Coordination is a widely used and abused term, therefore it is essential to be clear about the focus of the OCHA CMCS on United Nations Civil-Military Coordination (UN-CMCoord) and the training that supports this effort.

The approach of UN-CMCoord is designed to address the need for coordination of the activities of international civilian humanitarian actors, especially the UN humanitarian agencies, and international military forces in an international humanitarian emergency. In the UN approach to civil military coordination training plays a critical role in building coordination capacity facilitating effective coordination in the field.

The goal of the UN humanitarian agencies is to assist the victims of an emergency. The mission of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is to assist in the coordination of this effort.

However, coordination must be conducted in a manner that guarantees the "humanitarian space" and does not jeopardize the perceived neutrality and impartiality of the UN humanitarian agencies. The loss of neutrality or impartiality increases the already significant security risk for relief workers and can hinder future access to victims.

As a result, we have adopted an approach to civil military coordination that relies heavily on information sharing, a careful division of tasks, and when feasible, collaborative planning. This approach envisions a coexistence relationship with the international militaries in most complex emergencies and a cooperative relationship between the international civilian and military responders in natural and technological emergencies. It is based on the fact that in the initial phases of conflict situations military forces are extremely reluctant to include civilians in the planning process and that in sudden onset natural and technological emergencies the opportunity for planning is very limited.

Like any civilian or military organization the UN-CMCoord training is based on needs in the field. It is different from most national training programmes in terms of both content and method. There is no global disaster response plan. There is no established planning system. Every major international effort is ad hoc and dependent on the resources available at the time.

The most pressing immediate coordination requirement is a clear picture of the need in the stricken area and a rapid inventory of who is responding with what capability. The vast majority of the international response is bilateral and often not visible in the UN system. Therefore, training focuses on information sharing and basic guidelines about the appropriate roles of military and civilian actors in responding to the needs of a stricken population.

The training differs not only in what is presented, but also in how it is presented. The participants are the primary resource persons in the training. They share their expertise and present the capabilities of their organizations within a framework facilitated by the course management team.

The diversity in the training sessions must reflect the diversity in the field. Sending and receiving states; governmental and non-governmental organizations; aid agencies and civil protection units, military and civil defence organizations, United Nations agencies and other intergovernmental bodies, as well as the Red Cross Movement, are invited.

This mix of participants is critical to the success of the training and an effective network.

There is "hands on" training with collaborative information sharing tools that are used in the field. This is done in a collegial environment helps draw the participants into a sustainable network of trained personnel that can be called upon in and emergency.

We believe this method of sharing responsibility for the training with the participants and active engaging the participants in the UN-CMCoord network reinforces one of the fundament principles of coordination. That principle is:

COORDINATION IS NOT A FUNCTION.
IT IS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY.

Everyone must accept this responsibility in a humanitarian emergency.