In the past months, the IDRL Programme organised the last three IDRL Forums out of a series of five. The Americas Forum (April, Panama), the Pan-African Forum (May, Nairobi) and the Middle East Forum on IDRL (June, Abu Dhabi), respectively gathered over 100, 115 and 60 participants. As during the previously held IDRL forums (for the European region in May 2006 in Antalya and for the Asia-Pacific region in December in Kuala Lumpur), participants actively discussed common legal challenges and best practices encountered in international response to disasters in their region. They also analysed the currently existing regional IDRL framework and provided feedback on the Draft IDRL Guidelines reflecting the continent’s needs and priorities. Turn to page three of this newsletter for an in depth-coverage.