by Paul Lushenko
On August 25, the US Department of Defense announced sweeping changes to help minimize civilian casualties in war. The “Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan,” or CHMR-AP, followed the botched drone strike in Afghanistan in August 2021, which killed ten civilians. Following this tragedy, a flurry of investigations exposed the hidden costs of the US drone program and pushed Congress to demand more accountability for collateral damage during military operations.
This Irregular Warfare Initiative article was originally posted through our partner organization, the Modern War Institute at West Point. Continue reading the full article here.
Image credit: J.M. Eddins Jr., US Air Force
Paul David Morado says
The WPS program provides the DoD with an internationally recognized path to pursuing long-term security and stability while also demonstrating the commitment to dignity, human rights, and equality under the law. In 2011, the United States published its first National Action Plan on WPS, which included five strategic objectives: institutionalization, participation, protection, conflict prevention, and relief and recovery. While the CHMR-AP was funded and pushed forward as a “SEC DEF priority” so lets be CANDID. Now despite the multiple SEC DEFs WPS has not enjoyed the same level of patronage, WPS has taken root within the DOD now at the combat command level and now continues to grow across the DOD Services.
CHMR-AP: The CHMR-AP primarily focuses on minimizing civilian harm during military operations, addressing issues related to civilian casualties, accountability for mistakes, and aiding with affected populations.
WPS Program: The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) program of the US Department of Defense (DOD) is a specific initiative aimed at incorporating a gender perspective into military policies, operations, and tactics BEFORE there is a need to take accountability before action, thus reducing “mistakes”. WPS also aims to improve military effectiveness and accountability, its primary focus is on integrating gender considerations into all aspects of the military as part of defense obj1, but has a much broader focus with defense objective 2 & 3 with our international partners and allies.
Target Population:
CHMR-AP: The CHMR-AP primarily addresses the needs and rights of civilians affected by armed conflict, including vulnerable populations, without a specific emphasis on gender.
WPS Program: The WPS program specifically focuses on promoting the participation and protection of women and girls, men and boys including vulnerable populations for a lot longer. However, it also seeks to deliberately inform military planners and leaders to incorporate a gender perspective that encompasses all demographic groups, recognizing that gender considerations intersect with other factors such as age, disability, and ethnicity.
Objectives:
CHMR-AP: The primary objective of the CHMR-AP is to minimize civilian harm and enhance accountability within military operations, with a focus on improving practices related to targeting, investigation of civilian casualties, and provision of assistance to affected communities.
WPS Program: The WPS program aims to integrate gender perspectives into all military activities to improve effectiveness and accountability. This includes promoting the meaningful participation of women in decision-making processes, addressing gender-based violence, and considering the specific needs of women, men, girls, and boys in conflict-affected areas.
Implementation and Coordination:
CHMR-AP: The CHMR-AP is primarily implemented within military structures and focuses on improving military practices and procedures related to civilian protection and accountability.
WPS Program: Similarly, the DOD’s WPS program is implemented within military structures and aims to improve military policies and operations by incorporating the gender perspective into all military activities. It involves coordination across different branches of the military to ensure consistent implementation of gender-sensitive approaches.
In summary, while both the CHMR-AP and the WPS program aim to improve military effectiveness and accountability, the WPS program has been doing it much longer and with less limelight from senior officials within the DOD, but has worked quietly on incorporating gender perspectives into military activities, with the aim of promoting the participation and protection of civilians but prefers the language of women and girls, men and boy in conflict-affected areas. So both programs can be leveraged to improve ways of thinking to avoid “mistakes” by better and more inclusive planning.