The project was launched on November 18, 2009, with the signing of a formal MOU between the Government and the IFRC, which notes that the Government “would welcome advice and support from the IFRC on how the IDRL Guidelines and the findings on which they are based might be used to strengthen its new instruments insofar as they address international disaster assistance.”
On January 12, 2010, IDRL Africa Delegate Eilif Torma presented the project to the Uganda National Platform for the Disaster Risk Reduction Technical Working Group, a body representing all key ministries, the Uganda Red Cross and major NGOs dealing with disaster preparedness and response. A special task force of Platform members was formed for the IDRL project, chaired by Ms. Rose Nakabugo, Deputy Commissioner, Office of the Prime Minister. Mr. Francis Buwule, an established Ugandan advocate and counselor to the Uganda Red Cross, is leading the legal research for the project.
This initiative comes as Uganda is in the midst of discussions about revising its existing disaster policy, strategy and legislation. It is hoped that the findings of this project will be of use to the Ugandan authorities in that process.