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Overview of the disaster law topics Male, Maldives, 11 October 2011 David Fisher, IFRC IDRL Programme Coordinator

Disaster Laws

Three topics of particular focus

Legal preparedness for international disaster response (IDRL) Legislating enhanced disaster risk reduction, particularly at the community level Regulatory barriers to emergency and transitional shelter for people affected by natural disasters

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Disaster Laws

Why legal preparedness for international disaster response? (IDRL)

 More frequent and larger natural disasters  More and different international responders  Absence of procedure to regulate the increasingly complex context

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Saving lives, changing minds.

Disaster Laws

Research shows that the lack of legal preparedness hampers int’l relief

  

Research

27 legal case studies Global survey Regional forums  

Findings

Unnecessary delays and costs Unnecessary relief items, poor coordination, lack of respect

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Disaster Laws

A few anecdotes

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Saving lives, changing minds.

Disaster Laws

Achievement of the 30

th

International Conference: the IDRL Guidelines

 Adopted by consensus by the state parties to the Geneva Conventions in 2007  Compile existing international norms and best practice  Recommendations to governments on how to prepare domestic laws and procedures for international assistance

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Disaster Laws

Progress on country-level implementation of the IDRL Guidelines

Reported follow-up on the IDRL Guidelines

   9 new laws/ procedures 11 pending 20 formal technical assistance projects

2009 Survey 2011 Survey

60 50 50 43 45 40 30 23 24 22 20 10 0 Using the IDRL Guidelines for laws Dialogue about IDRL Guidelines States (2009) Advised Government National Societies (2009) Disseminated the Guidelines States following up National Societies following up States (2011) National Societies (2011)

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Disaster Laws

Progress on mainstreaming the IDRL Guidelines (some examples)

  International  UNDAC preparedness missions  UNGA/ECOSOC resolutions   WCO resolution ILC “draft articles”  Commonwealth Regional  Americas/ASEAN questionnaires  OAS GA Resolution  AU Humanitarian Policy Framework  EU Council Conclusions  CAPRADE manual

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Saving lives, changing minds.

Disaster Laws

Why disaster risk reduction at the community level?

 Prevention is much better than cure  Research shows that the community level is consistently under-served  Communities are also under-used resources for their own protection

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Disaster Laws

What can legislation accomplish when it comes to disaster risk reduction?

Legislation is an important tool to increase impact at the community level – it can:

    empower communities to take an active role promote full implementation of incentives prioritize resources for community level work encourage accountability

How do we get to these positive results?

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Disaster Laws

Why regulatory barriers to emergency and transitional shelter?

 Shelter is critical to health, safety and recovery  Shelter professionals say that regulatory issues are among the biggest barriers they face  Many of these barriers have complex origins – but, as a first step, short-term answers must be found

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Disaster Laws

Regulatory barriers to shelter – key questions

 What can be done for persons who lack formal title?

 How can we quickly obtain (temporary) use of land?

 How can we avoid homelessness pending disputes over land ownership?

 How do we ensure equitable shelter assistance?

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Saving lives, changing minds.