidence of what happened where, when and who did it. It is a call to the humanitarian community to take part in generating the evidence that will force states to take their responsibilities in protecting humanitarian work seriously.