IDRL Virtual Exhibition

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Disaster law

Virtual exhibition

2023

Prepare, Be Ready, Respond:
Advocating for effective disaster laws

A Red Cross Virtual Exhibition

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Resources

The Virtual Exhibition

Introduction to Disaster Law: Legal preparedness for disasters

Jessie Jordan of the IFRC describes disaster law as a foundation for effective disaster risk management. She explains the development of the IDRL Guidelines and other tools developed by IFRC, and its relevance to the Caribbean.

For an effective disaster risk management framework, laws and
policies are critical to ensure institutions are properly established, actors understand their roles and responsibilities, resources are properly allocated, and compliance and coordination mechanisms are in place. Gaps within the legal and policy framework can reuslt in communities being more vulnerable to risk, ultimately resulting in more serious disaster impacts and greater challenges in coordinating response and reduced capacities to recover quickly.

IFRC has developed key guidance documents to support states to strengthen their disaster laws and policies.

Click the Resources button to access IFRC's key guidance documents for Disaster Law.

Resilience building post Hurricane Maria: Cultivating a culture of disaster risk reduction

Don Corriette of the Dominica Red Cross explains how the Red Cross helped farmers get back to their farms after Hurricane Maria destroyed their livelihoods.

One of the ways to build resilience in communities is to develop a culture of disaster risk reduction. Laws and policies can help to mainstream disaster risk reduction into all aspects of the country's development agenda. It can provide incentives for reducing risk, by encouraging better land use and building practices, promoting behavioural change through education and promoting a culture of compliance with safety codes and regulations.

Click the Resources button to access disaster law reports for Dominica on Disaster Risk Reduction and International Disaster Response Law.

Revisiting La Soufriere: Legal facilities for humanitarian actors

Dora James of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Red Cross recounts her experience the day of the eruption, the preparations for evacuation and the aftermath.

To avoid bottlenecks in the humanitarian supply chain and to ensure standards of quality in providing disaster relief, it is recommended that legal facilities, like tax exemptions, be provided only to trusted humanitarian actors. Eligibility to receive legal facilities should be based on specific criteria and can be established pre-disaster. This criteria should assess whether the humanitarian actor has the capacity and willingness to abide by the laws of the affected state, and a proven track record for maintaining minimum standards of quality in delivering humanitarian assistance.

Click the Resources button to access the St. Vincent and the Grenadines International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) Report.

Resources

Highlights of the Caribbean IDRL Workshop (Nov 2021)

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Creating a network to advance IDRL in the Caribbean

Recognizing the need to continually improve and adapt to the increasing complexities of disasters, the IFRC and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the French Red Cross, PIRAC held a virtual: Caribbean International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) Workshop on November 17-19, 2021.

Within the framework of an INTERREG “READY Together” Project, which seeks to enhance disaster resilience in the Caribbean, this workshop was conceptualized to examine ways in which the existing regional framework and its mechanisms can be strengthened through IDRL principles. Taking into consideration the doctrine of Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM), this workshop aimed to facilitate the advancement of a Caribbean perspective on regionally appropriate regulatory standards that are aligned to current international best practices in IDRL.

A key outcome of this workshop was the commitment between IFRC and CDEMA to establish an IDRL Working Group which would be responsible for advancing the recommendations of the workshop through the development of Caribbean protocols and regulatory standards for the strengthening of the existing regulatory framework in the area of international humanitarian assistance. This would include the development of a regional IDRL protocol or regulation. This IDRL Working Group was eventually established in September 2022.

Ariel Kestens

Head of Delegation for the Dutch and English-speaking
Caribbean, IFRC urges states to consider how IDRL principles can enhance domestic and regional capacities for international humanitarian assistance.

Elizabeth Riley

Executive Director, CDEMA acknowledges the need to update the current Model CDM Legislation of 2013 based on new research, experiences and lessons learned over the past decade.

Terez Curry

President of The Bahamas Red Cross, describes how
the Red Cross helped in the management of dead bodies to ensure there was dignity for the many unidentified bodies in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

Tania Chambers

Legal Consultant, analyses how Caribbean disaster
laws and policies are not scaled to manage a major disaster event and proposes recommendations to address the risks associated with an influx of humanitarian actors.

Anwar Baksh

Planning and Development Officer, Office of Disaster
Preparedness and Management (Trinidad and Tobago) shares how the sessions of the workshop positively impacted the work of the ODPM to identify gaps within its regulatory framework and support the ongoing work to develop a new CDM policy and legislation.

The Red Cross Virtual Exhibition is funded by the READY 360 Project led by the French Red Cross, through its Regional Intervention Platform for the Americas and the Caribbean (PIRAC), co-funded by the INTERREG Caribbean Program under the European Regional Development Fund.

Website designed by CADRIM, IFRC

Prepare, Be Ready, Respond: Advocating for effective disaster laws

The Virtual Exhibition

Creating a network to advance IDRL in the Caribbean

Prepare, Be Ready, Respond:
Advocating for effective disaster laws