IFRC's Disaster Law Programme and the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) made significant progress across several disaster law workstreams during 2025. As a first milestone, LRC agreed to serve as IFRC's MENA case study illustrating the operational and practical case for transforming the Draft Articles on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters (PPED) into a binding international treaty. The case study — accessible via this link — was based on a desk review and in-depth interviews with LRC leadership and Lebanese public authorities. Following its publication, the Lebanese official delegation to the United Nations co-hosted, alongside IFRC and other country delegations, an exhibition at the UN premises aimed at bringing to life the concrete humanitarian challenges that the PPED treaty seeks to address through its provisions. LRC has also joined the informal group of RCRC National Societies advocating for the PPED Treaty — a group it has been part of since its establishment.
On the domestic legal preparedness front, Lebanon currently lacks a comprehensive national legal framework clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and coordination mechanisms for disaster risk management. In response, LRC has agreed to work with IFRC and the Lebanese government on a structured mapping of the existing legal landscape — a critical first step toward informed legislative and regulatory reform.
In parallel, LRC has developed two draft laws currently submitted to the Lebanese parliament and pending adoption. The first concerns the protection of the Red Cross emblem. The second is a landmark auxiliary role recognition law that would formally enshrine LRC's humanitarian mandate and establish clear legal facilities for its operation — setting a model for National Society recognition in the MENA region.
