The Permanent Missions of The Bahamas, Colombia, Thailand and Italy to the United Nations in New York, together with the IFRC and in collaboration with a network of academic experts, hosted a series of high-level webinars on the 25th of November and 2nd of December to raise awareness of the Draft Articles and the future treaty on the protection of persons in disasters (PPED treaty) amongst the legal advisors to the Permanent Missions of States in New York. The webinars were held ahead of the upcoming deadline of 31 December for States to proposals for amendments to the Draft Articles, in view of the preparation of a consolidated text at the resumed session of the Sixth Committee in early 2026 and the negotiations on the PPED treaty which will follow in 2027.
The Draft Articles address issues such as human rights and the protection of people in disasters, including those in vulnerable situations; humanitarian principles; international cooperation; disaster risk reduction; and the responsibilities of States in the context of external disaster assistance.
In the webinars, experts from academia provided their analysis and perspective on the content on the full scope of the Draft Articles and their recommendations on the future PPED treaty; while practitioners from the IFRC shared their experiences in the humanitarian field and elaborated on the contents of IFRC’s detailed proposals which were developed for consideration by States and aimed at strengthening the Draft Articles ahead of the PPED treaty negotiations.
The webinars were moderated by Giulio Bartolini, Full Professor of International Law, Roma Tre University (Italy).
The panel on 25 November included:
- Thérèse O’Donnell, Professor of Law, University of Strathclyde (Scotland);
- Walter Kälin, Professor Emeritus of international and constitutional law, University of Bern (Switzerland);
- Ki-Gab Park, Professor Emeritus, School of Law, Korea University (South Korea)
- Emmanuel Kasimbazi, Professor of Law at the School of Law, Makerere University (Uganda) and Advocate of the High Court of Uganda;
- Nilüfer Oral, Director of the Centre of International Law at the National University of Singapore (Singapore); and
- Jeanique Serradinho, IFRC.
The panel on 2 December included:
- Christy Shucksmith-Wesley, Associate Professor in Law in the School of Law, University of Nottingham (United Kingdom)
- Hugo Cahueñas, Professor of Law and Deputy Director of the International Protection Law Centre, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) (Ecuador);
- Giulio Bartolini, Full Professor of International Law, Roma Tre University (Italy);
- Gian Luca Burci, Adjunct Professor of international law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva (Switzerland);
- Emanuele Sommario, Professor of International Law, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Italy); and
- Jeanique Serradinho, IFRC.