IFRC Disaster Law provides technical support for the enhancement of laws, policies, strategies and plans for climate-smart disaster risk management for Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, their governments and regional bodies in Southern Africa. For example, IFRC Disaster Law has been supporting the Malawi Red Cross in the development of a new Disaster Risk Management Bill, and the advocacy efforts of Botswana Red Cross Society in the review of the Red Cross Society of Botswana Act and the development of a DRM Bill and Policy in the country.
IFRC Disaster Law has conducted several disaster law research projects in Southern Africa. International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) studies were completed in Botswana (2013), Malawi (2015), Mozambique (2012) and Namibia (2012); and law and disaster risk reduction studies were conducted in Angola (2012), Namibia (2014) and South Africa (2012). In 2016, a study was undertaken on effective law and policy on gender equality and protection from sexual and gender-based violence in disasters in Zimbabwe.
In 2020, a desktop mapping of the legal frameworks applicable to international disaster response in ten countries within Southern Africa was conducted, using the Checklist on the Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance (IDRL Checklist) to identify and analyse the legal and policy arrangements for international disaster response across the region. These mappings have been compiled in a report entitled Legal Preparedness for International Disaster Assistance in Southern Africa: Regional Assessment and Country Profiles (the Report). The Report provides an overview of IDRL frameworks at global, regional, sub-regional level and national levels, assesses the legal preparedness of states in the sub-region to facilitate international assistance in the event that a disaster exceeds national capacities, and proposes recommendations to strengthen IDRL in the sub-region. A summary version of the Report, which contains the executive summary and regional analysis is also available.
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).
