Understanding the need for legal framwork in disaster assistance
Statement delivered by Encho Gospodinov, International Federation delegate to the UN, to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Human Settlements, New York
07 June 2001



The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies approaches this special session of the General Assembly with a number of profound concerns. In our view, although there has been much good work done by governments, international organisations and NGOs since Istanbul, there are also areas of activity which continue to fall behind.

The Istanbul Declaration and the Habitat Agenda which was adopted at the same time carried with it the promise of real energy aimed at redressing what was identified by Heads of Government as the continuing deterioration of conditions of shelter and human settlements. A detailed agenda of commitments and undertakings followed, but now, we must ask ourselves whether much has changed.

The perspective of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is enriched by the observations, experiences and reports of over 180 member and observer National Societies, participating with us and the ICRC in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. We have also learned a great deal from discussions with other international organisations and with our colleagues in the non-governmental community.

We have been assisted in this work by the recognition the 1996 Habitat Agenda gave to disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness. Paragraph 176 (l) of the Agenda specifically invited governments at all levels to recognise, support and facilitate the "role of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and their member National Societies in disaster prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response at the local, national and international levels".

At the international level, we have developed several new tools to enhance the support we are able to provide to member Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in emergency situations, including:

FACT - field assessment and co-ordination teams. These are a standby core of experts in disaster assessment, co-ordination and operations start up ready to be deployed on a 24 hour notice. Key factors of success - speed and appropriateness of response. Their value have been demonstrated in the El Salvador and India earthquakes, essentially urban disasters, but also in the Southern Africa floods, and elsewhere. Much of the emphasis of this mechanism is on co-ordination - not least through establishing strong ties with agencies of the UN family, and particularly with the UNDAC teams.

ERU - emergency response units. Pre-packed, ready to be deployed units, covering areas such as mass water and sanitation, health - primary and in-patient clinics, telecom, logistics. The ERU's have been developed with strong involvement from the Secretariat of the International Federation in order to ensure that standards are established and adhered to, but the units themselves are primarily located within individual Red Cross and Red Crescent societies and kept in readiness by these. The ERU concept and practice has demonstrated its value in many situations - latest, in the India earthquake, where a combination of these enabled us to establish a large hospital within a very short time-frame. DMIS - disaster management information system. In pre-disaster situation the key to preparedness at all levels is analysis of information, prediction, anticipation, early warning. Similarly, during a disaster - when the situation is fluid - decision makers, operations managers across the globe in the RC/RC family, require information on assets, the changing operational environment, human resources, and other knowledge.

To achieve this, there is a need for better and more timely disaster management information. Much of such information is made available over the Internet or otherwise by the UN and by other institutions, but to ensure that we ourselves are able both to tap into this, "digest" it and to enable us better to share our information with others, we are currently developing interactive, Internet based systems, enabling users within the International Federation family to do a better early warning and analysis of disaster situations and trends, and maximise efficiency of response when it comes to it.

I will not dwell on what has happened on the governmental side since the adoption of this paragraph, except to observe that the response has been patchy. While our Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies are well-recognised for their role in disaster preparedness and response, and in other fields directly related to disaster itself, there has been less understanding of the part disaster preparedness must play in the setting of housing and construction standards.

For this reason, the International Federation has moved to review experiences and practices in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement with a view to making recommendations to the International Federation's Governing Board on better practices in the housing and construction field.

The Review was conducted with the assistance of an important cross-section of our National Societies, all of which have had tragic experiences with the impact of disasters on their human settlements, and demonstrated the depth of involvement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in housing and construction issues.

Among the recommendations of the Review, one which should be singled out at this Session, was that the International Federation should endeavour to use its weight for stronger advocacy on safe and fair shelter for. This, the Review concluded, should be addressed as a human rights issue.

Another, of particular significance for the future, is a suggestion that the International Federation might take an initiative promoting a "Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards Agreement". Such an agreement, if concluded, would commit governments, international organisations and NGOs to the provision of low cost solutions based on available knowledge, to prevent the loss of lives and livelihoods due to unsafe shelter.

Earthquakes provide the most graphic illustration of the links between inappropriate housing and aggravated outcome of disasters for the people concerned. Among many others, another example is provided by the floods that devastated Vietnam in 1999. A chapter in the forthcoming World Disasters Report shows that buildings that had been constructed using time-tested ancient techniques were much more resistant to the disaster than many of those built with "modern" concrete and other construction materials. The International Federation worked with the Vietnam Red Cross to provide as much shelter as quickly as possible to the suffering and vulnerable people in the area. In doing so, it found that the best results were obtained using ancient techniques, not only providing shelter but quickly re-establishing lifestyles which people were comfortable with, enabling them to rebuild their lives as well as their homes. A lesson from this experience is that housing is not just about shelter, it is about the socio-economic base for society.

The International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies through the very nature of its work, finds itself working wherever the world experiences disaster. We have accumulated a great deal of experience of the good and the bad in our 82 years of work in this field.

It was against this background that a chapter appeared in the World Disasters Report of 2000 and following the announcement of the President of the International Federation, Dr. Astrid Heiberg, in her speech to UN General Assembly, in New York on 27 November 2000, that the Federation was launching this initiative, analysing the present state of international law in the field of disaster preparedness and response. That chapter, which was written by an expert with the American Red Cross, drew a strong and favourable response from the international community.

The positive response was noted by the International Federation's Governing Board at its meeting in November 2000, and a group of experts was convened to discuss the issues. The group, comprising practitioners, experts, distinguished international lawyers and academics, met in February 2001 at the International Federation's headquarters in Geneva.

The outcome of the meeting was an affirmation that the study of International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) needs to be strengthened. Further, that the International Federation as an international organisation to bring the work to the attention of States as well as to the civil society groupings with which it has such valuable contact.

This venue, the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Human Settlements, is a most appropriate one for informing States of the work now under way on International Disaster Response Law. At the outset, we should state that it is the intention of the International Federation to integrate States into the study phases now about to begin. We are also most grateful for the support we have received from several parts of the United Nations system, especially the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA).

The essence of the IDRL study is that there is a need for a clear understanding of the legal framework within which disaster assistance is provided and used. There must be a visible and usable framework which enables mechanisms to provide responses to natural and technological disasters. It must be sensitive to the needs and wishes of both the providing and receiving States, as well as to international organisations and community organisations. It must respect the needs of the people whose right to dignity and life itself have been ruined.

The framework needs to take account of international law, both hard and soft. It must also take account of law and practice at regional and national levels. It should include those instruments which have become the benchmarks for good practice in regions and the world. Some of these have been endowed with legal status; some have gathered their force from usage. Among those which the IDRL study will consider are the Sphere standards and the Code of Conduct for Non-Government Organisations. Both are products of work generated by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The scope of the legal study has been left open, deliberately. The book should remain open while the study proceeds. But the experts who met in Geneva in February 2001 saw several issues as deserving of careful work. These include the need for laws and regulations to waive import, export and transit restrictions and duties for relief goods; waive over-flight and landing restrictions and duties; grant landing rights and facilitate telecommunications in emergency situations, waive visa and other immigration restrictions and provide for medical and other professional assistance directly benefiting disaster victims.

Relevant law exists in a number of international treaties and conventions, but it is a patchwork. It has never been assembled in a readable or faintly understandable form. A significant early step in the IDRL study will be the collation of existing law, and then its analysis together with the declaratory and other legal material.

This work will be conducted by experts, but the International Federation undertakes to ensure that States and others interested in the process will be kept fully informed of its evolution. This is not just because of the importance of the work: the International Federation fully appreciates that if the study exposes a need for holes in the law to be filled, or gaps to be plugged, that work will have to be considered by States.

This identification will derive from the International Federation's needs-based approach, taking stock of the experience of practitioners in the field. It will be supported by a new network of legal and academic advisers, to be drawn from the world's different legal and cultural systems – for our experience has been that much of what happens that is good happens because of the fundamental humanitarian values that drive so much for humanity. Law must not be allowed to restrict or constrain, especially in areas like this, and that is why our approach is to look for ways of developing law to remove obstacles.

The time-frame for this work has been designed around the value which would accrue to the exercise if it could be considered by States Party to the Geneva Conventions and their National Societies at the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent due to be held in Geneva in 2003. For this reason, the study phase should conclude with the publication of the collated legal and customary texts in mid 2002, allowing about 12 months for further consultations and other work at regional and international levels.

It is important, when considering an issue as significant as IDRL, to note that there has been a great deal of attention to some of the disaster sectors within an international legal context in recent years. None of what we are now launching will seek either to counter or distract from that work. What we are doing first is akin to assembling an inventory.

Meanwhile, the International Federation is committed to helping make the Tampere Convention, opened for signature on 18 June 1998, a reality. It is our hope that it will soon receive the requisite number of States party and enter into force.

Similarly, the International Federation is taking an active part in the consultations now under way towards the conclusion of an International Convention on Urban Search and Rescue. We appreciate and thank the UN Office for the Co-ordination of the Humanitarian Assistance for their invitation to participate in this endeavour and are happy to contribute to this with our long standing experience in Disaster Relief.

We will also ensure that Habitat in Nairobi is kept fully informed of this work as it proceeds. We would like Habitat and its network to be prime contributors to the IDRL exercise. We also hope that the lessons to be learned from the 2001 World Disaster Report, building on the IDRL chapter in the 2000 WDR, will galvanise States and civil society alike for the work which lies ahead.

The International Federation's regional and country delegations throughout the world, in co-operation with the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, will also be working actively to advocate for better responses to issues like housing and construction standards. With this in mind, we commit to continuing the work entrusted in us at Istanbul. Our mission in this respect is to mobilise the power of humanity for disaster prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response at local, national and international levels.