Role of Military in Humanitarian Assistance (closed)

In 2007 the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) commissioned SIPRI to carry out a study on the effectiveness of foreign military assets in natural disasters. The study examined the advantages, limitations and implications of involving foreign military assets—personnel, equipment and expertise—in the relief operations that follow major natural disasters. It raised questions as to the appropriateness of foreign forces taking part in humanitarian assistance, the relative cost of using such assets, and the implications on the ability of civilian humanitarian organizations to act independently and safely. 4 major disaster relief operations were selected for a comparative analysis: in Mozambique following the floods in 2000, in Haiti following floods and tropical storm Jeanne in 2004, in Aceh province, Indonesia, following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, and in Pakistan-administered Kashmir following the South Asia earthquake of 2005.

The resulting findings of the study were presented at the 2008 UN Economic and Social Council substantive session in New York. The report The Effectiveness of Foreign Military Assets in Natural Disasters is available here.