As Chair of the Working Committee on IDRL of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Dr Fawzi presented the draft Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) manual on cross-border relief at the regional “Workshop on Strengthening the Facilitation and Regulation of International Humanitarian Response in the MENA Region” held in Doha on 19-20 December 2013. According to Dr Fawzi, the need for such a Committee emerged from the fact that many Gulf countries experimented the aftermath of both natural and man-made disasters at their borders. This Working Committee was therefore established in order to introduce the various actors in the region to IDRL, but also to decide and create IDRL standards that would address the current situation. It is constituted of legal experts from the region’s national societies, but also from the Gulf States’ governments.
This manual draws upon the IDRL Guidelines, which are set of recommendations to governments on how to prepare their disaster laws and plans for the common regulatory problems in international disaster relief operations. However, the purpose of the manual is also to reflect the specificity of the region, such as the nature of the political and economic union between the Gulf States, as well as their common values of solidarity and cooperation. This manual constitutes the foundation of a forthcoming publication aimed at disseminating IDRL in the Gulf States, says Dr Fawzi, who believes this publication will be useful for non-governmental organisations, civil protection institutions and concerned ministries. This new publication should be approved by the Working Committee in early April at a meeting in Doha before being sent to governments for their approval.
It is Dr Fawzi and the Working Committee’s hope that this publication will lead to the adoption of a multilateral convention on IDRL in the Gulf region. Work with that regard is planned for early 2015, and will also aim at obtaining standard legislation based on the IDRL Guidelines in the region.