The Register of Military, Civil Defence and Civil Protection Assets (MCDA Register) contains data on the military, and/or civil defence, and/or civil protection expertise, capacities and range of services which may be offered in case of emergency by Member States and sectorial multinational organizations for international humanitarian disaster relief operations under the following conditions:

• Inclusion of the assets in the MCDA Register does not mean that they are automatically available for international humanitarian assistance; it serves as an indication only that they may be made available subject to the asset owner's decision on a case-by-case basis;
• The assets can be made available through the United Nations;
• The assets are provided on a non-profit basis.

For each asset provider MCDA Register contains information on such key items as the authority responsible for the release of the assets for international assistance, 24-hour contact points, service modules available and their specifications, modalities of cooperation with the UN, other organizations and disaster affected countries.

MCDA may be requested through the Civil Military Coordination Section (CMCS) in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) by a United Nations Agency or the Government of an affected country (usually through the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator) when all other sources have proved to be insufficient, exhausted, or unavailable.

The MCDA Register constitutes an integral part of the Central Register of Disaster Management Capacities.