Photo By Master Sgt. Theanne Tangen | Civil-military participants discuss coordination challenges during the third annual...... read more read more
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii - A group of 40 civilian and military experts in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief gathered July 24-26 for the third annual FOCUS IN event hosted by the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CFE-DM) at Ford Island.
The three-day event encourages dialogue between senior military leaders, experts from international organizations and academic institutions to improve civil-military coordination in an operational environment.
This year’s theme focused on information sharing and regional coordination in the Indo-Pacific, with particular focus on the region’s top-five likely “mega-disasters” that could result in the most loss of life.
“I encouraged the participants to be open with their issues and ideas on how to better serve each other in disaster responses,” said Joseph Martin, CFE-DM director. “I expect throughout their discussions they may offend one another but debating is healthy, it’s how we move past obstacles and find a better solution.”
The first two days consisted of HADR subject matter experts. This included U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Civil-Military Affairs Advisor, Silke Banuelos-Kuang and Janggam Adhityawarma, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Humanitarian Assistance Centre. Banuelos-Kuang explained how UNOCHA uses satellite imagery during a disaster response to assess damage and locate missing people while Adhityawarma explained the One ASEAN, One Response vision and the ASEAN Joint Disaster Response Plan.
FOCUS IN provided Pacific Resilience Partnership Task Force member Dr. Jimaima Lako from Fiji National University, the unique opportunity to brief and discuss issues with high-ranking military personnel.
“I am here to represent the vulnerable communities in the Pacific letting the attendees here know that we have a structure in place they need to be aware of, a mechanism for disasters,” said Lako. “So when the military provides assistance they know to go through the right channel of communication. That way the assistance that is provided is meaningful and effective.”
Lako was also able to discuss with fellow participants about what was effective and what was not during the response to the 2016 Tropical Cyclone Winston, which she experienced firsthand in Fiji.
“We find a great amount of value in what CFE-DM is doing here by bringing people together who are working on similar subjects who otherwise wouldn’t have such a space and forum to discuss our plans of responding to disasters,” said David Maizlish a delegate to the Armed Forces International Committee of the Red Cross.
On the last day participants took part in a Senior Leader Seminar to discuss their ideas and concerns uncovered from the past two days with the Chief of Staff of Headquarters, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Mike Minihan, along with general and flag officers representing each branch of the military serving in the Pacific.
Minihan has experience in disaster relief from responding to the 2013 Typhoon Yolanda in the Phillippines during Operation Damayan and the 2015 earthquake response in Nepal.
“It’s not if the next disaster is going to happen it’s a matter of when,” said Minihan. “Our intent is to provide resources ahead of disasters in terms of resiliency or expertise because it will be needed. We are taking notes from this seminar and will be taking it to heart to do great things.”
Experts from the following organizations brought their experiences and knowledge to share among each other: International Committee of the Red Cross (Geneva), International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Kuala Lumpur), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Bangkok), Pacific Resilience Partnership (Suva, Fiji), Australian Civil-Military Center (Canberra), Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies; ASEAN Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (Jakarta), Changi Regional Humanitarian Coordination Center (Singapore), Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy), Stability and Humanitarian Affairs, U.S. Agency for International Development, and RedR—an Australia-Based International NGO, World Food Programme, Pacific Disaster Center, Office of the U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, University of Hawaii, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, New Zealand Consulate-General and U.S., foreign military representatives serving in the Pacific.
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2019 20:13 |
| Story ID: | 334642 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HI, US |
| Hometown: | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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