Humanitarian Disaster Management

The United Nations’ Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has emerged over the past decade and a half as a significant cross-cutting thematic program for achieving global peace and security.

The Regional Consultative Group (RCG) on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination (CMCoord) for Asia and the Pacific is a key forum for supporting and elevating coordination, building relationships, and sharing learning to enhance and strengthen emergency response.

"Social networking and social media are playing an increasingly important role in responses to complex emergencies and natural disasters. The recent ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East have highlighted aspects of citizen-led networking and communication that have captured the world’s attention."

This document affirms the principles that guide the Australian Government and its stakeholders in international multiagency response efforts. It captures the best of the learning that has come from the Australian experience of contemporary operations overseas.

The role that new media and communications technologies have played in the recent ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings, as well as in recent disaster responses, has sparked a large amount of academic and professional interest.

Responders to natural disasters face increasingly complex operating environments, characterised by new challenges and new actors. Global trends that are overwhelming the international humanitarian system come into sharp focus in South-East Asia.