Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster law Accelerating progress in the facilitation and regulation of international disaster assistance David Fisher, Coordinator IFRC Disaster Law Programme

Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster law The lack of legal preparedness for international assistance results in...  Barriers  initiation, visas, customs, taxes, specialized equipment, professional qualifications, registration, transport, liability  Oversight gaps  inappropriate items, disregard for standards, poor coordination, corruption  Bottom line  aid is slower, more expensive, less effective, and sometimes counter-productive

Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster law Tools for strengthening domestic regulation

Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster law Projects and legislation  40+ projects led by National Societies  19 countries with new laws or procedures  17 countries with bills pending drawing on the IDRL Guidelines

Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster law Remaining gaps at country level  The vast majority of countries still lack clear and comprehensive procedures  Very hard to move from interest to adoption  Tendency to postpone details to later instruments

Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster law Regional solutions: promising but piecemeal Summits ACS, SICA, PIF New agreements, policies SICA, AU, EAC, EU... Models, guides, exercises ASEAN, CAPRADE, CIS...

Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster law International Law Commission  “Draft articles on protection of persons in the event of disasters”  First reading completed in 2014  Comments requested by 2016  Likely to be presented as a draft treaty IFRC’s comments to date available at Special Rapporteur Eduardo Valencia- Ospina

Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster law Dedicated (mostly regional) consultations Africa Gabon, FebAddis, JunAddis, Oct Americas Toluca, Nov ‘14Bogotá, Jan Asia Manila, OctBangkok, JunCamberra, JulSouth Asia, TBC Europe Istanbul, FebGeneva, MarGeneva, JunGeneva, SepBudapest, Sep MENA Kuwait, Jun

Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster law Findings thus far  Agreement on the need to accelerate progress  Important added value of regional arrangements  Strong interest in further advancement of the global legal framework, with notes of caution 2nd edition in 2015

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