Prioritizing humanitarian assistance in a complex emergency: A decision method for military forces

Low Intensity Conflict and Law Enforcement

Volumn 12, Issue 3, 2004, Pages 99-121

  Rietjens, Sebastiaan J H ^a   De Boer, Sirp J ^a   Voordijk, Hans T ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CRISIS MANAGEMENT; HUMANITARIAN AID; MILITARY APPLICATION; MODEL;

EID: 27744527337     PISSN: 09662847     EISSN: 17440556     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/0966284500072573     Document Type: Review

References (44)

1. Andrew S. Natsios, 'Commander's Guidance: A Challenge of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies', Parameters, No. 2 (1996), 50-66.
2. The 'military' is not a single, homogeneous body. Navies, air forces, armies and marines all have their own traditions and ethical standards, not to mention the differences between the armed forces of different states.
3. Note that several humanitarian organizations believe that the word 'humanitarian' can solely be used to a neutral and impartial delivery of assistance and therefore strict humanitarian tasks cannot be provided by military forces.
4. NATO, NATO Civil-Military Cooperation (cimic) Doctrine, AJP-9, 2001.
5. Hugo Slim, 'The Stretcher and the Drum: Civil-Military Relations in Peace Support Operations', International Peacekeeping, Vol. 3, No. 2 (1996), 123-40.
6. A.B. Siegel, 'Mission Creep: An Autopsy of a Hopefully Dying Term', Low Intensity Conflict & Law Enforcement, Vol. 8, No. 1 (1999), 119-38.
7. R.L. Keeney and H. Raffia, Decisions with Multiple Objectives: Preferences and Trade-offs (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1976);
8. Jasmin Enayati, 'The Research: Effective Communication and Decision Making in Groups', in Minu Hemmati, et al., Multi-Stakeholder Processes for Governance and Sustainability - Beyond Deadlock and Conflict (London: Earthscan, 2001),
9. (http://www.earthsummit2002.org/msp/chap5.htm), (25 September 2003).
10. W.P. Van de Brink, 'Beslissingsmodellen', in P. Koele and J. van der Pligt (eds), Beslissen en beoordelen (Amsterda Boom, 1993). In Dutch.
11. Vredesoperaties (Den Haag: Koninklijke Nederlandse Landmacht, 1999).
12. Keeney and Raffia.
13. R. Damen and M.S.F. Olislagers, Development of a Decision Framework for the Dutch Military to Inventory and Prioritize Humanitarian Tasks in a Complex Emergency (Enschede: University of Twente, 2004).
14. The ARRC system is used by NATO to make a rapid assessment of the situation in a complex emergency in four areas, i.e. infrastructure, life support, humanitarian support and civil administration. The reporting is done using colors: green is used for a positive effect, yellow for neutral effect, red for negative effect and white for unknown effect. Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) Civic Reporting and Tracking System, NATO Unclassified, 2003.
15. John Rollins, Operational Models for Civil-Military Cooperation: Possibilities and Limitations (London: Overseas Development Institute, 2001).
16. Contrary to the needs-driven approach, a supply-driven approach could be applied. In such an approach, aid is delivered based on available capacity, rather than based on inventoried needs.
17. S.J. Kirkby, P. O'Keefe, G. Frerks, T. Kliest and I. Convery, 'A Disaster Continuum?', Disasters. The Journal of Disaster Studies and Management, Vol. 19, No. 4 (1996), 362- 367.
18. Myriame Bollen, Working apart together: civiel-militaire samenwerking tijdens humanitaire operaties. (Wageningen: Wageningen University, Disaster Studies, 2002). In Dutch.
19. Georg Frerks and Dorothea Hilhorst, Local Capacities for Peace: Concepts, Possibilities and Constraints. (Wageningen: Wageningen University, Disaster Studies, 1999).
20. Ibid.
21. Sphere Project, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Geneva: Oxfam Publishing, 2000).
22. Ibid.
23. Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Association of the United States Army (CSIS & AUSA), Post Conflict Reconstruction Framework (Washington: CSIS, 2002).
24. Christopher R. Mitchell, 'Problem-solving Exercises and Theories of Conflict Resolution', in Dennis J.D. Sandole and H. van der Merwe (eds), Conflict Resolution Theory and Practice (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1993), pp. 78-94.
25. Friedrich Glasl, 'The Process of Conflict Escalation and Roles of Third Parties', in David M. Last, Theory, Doctrine and Practice of Conflict De-escalation in Peacekeeping Operations (Toronto: Canadian Peacekeeping Press, 1997), pp. 14-29.
26. Ronald Fisher, 'The Potential for Peace Building: Forging a Bridge from Peacemaking to Peacemaking', in David M. Last, Theory, Doctrine and Practice of Conflict De-escalation in Peacekeeping Operations (Toronto: Canadian Peacekeeping Press, 1997), pp. 14-29.
27. Kirkby et al.
28. For instance: the Dutch government is funding the Dutch military, who are present in Iraq to fulfill humanitarian tasks, but also the NGOs who work in the same field of humanitarian assistance. Tensions arise (especially from point of view from the NGOs) because both types of organizations share the same budget.
29. In the Iraq war of 2003 the building of refugee camps started in a period of extreme political tension, just before the war broke out.
30. Steenaert en de Klerk, Optimalisatie van noodhulp, een inventariserende studie (Wageningen: Wageningen University, Disaster Studies, 1994).
31. A lot of discussion nowadays deals with the question of military presence in the development phase. It is outside the scope of this research to judge whether a military organizations should assist in the phase of development or not. In practice military organizations are deployed in the development phase for political reasons (e.g. Bosnia-Herzegovina), so the development phase will be taken into account in this research.
32. Kirkby et al.; CSIS & AUSA; Wageningen Disaster Studies (WDS), Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development (PRD) (Wageningen: Wageningen University, Disaster Studies, 1995), unpublished (Ref K159).
33. WDS.
34. Paul Goodwin and George Wright, Decision Analysis for Management Judgment (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998).
35. Merriam-Webster, Online Dictionary, , 24 September 2003.
36. Damen and Olislagers.
37. Kamp De Hoop Scheffer and Van Ardenne, Kamerbrief 19 mei 2003: Beleidskader civiel - militaire samenwerking (Den Haag: Dutch Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence, 2003).
38. A rotation is the (usually) six-month period of a peace-support operation during which the same troops are involved. For example: SFOR 13 is the 13th rotation of SFOR.
39. Highly visible quick impact projects to win the 'hearts and minds' of the population are often criticized by humanitarian organizations since they are not based on the local needs but on the benefits to the military force.
40. G. Frerks, D. Hilhorst and A. Moreyra, Natural Disasters, a Framework for Analysis and Action (Wageningen: Wageningen University, Disaster Studies, 1999).
41. Thomas G. Weiss and Cindy Collins, Humanitarian Challenges and Intervention (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996).
42. NATO.
43. J. Mackinlay (ed.), A Guide to Peace Support Operations (Providence, RI: The Thomas J. Watson Jr Institute, Brown University, 1996).
44. Slim.