Through a collaboration between IFRC Disaster Law and the Namibia Red Cross, a review of the legal framework, policies and practices for disaster response in Namibia was commissioned in 2012. The review focused on Namibia’s legislation applicable to international disaster response and used the IDRL Guidelines as a benchmark.
The outcome of the review was a report entitled Legal Preparedness for International Disaster Response in Namibia. The report analysed the existing legal and policy frameworks for disaster management and response in Namibia focusing on facilitation and regulation of international disaster assistance. The report also provides an assessment of strengths and gaps and provides recommendations for strengthening legal preparedness for disasters in Namibia.
In 2020, a desktop mapping of Namibia’s legal framework applicable to international disaster response was conducted using the Checklist on the Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance (the IDRL Checklist). This activity formed part of a larger exercise to map the IDRL frameworks of ten countries within Southern Africa, 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.
In light of the floods occurring Namibia in the beginning of the 2023, an IDRL emergency fact sheet has been developed to provide key information on the regulatory and policy environment that applies to floods preparedness and response. Specifically targeted towards members of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, this document can support decision-making processes to optimise international disaster assistance.
