The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international association of 140 national parliaments, has been active in its support for better legal preparedness for international humanitarian assistance. On the occasion of the IPU’s 122nd General Assembly, held from March 27 to April 1 in Bangkok, the IFRC and the IPU secretariat organized a briefing session on “Strengthening legal preparedness for international disaster cooperation” (see the IPU’s official summary at page 22).
Twenty country delegations attended the session, which drew attention to progress in the use of the IDRL Guidelines in various parts of the world. Participants were also informed about a new project launched in partnership with the IPU and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to develop a model act to help governments implement the IDRL Guidelines and related international norms.
Several participants affirmed their feeling they had a responsibility as parliamentarians to bring these kinds of issues to the fore – before a crisis – and to shape legislation addressing common problems.
“As a Member of Parliament, it is essential that I use my legislative powers to ensure that South Africa is at all times ready to deal with disasters”, noted South African MP Diane Kohler Barnard, “I would welcome guidance on areas in which the IDRL Project could be utilised to highlight shortcomings in the existing South African legislation, specifically in relation to international aid, to ensure that South Africa is prepared in any eventuality to accept or indeed proffer, such aid where necessary”.
Cecilia Chacon, Vice-Present of the Peruvian Congress, expressed a similar sentiment: “It is of urgent need that we make sure that Peru’s legal framework and policies will be sufficiently effective to respond to a natural disaster of any kind. The IDRL project is extremely helpful and valuable as its guidelines can orient our actions and give us a chance to compare our results to those of other countries.”
In light of the recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, the parliamentarians also adopted a resolution on the role of parliaments in strengthening the solidarity of the international community towards the people of Haiti and Chile recommending a number of steps that national authorities, lawmakers and international partners should take to prevent similar disasters in the future.
Among these, the resolution “urge[d] all parliaments to foster the strong political will and allocate the budget funds needed to develop a national legal framework designed to ensure synergy between disaster-risk reduction and climate change adaptation, and between disaster-risk reduction and poverty reduction and socio-economic development, so as to protect the best interests of those vulnerable to geological and climate-related disasters.”