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Through the adoption of its new Law on Prevention and Response to Natural Disasters, Vietnam has become a new leader in IDRL in the Asia Pacific region.

Members of Vietnam’s National Assembly came together in Hanoi in early August to review the current state of its draft disaster management law, in order to bring the draft in line with international standards. Following presentations by the Secretary General of the Vietnam Red Cross Society and IFRC Asia Pacific Disaster Law Coordinator, participants noted the need to better address international assistance in the new law. This was identified as being one of the most important topics of the day’s discussion.

As news of the A H1N1 influenza virus was making headlines around the world, key government and humanitarian personnel in Vietnam were learning more about the importance of good legal frameworks to manage disease outbreaks and large-scale disasters.

Each year Vietnam’s coastal provinces are battered by up to 12 major tropical storms and the impact of climate change is believed to have increased the risk of both flooding and droughts in many parts of the country.

Finau Limuloa, the IFRC Pacific Disaster Law Delegate currently working in Vanuatu, provides some perspectives in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Pam.

The first Pacific study of national policies and legal frameworks for managing foreign disaster response has been completed. 

The first in-depth IDRL study in the Pacific was launched this month in Vanuatu.

On the 16th of June 2015, the Tonga Red Cross Society hosted a handover event in  Nuku’alofa Tonga for its study entitled “International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) in Tonga: A study on legal preparedness for facilitating and regulating international disaster assistance”.

Tonga is an archipelago comprising 176 islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. Not only is the kingdom vulnerable to disasters, but it also faces a number of challenges regarding the delivery of disaster relief due to its isolated setting.

The Kingdom of Tonga was recently identified as the world’s second most vulnerable country to natural disasters (2012 World Risk Report). In addition, Tonga faces serious logistical challenges to the delivery of international disaster assistance due to its geography as an archipelago of isolated small islands.