The Asia-Pacific Conferences on Military Assistance to Disaster Relief Operations (APC-MADRO)
APC-MADRO Background: The Asia-Pacific region is more disaster prone than any other region in the world. Increasingly frequent and more complicated disaster response operations require a comprehensive and collaborative framework for preparedness and response, one in which guiding principles and concepts and clearly defined collaborative roles and responsibilities between all elements of the national and international and between civilian and military organisations is essential.
Recognising this ‘gap’ in the existing framework the APC-MADRO series of conferences have brought together civilian and military subject matter experts from over 30 regional countries and regional and international humanitarian organisations in order to develop a draft set of ‘Asia-Pacific Regional Guidelines for the Use of Foreign Military Assets in Natural Disaster Response Operations’ (insert link to guidelines). These voluntary and non-binding guidelines, which have been developed to complement other existing and emerging regional guidelines, will significantly contribute to ensuring effective and principled foreign military assistance to disaster relief operations within Asia and the Pacific.
APC-MADRO 2010
After much work in previous conferences and following the Fifth APC-MADRO, held in Bangkok in October 2010, civilian and military participants from regional and observer nations, the United Nations, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, NGOs and others confirmed that the draft guidelines were ready for testing and validation and agreed upon a framework and mechanisms to achieve this. Key outcomes are highlighted in brief below:
APC-MADRO 2010 Agreements
(Follow link to see 2010 and earlier conference Reports)
1. Establishment of an APC-MADRO Secretariat within UN OCHA’s Regional Office for Asia Pacific, supported by all stakeholders, notably Australia, the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (COE DMHA – USA), as well as the Regional Offices of ICRC and IFRC, UN OCHA’s Civil-Military Coordination Section in Geneva and National Participants. Details will be elaborated and agreed with those concerned in a separate Secretariat Concept Note.
2. The APC-MADRO Secretariat will create and maintain an APC-MADRO webpage to enable information sharing and dissemination among APC-MADRO participants as well as sharing a periodic update, possibly quarterly, on the APC-MADRO testing and validation process.
3. All APC-MADRO participants will contribute to the testing of the process and Guidelines through a variety of regional forums and through a number of platforms, including national and regional exercise, training, conferences and other events, as well as regional dialogue, seeking the support of co-hosts of such events. UN OCHA will introduce the Guidelines to the annual meeting of the international Consultative Group on the Use of MCDA, in Geneva on 01 December 2010.
4. National participants will pass the draft Guidelines for consideration to respective National Disaster Management Organisations for consideration and advocate for their support and use.
5. The Guidelines will be initially and systematically introduced to the ASEAN and ARF networks.
6. Appointment of a senior, well known and respected ‘Regional Envoy’ to act as the APC-MADRO champion for introduction of the Guidelines into the above and various other regional forums. Support details will be elaborated with those concerned and form part of the Secretariat Concept Note under point 1.
7. The UN OCHA Regional Office Focal Point will undertake a number of editing and formatting corrections to the Guidelines as agreed in Plenary and will distribute the revised version of the document shortly.