#2 Disaster Relief Review

Legal instruments such as laws, regulations, and decrees have an important role to play in facilitating coordination in both international and domestic disaster response operations. Some of the key functions that legal instruments can play are:

• Establishing government bodies with clear mandates for disaster preparedness and response

• Clearly outlining the respective roles and responsibilities of all actors, including non-governmental ones

• Identifying a list of non-governmental actors which the government does not intend to coordinate with

• Creating information-sharing mechanisms to ensure all actors have access to up-to-date information. 

According to what is stated by the International Disaster Response Law (IDRL), the role of the affected state is grounded on the principle of sovereignty and its related prerogatives. This implies that:

• The affected state does not retain a unilateral right to terminate international assistance if this is not agreed with the state actor providing it

• For international assistance to be provided legitimately, external actors shall obtain the consent of the affected state;

• The affected state should avoid situations of open-door policies which can lead to the provision of unnecessary assistance or congest the access routes to the affected areas

• The affected state could be justified in refusing external offers of assistance in cases in which they are not in line with humanitarian principles. 

The Sendai Framework is the current leading global policy instrument for DRR, and its main goal is to prevent the creation of new, and reduce existing disaster risk. The Sendai Framework:

• Was adopted in 2015 at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan, as an instrument creating binding obligations for the parties

• Was adopted in 2015 at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan, as a non-binding instrument addressing the risks provoked by a list of specific natural hazards

• Was adopted in 2015 at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan, as a non-binding instrument addressing the need to improve risk management in two sectors: land use and building codes

• Was adopted in 2015 at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan, as a non-binding instrument promoting multi-hazard, multi-scale and multi-sector approaches.

Today it is well acknowledged that both disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) can have direct and inter-twined implications not only in the adoption of sustainable development measures but also in other fields like:

• Food security

• Post-disaster Search and Rescue (SAR) activities

• Protection of particularly vulnerable categories of people

• Safety of ecosystems.

The “Bangkok principles on the implementation of the health aspects of the Sendai Framework for DRR” were adopted a year after the Sendai Framework. This document recommends states:

• The arrangement of mechanisms distributing health-related goods and services to international humanitarian organizations intervening in case of public health emergencies

• The systematic integration of health risks and biological hazards into Disaster Risk Management policies and plans

• The enhanced cooperation between health authorities and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen the country's capacity for disaster risk management for health

• The implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR), and the building of resilient health systems.