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On 26 June 2012, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) convened a national workshop in Manila in conjunction with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), to discuss how to to improve legal preparedness for international disaster cooperation in the Philippines.

A  two-day forum on 'Legal Preparedness for International Disaster Response in Philippines' was held in Manila on 17th and 18th of May co-hosted  by the Philippine Red Cross and Department of National Defence. A wide range of government departments participated in the forum, together with a number of UN Agencies.

Responding to calls for reform arising form the recent experience of Tropical Storm Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng, which affected thousands of people in the Philippines, the Philippines legislature has approved a bill to create a new “Act Strengthening the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System”. Final enactment of the bill currently awaits the President’s signature. We spoke to Catherine Martin, Director of Disaster Management Services at the Philippine Red Cross about her impressions of the new legislation.

As Typhoon Fengshen recently demonstrated, the Philippines remains prone to major disasters. For this reason, the Government has been updating its procedures for facilitating international assistance.

Following an agreement with Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Agency, (NDMA), the Pakistan Red Crescent Society and IFRC have initiated a project aimed at assisting the authorities to develop national guidelines for facilitating and regulating international disaster assistance.

Nepal has been struck by two major earthquake and countless aftershocks leaving destruction and despair throughout the country. 

On June 11th, the Nepal Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) convened partners to launch a new study by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on “Regulatory barriers to providing emergency and transitional shelter after disasters” in Nepal. 

In April 2013, a three-month study was launched in Nepal, looking at regulatory barriers to the provision of emergency and transitional shelter after disasters.

On November 30th, the Nepalese Ministry of Home Affairs and the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), supported by IFRC, co-hosted a workshop in Kathmandu, where NRCS’ legal department presented its draft “Legal Preparedness Study for Strengthening Legal and Policy Framework for International Disaster Response in Nepal."

We spoke to Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) Executive Director, Mr. Umesh Prasad Dhakal, about recent developments in Nepal and NRCS’s involvement.