At any given time, dozens of governments across the world may be working on new legislation related to disaster risk reduction, response and recovery. Yet the field of “disaster law” is still very new and those involved in drafting new bills rarely have available to them updated information on comparative experiences from other countries or relevant laws and norms.
To address this, the IFRC collaborated with the Brookings Institution Project on Internal Displacement and UNHCR (and with support from UN OCHA) to organize the second annual course of disaster law for policy-makers, this time hosted by the Institute for International Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy on 3-7 December. Entitled “Law and Legal Protection in Natural Disasters,” the course gathered senior officials from disaster management agencies, legislative drafters, regional organizations, National Societies, and other humanitarian organizations from around the world to address international norms and global practice related to all phases of disaster management. A special emphasis was placed on the scope and consequences of the human rights of affected persons in disaster arrangements.
Vietnamese Red Cross Secretary-General Thai Van Doan remarked that “the course is an excellent opportunity to learn and to share with each others on legislative issues related to disaster management. It is very good for everyone.” Dr. Stephen Ramroop, Executive Director of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) of the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Foreign Affairs similarly rated the course “very good overall,” adding that he would “recommend it as a must for other ODPM staff.”
Nearly all the governmental participants are currently engaged in developing new legislation in their countries and expressed their determination to put the new information to immediate use. The course organizers have committed to periodically follow-up with them to offer support as desired.
The third session of the course will be organized in San Remo in the fall of 2013.