Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster Laws Overview of the disaster law topics Male, Maldives, 11 October 2011 David Fisher, IFRC IDRL Programme Coordinator

Saving lives, changing minds. 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

Saving lives, changing minds. 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

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

Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster Laws A few anecdotes

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

Saving lives, changing minds. Disaster Laws Progress on country-level implementation of the IDRL Guidelines  9 new laws/ procedures  11 pending  20 formal technical assistance projects

Saving lives, changing minds. 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

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

Saving lives, changing minds. 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?

Saving lives, changing minds. 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

Saving lives, changing minds. 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?