Protection in natural disasters

1. Protection in natural disasters Presentation to the IASC Weekly Meeting, Geneva 8 October 2008 CHD/PCWG

2. Protection in natural disasters • Background • Current challenges: • Substantive • Coordination • Programming • Funding • Tools CHD/PCWG

3. Protection in natural disasters • Background • Tsunami 2004 • Katrina 2005 • IDPs due to disasters have similiar protection problems as those displaced due to armed conflict, as well as specific ones • Problem not really recognised CHD/PCWG

4. Protection in natural disasters • RSG mission to Sri Lanka and to Thailand in March 2005 • Report • Request for guidelines on how to operationalisehumanrights in a humanitariancontext CHD/PCWG

5. Protection in natural disasters • IASC Operational Guidelines on the Protection of Persons Affected by Natural Disasters (June 2006) • Pilot Manual to the IASC Operational Guidelines CHD/PCWG

6. Protection in natural disasters • IASC Operational Guidelines • Take human rights framework and derive guidelines for front-line responders from it • Implications for structure • Challenge: all human rights are equal – how to prioritize? CHD/PCWG

7. Protection in natural disasters • IASC Operational Guidelines - structure • General Principles • Protection of life, security of the person, physicalintegrity and dignity • Protection of rightsrelated to basic necessities of life • Protection of othereconomic, social and cultural rights • Protection of other civil and politicalrights • A and D correspond to the ICCPR • B and C correspond to the ICESCR CHD/PCWG

8. Protection in natural disasters • Pilot Manual to the IASC Operational Guidelines: • Not an IASC document per se • Gives more background and content to the Operational Guidelines (legal background, operationalsteps) • Currently to berevised (RSG + PCWG) • Inputs welcomeuntil 30 October (send to diane.paul@broadstripe.net or rsg.idps@gmail.com) CHD/PCWG

9. Protection in natural disasters • Substantive challenges: • « Natural » disaster: Situation caused by the impact of hazards that overwhelms local, regional or national coping capacities • Challenge of « sudden » or « slow »; ie not giving enough time to prepare or go unnoticed; similiarity with low-intensity conflicts • Question of scale CHD/PCWG

10. Protection in natural disasters • Substantive issues: • Protection challenges go unrecognised (not the « usual » adversarial relationship with government as in the case of armed conflict) • Human rights language is seen as challenging and inappropriate (although is the only relevant legal framework apart from national legislation) • Correlation between length of time the effects of disaster last and increase in protection challenges CHD/PCWG

11. Protection in natural disasters • Coordination challenges: • In the framework of disaster response, most national governments have a strong coordination mechanism • Protection not integrated into it • International actors: • Not sollicited (majority of the cases) • No humanitarian/emergency background (majority of the cases) – are overwhelmed themselves CHD/PCWG

12. Protection in natural disasters • Coordination challenges: • Protection is difficult to get on the agenda • From a national perspective, need include several line ministries that traditionally are not involved in disaster response (justice, children, women, etc.) • Lack of international lead and partners CHD/PCWG

13. Protection in natural disasters • Structures at global level • PCWG: inclusion of protection in naturaldisasters in work plan for 2008 • Establishment of a focal point through the RSG to • Reviewexistingtools • PrepareSOPs for the establishments of protection clusters in disasterresponse situations • Help agencies (UNICEF, OHCHR) prepare for their substantive and coordinatingrole in the field • Working group within the PCWG CHD/PCWG

14. Protection in natural disasters • Structures are national level: • Protection cluster not systematically implemented • Minority of cases • Resistance on the international side, almost more than on the national side • Protection not seen as life-saving CHD/PCWG

15. Protection in natural disasters • Emergency response challenges: • Very few protection clusters • Rare inclusion in Flash appeals • Programming challenges: • In most cases, protection programming not part of usual business (developmentactors) • Need to includeit in disasterriskreduction and in emergency preparedness planning CHD/PCWG

16. Protection in natural disasters • Tools • Usual cluster tools • IASC Operational Guidelines and Manual • Decision flow for forced evacuation and relocation • Currently being adapted/developed: • Protection assessment framework (UNHCR/PCWG) • Guidelines on land, housing and property issues post-disaster (UNHABITAT/ER) CHD/PCWG

17. Protection in natural disasters • Tools: • Need to find tools that are suited to environment (speed) • Need to find assessment frameworks suited to environment and that include appropriate protection concerns CHD/PCWG

18. Protection in natural disasters Protection consists of strategies to • Recognise the vulnerabilities ahead of time • Act with the vulnerable persons (participatory assessment) • Reduce their vulnerability by influencing the • Time factors (moments when the risks are highest) • Places (where risks are highest) • Actors as source of • risk • protection CHD/PCWG