United Nations member states again signalled their interest in finding solutions to regulatory gaps in international disaster assistance on the occasion of the 2011 humanitarian segment of the Economic and Social Council in Geneva.
On July 21, the Swiss government organized a well attended side event on “Enhancing the Effectiveness and Quality of International Disaster Assistance; International and Regional Initiatives to Support Affected States.”. Speaking on the event’s panel, IFRC Director for the Americas, Xavier Castellanos, recounted the work of IFRC and National Societies at the national level to assist states to “put themselves in the driver’s seat” by preparing their legal frameworks to facilitate incoming relief and to provide incentives and oversight to ensure the quality and complementarity of international assistance with domestic efforts.
In their plenary session, ECOSOC member states again included language on IDLR in their annual resolution on "Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations". The resolution encourages UN member states and regional organisations to “take further steps to strengthen operational and legal frameworks for international disaster relief, taking into account ...[the] Guidelines”.