Good legislation is critical to reducing disaster and climate risks. Law can set the stage for early warning, financing, community empowerment and accountability – or it can obscure and obstruct the necessary steps.
Laws and regulations serve as a foundation for building community resilience. They are essential to reducing existing risks posed by natural hazards, preventing new risks from arising and making people safer. In 2005, the Hyogo Framework for Action highlighted the importance of good legislation to support disaster risk reduction (DRR). The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, adopted in March 2015, calls for a renewed focus on reviewing and strengthening legal frameworks.
In light of this international guidance, many countries have sought to strengthen their laws and regulations for DRR and have been asking: what should good legislation say about DRR?
Since 2012, The IFRC and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have been working on a joint project to research, compare and consult on the efforts of various countries to strengthen how their laws support the reduction of disaster risks, particularly at the community level. In June 2014, they launched a major new study examining 31 countries and in December 2015, they launched a new tool, The Checklist on Law and Disaster Risk Reduction and its accompanying guide, The Handbook on Law and Disaster Risk Reduction, to provide practical guidance on this area of law.
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Case Studies
- A seat at the table: inclusive decision-making to strengthen local resilience
- From law to action: Saving lives through International Disaster Response Law
- Samoa: Strengthening Protection, Gender and Inclusion in Disaster Law
- Disaster Law in Action: Uganda Case Study
- Disaster Law in Action: Malawi Case Study
Press releases
News stories
Wednesday, April 24, 2019 A two-day high-level gathering on localisation of effective disaster management was recently organised by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, The Gambia Red Cross Society, National Disaster Ma …
You know about academics and practitioners, but have you heard of the word “pracademics”? This was the catch word of participants and guests at the two-day “2018 Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Governance Academic Seminar” held at the Tha Pra Chan Campus …
The IFRC Disaster Law Programme, in primary partnership with ASEAN and Thammasat University, will be holding the 2018 Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Governance Academic Seminar on 24 -26 September 2018 at Thammasat University, Tha Pra Chan Campus, Bangko …
The Sudanese Red Crescent (SRC) Society has been advocating for the development of a comprehensive legislative framework for Disaster Risk Management and Disaster Risk Reduction in the country since 2015. With the support of the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the SRC has been carrying out a disaster law study to analyse the existing relevant legal and institutional frameworks in country. The draft report was presented at a one-day workshop on the 25th of April in Khartoum.
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Archive of disaster law news stories from our old website.
Related documents
See more at the Disaster law document library
Chaque année, plusieurs pays d’Afrique organisent des élections présidentielles et/ou parlementaires nationales. Malheureusement, certaines d’entre elles génèrent des tensions et de la violence pendant la campagne électorale, le jour du scrutin et/ou a …
Every year, several countries in Africa have national presidential and/or parliamentary elections. Unfortunately, some of them generate tensions and violence during the campaign period, voting days and/or after the elections. As part of their mandate, …
Document archive
Archive of disaster law publications from our old website. Please bear with us as we bring the documents onto our new platform.