1. Disaster: some facts and figures
In the last two and a half decades, the world community has
witnessed a sharp increase in both the number of non-armed conflict
disasters and their impact.
In the ten years between 1980 and 1990, 2073 disasters affected
1.3 billion people and caused an estimated damage of over 186
billion USD. In just the first six years of the new millennium,
the figures have already risen to 3520 disasters, affecting
1.7 billion people with damage exceeding 450 billion USD.
Disasters hit everywhere, affecting both developing and developed
countries as hurricane Katrina made clear. Disasters pose an
imminent threat to sustainable development, pushing vulnerable
populations below the poverty line and exacerbating difficulties
faced by those already living in poverty. As such, they can
reverse any progress achieved in realising the Millennium Development
Goals.
Today it is an indisputable fact that the number of disasters
will increase as climate change and global warming generate
more severe weather-related events.
Again, these disasters will mostly affect the vulnerable, the
elderly and sick; the poorest of the poor in the poorest countries.
Those who contribute the least to the problem of climate change.
As the world's largest humanitarian network, the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has
always been committed to ensuring that those affected by disasters,
particularly the most vulnerable, receive the necessary relief
in a timely, effective and well-coordinated manner.
As is well-known, the majority of natural disasters are successfully
addressed domestically by national authorities and local civil
society.
However, there are disaster situations that exceed national
coping capacities, where a request for international assistance
becomes necessary.
In these cases, a pre-existing adequate national legal framework
that determines how international assistance will be initiated,
facilitated, coordinated and regulated can maximise the capacity
of international assistance to save lives and alleviate the
suffering of disaster-affected victims.
The need for appropriate regulatory frameworks and policies
is for instance heavily underlined in the 2005 Hyogo Framework
for Action on Disaster Reduction.
It was already highlighted in the 28th International Conference
of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in 2003, which took account
of the interest expressed earlier by Governments through UN
General Assembly resolution 57/150, adopted in 2002 and asked
States to work in cooperation with their respective National
Societies and the International Federation to review existing
disaster management laws.
The International Disaster Response Laws, Rules and Principles
(IDRL) Programme was officially mandated to lead collaborative
efforts, involving States, the United Nations and other relevant
bodies, in the area of research and advocacy on the laws, rules
and principles applicable to international response to non-armed
conflict disasters.
2. Common operational challenges in the absence of legal
preparedness
Our research and consultations have identified many issues of
importance.
First of all, at an international level, the regulatory framework
for international response to disasters is disparate and composed
of heterogeneous instruments of varied scope, weight and geographic
coverage. In addition, international legal instruments are insufficiently
known and applied at the national level.
Turning to the topic of my presentation today, domestic laws
are ill-equipped to address the common legal issues arising
in international disaster response.
In fact, national disaster management legislation rarely comprehensively
addresses the issue of how international aid will be initiated,
facilitated, coordinated and regulated.
In the absence of adequate national legal preparedness, ordinary
legislation not adapted to the needs and urgency of a disaster
situation often continues to be applied.
Alternatively, ad hoc measures are taken to correct the inadequacies
of ordinary legislation, but in a crisis situation these are
usually not well disseminated and moreover frequently revised.
In still other cases, the doors are thrown open to all international
actors and their numbers tend to overwhelm rather than complement
domestic response mechanisms.
As a result, two main types of legal challenges have consistently
arisen in major international disaster operations.
Before aid reaches disaster-affected victims, providers of humanitarian
relief often face a myriad of legal questions. International
actors for instance, grapple with bureaucratic procedures which
are not adapted to the circumstances imposed by an emergency.
The result is: obstacles in the import of relief goods and equipment,
delayed or refused entry of relief personnel, difficulties to
obtain work permits, inability to acquire a domestic legal personality,
problems with the use of vehicles and proscriptive taxation.
Affected Governments, on the other hand, frequently make known
their discontent with problems such as inappropriate aid, incompetent
international relief workers, disrespect for cultural traditions
or local capacities, and the failure to coordinate.
You must all have heard the stories of the Father Christmas
jackets sent as part of the tsunami response, or high-heeled
shoes and Viagra. Similarly, there is no point sending expired
medicine or tuna fish to nomadic populations who loath the sight
of fish.
These two types of challenges, respectively facing providers
and receivers cause delays, add subsidiary costs and most importantly
affect the ability of international and local aid workers to
provide life saving assistance in humanitarian emergencies.
They underline the necessity for an international re-affirmation
of the minimum facilities and quality standards needed to provide
effective relief, especially in the present context of a changing
international disaster response community, characterised by
a proliferation of increasingly diverse actors.
3. What are the guidelines for Domestic facilitation and regulation
of international relief and initial recovery assistance?
In follow up to its mandate received by the 28th International
Conference, the International Federation's International Disaster
Response Laws, Rules and Principles (IDRL) Programme will report
back to this year's 30th International Conference in November
and present recommendations on how the existing legal framework
for international disaster response might be strengthened.
We are currently looking to include Guidelines for the domestic
facilitation and regulation of international relief and initial
recovery assistance.
These are a proposal to address the need for speedy and efficient
international response to disasters through the establishment
of efficient national legal frameworks and seek to serve, in
fact, as a useful tool for guidance for domestic authorities
who wish to develop or improve their national framework on international
disaster response.
As the name indicates, the Guidelines are to be a non-binding
document, including a restatement of the main principles relating
to international disaster response that have been adopted by
States over the last two decades.
The Guidelines would apply to slow and rapid onset disasters,
whether natural or man-made, for which international relief
and initial recovery assistance has either been requested or
accepted by the Government.
They would not cover armed conflict or situations in which IHL
is applicable.
The Guidelines seek to strike a right balance between the needs
of various actors involved.
As such, they suggest legal facilities for eased entry and operation,
while linking those to compliance with minimum humanitarian
and quality standards, as well as safeguards for governments
providing these facilities.
Let me explain briefly the essence of the content.
The first Part addresses Core Responsibilities.
Article 3 (Responsibilities of Affected States), spells out
the primary responsibility of the Affected State to address
a disaster on its territory, as well as its sovereign right
to coordinate, monitor and regulate international assistance.
Article 4 Responsibilities of Assisting Actors, sets out fundamental
principles and minimum humanitarian and quality standards by
which any assisting actor should abide. It reads:
"Assisting actors should ensure that their disaster relief
and initial recovery assistance is:
a) Allocated solely in proportion to needs and on the basis
of needs assessments;
b) Provided without any adverse distinction (including as to
nationality, race, religious beliefs, class, gender and political
opinions) to all persons in need;
c) Provided without seeking to further a particular political
or religious standpoint or obtain commercial gain;
d) Commensurate with the expertise of their personnel and their
organizational capacities;
e) Provided in accordance with applicable national and international
law; and
f) Provided in coordination with the responsible authorities
of the affected State.
To the greatest extent practicable, assisting actors' disaster
relief and initial recovery assistance should also be:
g) Provided in coordination with other relevant domestic and
foreign actors;
h) Culturally appropriate, adequate for the needs of affected
persons and in compliance with any applicable international
standards of quality;
i) Responsive to the special needs, if any, of particularly
vulnerable groups, which may include displaced persons, women,
children, persons with disabilities, persons living with HIV
and other debilitating illnesses and the elderly;
j) Carried out with adequate involvement of affected persons,
including women, in their design, implementation, monitoring
and evaluation;
k) Building upon and conducted in a manner that strengthens
local disaster relief and recovery capacities;
l) Carried out so as to minimize negative impacts on the local
economy, markets, and environment.
Part II addresses Early Warning and Preparedness:
expeditious sharing of information about disasters; the need
for comprehensive legal, policy and institutional frameworks
for disaster preparedness - which also address initiation, facilitation
and regulation of international assistance - as an essential
element of disaster risk reduction; and relates to how donors
and other relevant actors should support and build domestic
capacity.
Part III deals with Initiation and orderly termination
of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance.
With regard to the former, initiation, it stipulates that international
disaster assistance should be initiated on the basis of a request
or acceptance of an offer, both of which should be as specific
as possible as to the types of goods and services concerned
and needed.
With a view to ensuring speedy and efficient international response
to disasters, Part IV on Procedures for Granting Legal
Facilities pertains to the procedures for granting
legal facilities to respectively, Assisting States and Assisting
Humanitarian Organisations. With regard to the Assisting Humanitarian
Organisations, minimum eligibility criteria, including a demonstrated
willingness and capacity to comply with the core responsibilities
of international actors are spelled out.
Finally, Part V: mentions in detail the type of legal
facilities to be provided to Assisting States and eligible Assisting
Humanitarian Organizations in times of disaster relief
and initial recovery. As such it refers to: personnel, goods
and equipment, special goods and equipment, transport, domestic
legal personality, taxation, security, extended hours, diversion,
costs and liability.
The current text of the Draft Guidelines integrates feedback
from a first round of informal consultations and comments provided
by the Asia-Pacific Forum on IDRL, held in Kuala Lumpur last
December. This draft will be refined through a series of consultations,
including:
• Upcoming regional multi-stakeholder forums on IDRL (Americas
Forum on 23-24 April and Pan-African Forum on 14-15 May)
• Red Cross and Red Crescent Regional and Sub-Regional
Meetings (Arab Secretariat, Mediterranean, European and Inter-American)
• Bilateral and multi-stakeholder consultations with Red
Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, Governments and Permanent
Missions, International Organisations and NGOs, and relevant
bodies and networks.
We look forward to this continued consultation process with
a view to presenting this work to the 30th International Conference
of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
In this context, we highly appreciate feedback and input on
the draft, so we can continue to voice together our common mission
and commitment. |
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