Teresa Camacho, Acting IDRL Coordinator for the Americas, led a workshop entitled “Reducing red tape, and strengthening accountability in disaster response”. The workshop emphasized the importance of legal preparedness in case of disaster to best facilitate humanitarian assistance. Findings of the recent Haiti IDRL project report were shared with participants, highlighting the legal challenges during the relief phase of the response to the earthquake of 2010.
Over 40 participants attended the workshop, including representatives from several different municipalities in Latin America, representatives from the Haitian Red Cross, the UN, and ECHO, as well as government and regional disaster risk reduction specialists.
The workshop provided a welcome forum for education on international disaster response law and the objective of reducing human vulnerability in disaster by promoting legal preparedness, as well as a platform for discussion and sharing of lessons learned amongst policy-makers and practitioners.