SINGAPORE — While militaries play a growing role in humanitarian efforts, they should confine themselves to “critical windows of need”, until civilian organisations are ready to step in and provide aid. Militaries should also network with civilian agencies before a crisis hits, and avoid replicating what civilians are better-equipped to do.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen outlined these “broad parameters” at a global humanitarian forum today (April 13), as he warned that militaries’ humanitarian efforts --  which are increasingly being relied upon due to their speedy response to disasters ---  risk becoming “unsustainable, ineffective and inefficient” without a clearly defined doctrine.

Dr Ng was speaking to 100 delegates at the opening of the three-day World Humanitarian Summit Global Forum on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination 2015 at Changi Naval Base. His concerns about the unsustainable nature of militaries’ humanitarian efforts came amid the rising number of natural disasters reported around the world.

Seventy per cent of natural disasters in the world occur within a seven-hour flight zone from Singapore, Dr Ng noted. In the last decade alone, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) embarked on  20 humanitarian missions — from 13 between 1970 and 2000.

Dr Ng said there is “much scope” for militaries to improve their effectiveness in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, pointing to the lack of military doctrine to spell out what missions should deliver and how militaries should transit to civilian organisations. Militaries, he said, should avoid replicating some civilian efforts. 

“That’s exactly what we do each time when crisis hits. We spend considerable resources, collecting civilian items, using expensive military ships and planes to transport them to developing countries.” 

Dr Ng said civilian agencies are better equipped to transfer monies and distribute aid. Civilian agencies engaged by the SAF in the past included the Singapore Red Cross and Mercy Relief. The SAF will step up its efforts to foster stronger military-military and civil-military collaboration, said Dr Ng. 

United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Kyung-wha Kang, who also spoke at the forum, said there is a “pervasive” sense among those involved in humanitarian efforts that the existing tools they have are not good enough to meet present and future challenges. 

“The landscape of humanitarian action has changed radically, with more actors involved in more emergencies occurring with greater intensity, and outlasting the traditional solutions that short-term tools can deliver,” said Ms Kang, who is also the UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator. 

Calling for a global humanitarian architecture that is more inclusive and effective, Ms Kang said it should be one that can be linked successfully with other systems, including militaries and regional organisations. 

The forum, held at the Changi Command and Control Centre, will help shape the agenda of the UN World Humanitarian Summit next year. It is co-hosted by Singapore’s Defence Ministry and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

During the meeting, participants will develop recommendations to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of civil-military coordination in disaster relief responses.

The forum, which ends on Wednesday, brings together policymakers and operational experts from UN agencies, regional and non-governmental organisations, defence establishments and national disaster management authorities from more than 25 countries.