The Italian Red Cross and several Italian academic institutions have been at the forefront of disaster law, conducting research, training, and dissemination activities since 2013.
Each year the Italian Red Cross, in collaboration with academic partners, conducts a 3-day course on ‘International Disaster Law’ for staff and volunteer trainers to implement internal and external dissemination. A lecture on International Disaster Law has been incorporated into the training on International Humanitarian Law delivered by the Italian Red Cross to the Italian Armed Forces. Italian Red Cross also routinely organises workshops and conferences on topical disaster law issues and has been active in disseminating disaster law to other components of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
Italian Red Cross and IFRC Disaster Law jointly commissioned research into International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) in Italy. The resulting report, IDRL in Italy: A Study on Strengthening Legal Preparedness for International Disaster Response, was published in 2015. Italy has also been the subject of several legal mappings commissioned by IFRC Disaster Law, including mappings focusing on disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness and response, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several Italian academic institutions have been highly involved in the development and dissemination of disaster law, with the support of IFRC Disaster Law, the Italian Red Cross, and domestic stakeholders. Research projects of note include the Jean Monnet Project ‘Disseminating Disaster Law for Europe’ where a cooperation agreement with the IFRC also facilitates the support for the Yearbook of International Disaster Law.
Since 2014, thanks to an agreement with the Italian Red Cross, the Institute of International Humanitarian Law in Sanremo has hosted an International Disaster Law Course on an annual basis. The Course — which got to its 8th edition in 2023 and is jointly organised by IIHL, IFRC Disaster Law, the Italian Red Cross, and academic partners — has permitted dozens of participants from all around the globe and having different backgrounds (academics, staff of IOs, civil protection departments, RCRC National Societies, NGOs) to benefit from lectures by high-level speakers through a plenary-based approach complemented by practical exercises on the application of relevant international disaster law provisions.
In 2022-2023, Italy was included as one of the surveyed countries in the IFRC Disaster Law Global Research on legal framework for recovery and reconstruction, aiming to identify and collect existing regulatory models to inform the development of a set of evidence-based recommendations for improving domestic legislation in the sector. As part of this, a report on Post-disaster recovery and reconstruction: The Italian regulatory model and the 2016-2017 earthquake in Central Italy, was launched at the national headquarters of the Italian Red Cross in Rome on 11 April 2023.
The report is based on extensive research and consultations with institutional stakeholders, including experts from the Italian Red Cross, who helped identify the critical factors in the recovery and reconstruction processes as well as to develop related recommendations on normative advancements to address them.
Recommendations from the report include the need for legal frameworks for recovery and reconstruction to take an all-of-society approach, regulate special and derogatory powers, streamline governance systems to ensure fast and efficient action, and clearly outline roles and responsibilities.
