Since November 2008, the IDRL Programme has been collaborating with the Cambodian Red Cross Society and the World Health Organization with support from the Asian Development Bank to assist the Government of Cambodia on legal preparedness for international disaster assistance and the control of epidemics. On January 21st , the project took an important step forward, when the Cambodian National Committee for Disaster Management (CNCDM) convened a high-level consultative workshop on this topic in Phnomh Penh.
Forty-three participants from a dozen governmental departments joined representatives from UN agencies, the Red Cross and international and local NGOs to learn about existing international standards in this sector and to comment on the initial findings of the legal preparedness project.
CNCDM Secretary-General, H.E. Peou Samy, opened the workshop, observing that while Cambodia has not yet experienced disasters as severe as those of neighbouring countries, it still needs to undertake legal preparedness measures in case future situations exceed capacities. He emphasized that participants’ input would be “very important” in the ongoing preparation of a draft disaster management law.
Ms. Veasna Chea, legal consultant for the Legal Preparedness Project, presented the project’s initial findings, noting that it had uncovered a number of gaps in existing Cambodian law. She concluded that “efforts to develop new comprehensive disaster management and communicable disease control legislation need to be fast-tracked.”
Participants examined in detail how existing Cambodian law addresses the main issue areas covered by the IDRL Guidelines and the International Health Regulations, in the light of recent operational experiences.
The workshop concluded with a plenary session where participants agreed to a number of recommendations on reform, which will be reflected in the project’s final report, which will completed in the first quarter of 2009. In closing, Cambodian Red Cross Society Secretary General Pum Chantinie noted that “everyone is responsible for implementing new DM and CDC laws, and they must be effective -- not just a piece of paper.”