In East Africa, IFRC Disaster Law provided technical advice on the draft East African Community (EAC) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Bill. IFRC Disaster Law's advice pertained specifically to legal preparedness for international disaster assistance. The Bill was finalised and passed by the EAC Assembly in 2016.
In 2020 and 2021, IFRC Disaster Law held engagements with the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and developed a roadmap for the implementation of the partnership between IFRC and IGAD on Disaster and Climate Resilience. This road map includes activities such as conducting a mapping analysis of IGAD member states’ Disaster Risk Management frameworks to inform the development of a policy framework or guidance to support IGAD member states in the development of robust national legislations that take into consideration innovative DRM funding processes like Forecast-based Financing.
IFRC Disaster Law has also provided training across the sub-region, including a sub-regional workshop in 2009 for National Societies and humanitarian partners, focusing on the IDRL Guidelines and associated international norms for disaster response. In 2024, the Disaster Law team supported the facilitation of the kick-off workshop of the Strengthening Pastoralist Livelihoods through effective Anticipatory Action (PASSAGE) project in Nairobi, Kenya, to strengthen the management of risks from extreme climate events through impact-based climate forecasts. The inception workshop brought together several implementing partners, including Kenya Red Cross, South Sudan Red Cross, and Uganda Red Cross, IFRC, the IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD), to implement the project on national levels. Also under this project, the Disaster Law team initiated a research study to assess regional legal and policy frameworks supporting pastoralism in the Greater Horn of Africa.
As part of a partnership between IFRC and UNICEF, IFRC Disaster Law supported the development of the report “Gender responsive disaster risk management: An analysis of gender integration in national and regional disaster risk management frameworks in Eastern and Southern Africa”. The report explores the extent of integration of gender considerations, including gender-based violence (GBV) risk mitigation, prevention and response considerations, in national and regional DRM legal and policy frameworks in Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia (including Puntland and Somaliland), South Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe, the African Union Commission (AUC), the East African Community (EAC), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
IFRC Disaster Law has also conducted country-level research and activities in several countries in East Africa, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
