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As demonstrated by the floods of 2001 and 2007, Mozambique is a country highly vulnerable to disaster. However, while the country has made important progress in developing plans and institutional mechanisms for disaster response, it still lacks specific legislation to concretize its approach to disasters.

The importance of implementing good building codes has often been emphasised as a disaster risk reduction measure in countries prone to earthquakes.  However, the 7 November collapse of the 5-storey Melcom shopping centre in Accra, Ghana, highlights the importance of safe building more generally as a measure against such urban disasters.

In the first two weeks of March, a team of experts affiliated with the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) system visited the island nation of the Comoros on the invitation of the national authorities for a “preparedness mission” to assess the country’s systems for disaster response.

“We are gathered here today to gain a better understanding of international disaster response law and to introspect on our own legal preparedness.”

Tropical Cyclone Pam brought wide-spread devastation to the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu nearly two years ago. It also brought an outpouring of aid, including 70 shipping containers of unrequested goods from well-intentioned donors who hoped their collections of food, used clothes and household items would reach people in need.

Every year, millions of people in the South-East Asian region face the risk of losing their properties, belongings and even their lives to natural disasters. Having a solid plan and a law requiring the implementation of programmes and activities that reduces the impacts of disasters could help prepare communities and allow them to recover more quickly.

Disasters affect women, men, boys, and girls in different ways. Socio-economic conditions, traditional practices, and cultural beliefs, often mean that women and their children are disproportionately affected; facing increased risk of death, injury, loss of livelihoods and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

The prominence of gender inequality in disasters and exposure to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) after disasters are increasingly recognized.

“If we fail to plan, we plan to fail” – words that echoed across a meeting room in Juba, South Sudan during a Red Cross training workshop earlier in 2017.

In March 2015, Vanuatu was affected by the most intense cyclone in its and the Pacific’s recorded history – Tropical Cyclone Pam.