BerkeleyLaw Library

Argues for the necessity of including "substantive input" from those displaced by Hurricane Katrina regarding relief, in accordance with the application of international principles.

Papers in French and English based on four weeks of addresses, debates, and collective understanding of the law as it relates to international catastrophes at the Hague under the aegis of the Hague Academy of International Law in 1995.

"The website is split into three main sections:

Emergency Preparedness

Advice for practitioners on the pre-emergency phase, with generic material on key frameworks (such as the Civil Contingencies Act) and disciplines (such as risk assessment and business continuity).

• Emergency Preparedness
• Civil Contingencies Act

Emergency Response and Recovery

Advice for practitioners on the post-emergency phase, with generic material on key frameworks (such as the UK Central Government Concept of Operations) and disciplines (such as care and treatment of people).

• Emergency Response & Recovery

Emergencies

Specific assessments and guidance in relation to the broad classes of emergency which our risk framework has identified." — About UK Resilience

"CDG is a new initiative launched by the Institute of Development Studies and Christian Aid investigating climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction governance at a national and sub-national level.

"CDG is currently focusing on four research themes. Each theme is a potential governance arena for linking climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction policy processes, institutional development, finance flows and policy implementation: (1) Citizen engagement and accountability in policy processes; (2) The role of established social protection policy instruments applied to differentiated vulnerability analysis; (3) Opportunities for building institutions for CCA, DRR and humanitarian assistance in fragile states; (4) Implications of international policy frameworks on national and sub-national responses to climate change and disasters.

"CDG will contribute to a better understanding of the extent to which international policies inhibit or support national and sub-national responses to climate change's research agenda by addressing critical gaps.

"In particular, CDG is examining the implications of international agreements reached under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the current and upcoming development phase of a post-Kyoto agreement." —About CDG.

Argues for the application of international legal principles protecting internally displaced persons to the situation after Hurricane Katrina.

"DFID produces many publications, such as white papers, reports and policy documents on the ways we fight poverty. Find what you need here." — Website

A site operated by the government of Indonesia and its Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) to support the rebuilding of Indonesia following the tsunami. Included are reports of the recovery efforts.

"This paper examines the violations by the United States of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with respect to the victims of Hurricane Katrina." —Abstract.

"The IHRC is an interdisciplinary research center focused on the mitigation of hurricane damage to people, the economy, and the built and natural environments."—About Us: IHRC.

"Economic theory suggests that countries should ignore uncertainty for public investment and behave as if indifferent to risk because they can pool risks to a much greater extent than private investors can. This paper discusses the general economic theory in the case of developing countries. The analysis identifies several cases where the government's risk-neutral assumption does not hold, thus making rational the use of ex ante risk financing instruments, including sovereign insurance. The paper discusses the optimal level of sovereign insurance. It argues that, because sovereign insurance is usually more expensive than post-disaster financing, it should mainly cover immediate needs, while long-term expenditures should be financed through post-disaster financing (including ex post borrowing and tax increases). In other words, sovereign insurance should not aim at financing the long-term resource gap, but only the short-term liquidity need."—Abstract.

"This article examines the principal therapeutic and non-therapeutic public health interventions for preventing or ameliorating pandemic influenza.... In each case, the hard, yet inevitable, legal and ethical questions are explored. Thereafter, the article provides several ethical values that can help evaluate public health interventions in anticipation of the next global health emergency."

"In the immediate aftermath of the December 2004 tsunami, the affected countries and their respective governments and civil society organisations had an opportunity to draw upon, and should have used existing humanitarian and human rights instruments to ensure that the dignity of those that survived is upheld.
...
"The intention of this compilation is to draw attention to some of the numerous existing international human rights instruments, including guidelines adopted by UN agencies that should form the basis for ongoing post-tsunami rehabilitation work. The standards provided for in these instruments could be used to ensure that a human-rights-based approach is upheld and not compromised in the multiple agendas of competing relief agencies. These standards must also be used to spread learning and education amongst all actors involved in the post-tsunami efforts such that everyone works for the same purpose: the speedy attainment of human rights for all who are affected."—Foreword, Miloon Kothari.

"This study examines some key issues about information support to policymakers that have arisen in the information age. The challenge of providing the right information to the right people has been compounded by the challenge of terrorism and shifts in governments' priorities and in governmental organization that deal with various threats to national and human security. This problem set is not unique to the United States, and the study looks at the European Union and selected EU member states as an important point of comparison, and as a critical partner for information sharing and problem solving.

"The Stimson Center, in collaboration with the Swedish Emergency Management Agency (SEMA)and the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis, embarked on a year-long exploration of three distinct information cultures ??? terrorism, public health, and natural hazards ??? to illuminate problems within and between those distinct expert communities in providing information to key decision-makers and crisis managers. We are grateful to SEMA and to DHS for their financial support, and for their expert participation in a series of workshops and conversations that contributed to this report. Several dozen people of diverse expertise, in government and out, agreed to be interviewed for this study, and we are indebted to them for the insights and information they provided.

"The Stimson team included: Julie Fischer, Senior Associate and director of our work on global health security, Jesper Gronvall, former representative of the Swedish Institute for International Affairs resident at Stimson, Aditi Hate, Research Associate, Rebecca Bornstein, Scoville Fellow, summer interns Amanda Greenland and Anita Ravishankar, and Peter Roman, former Senior Associate responsible for homeland security analysis." —Preface.

"This Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza further clarifies the roles and responsibilities of governmental and non-governmental entities, including Federal, State, local, and tribal authorities and regional, national, and international stakeholders, and provides preparedness guidance for all segments of society. The Plan addresses the following topics:

• U.S. Government Planning and Response
• International Efforts and Transportation and Borders
• Protecting Human Health
• Protecting Animal Health
• Law Enforcement, Public Safety, and Security
• Institutional Considerations"

— Preface

"Objective: To strengthen the capacity of the United Nations system to coordinate and support humanitarian assistance for disaster reduction and response through:

• Integration of programme, resource management and coordination, and
• Streamlining and standardization of operational, administrative and financial practices related to disaster reduction and response."

—Executive Summary.

"The word 'catastrophe' is used to signify a brutal event bringing large-scale death and destruction. In that sense, every armed conflict, every natural or technological disaster is a catastrophe. The present issue of the Review looks in particular at the threat of a nuclear, radiological, biological or chemical (NRBC) event. It further discusses the chance of mitigating a catastrophic event by developing emergency preparedness plans and the appropriate response capacity. As local capacities may often be insufficient to deal with a major crisis, international assistance is frequently required. As for NRBC weapons it is especially important to stimulate discussion on how governments can, perhaps together, counter these threats while they still remain hypothetical."—Description.

Contains links to various articles in the volume.

"This publication has been prepared under the direction of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  It sets forth joint doctrine to govern the activities and performance of the Armed Forces of the United States in joint operations and provides the doctrinal basis for interagency coordination and for US military involvement in multinational operations.  It provides military guidance for the exercise of authority by combatant commanders and other joint force commanders (JFCs) and  prescribes joint doctrine for operations, education, and training.  It  provides military guidance for use by the Armed Forces in preparing their appropriate plans.  It is not the intent of this publication to restrict the authority of the JFC from organizing the force and executing the mission in a manner the JFC deems most appropriate to ensure unity of effort in the accomplishment of the overall objective." — Preface

"This report examines U.S. humanitarian assistance in international crises and disaster situations. It considers the sources of U.S. government aid (including the governmental response mechanism), budget trends in humanitarian assistance, and issues for Congress. It does not specifically address the creation of a new Director of Foreign Assistance position at the State Department or the broader restructuring of U.S. foreign aid programs that are currently under way. The development of the FY2008 budget request will reportedly be a coordinated effort by joint State Department and USAID teams. While programmatic decision-making on refugee and humanitarian assistance may shift under the proposed foreign aid reform, it remains to be seen what affect this will have on existing procedures. This report will be updated as the restructuring initiatives evolve, or if in the meantime, the humanitarian response mechanism within the U.S. government changes."Summary.

"Cyclone Nargis struck the coast of Burma in the evening of May 2, 2008 and cut a path of destruction across the southern portion of the country. The storm left in its wake at least 22,000 dead, 41,000 more missing, and extensive damage to the nation's premier agricultural areas. Some have speculated that the final number of dead could reach 100,000. Vital infrastructure was destroyed by the storm, severely limiting the ability to assess the loss of life and provide assistance to the survivors. In addition, much of Burma's most productive agricultural land has been severely damaged; some experts expect that it will take up to two years for Burma's production of rice, seafood, pork and poultry to recover, and that the nation may facechronic food shortages and the need for international assistance for many months.

"Burma's ruling military junta quickly faced both domestic and international criticism for its response to Cyclone Nargis, including accusations that it failed to provide adequate warning, its slow emergency response, and its reluctance to allow international relief workers into the country. The United States has offered $3.25 million in relief aid, and is willing to send in relief teams, if they can secure the necessary visas from the junta.

"Even before Cyclone Nargis struck, the junta was already facing a highly controversial referendum on a proposed constitution scheduled for May 10, 2008 that could shape U.S. and other countries' policies toward Burma. As a consequence, the evolution and implications of the humanitarian crisis are inextricably linked to Burma's political situation and its relations with the international community. In a widely criticized move, although the military junta decided to postpone the vote for two weeks in some of the more damaged areas of Burma, it indicates it still intends to hold the constitutional referendum in most of Burma on May 10, 2008. Critics have called for the cancellation or postponement of the vote for all of Burma.

"In addition, some experts are speculating that Cyclone Nargis may precipitate major political change in Burma, including the destabilization of Burma's military regime. The junta was already under domestic and international pressure to cancel the constitutional referendum. Local dissatisfaction with the speed and quality of the junta's provision of emergency assistance may heighten domestic opposition to the junta and its proposed constitution. Also, rising food prices and food shortages may feed popular discontent, much like fuel price increases led to protests in Burma of September 2007.

"This report examines the scope of and response to the disaster, as well as its links to Burma's political situation and U.S. policy.

"The report will be updates as circumstances warrant." — Summary.

In May 2008, in response to the growing global food crisis, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) launched a task force to assess the rising humanitarian, security, developmental, and market impacts of rising food costs and shortages. Its cochairs, Senators Richard G. Lugar (R-IN) and Robert P. Casey (D-PA) charged the task force with identifying, by late July 2008, a feasible but bold plan of action that the Bush administration, the presidential campaigns, Congress, and the next administration could embrace on a bipartisan basis. The result, outlined in the following report, is an argument for modernizing and doubling emergency assistance, elevating rural development and agricultural productivity to be new foreign policy priorities, revising the U.S. approach to biofuels so that fuel and food security objectives are effectively de-conflicted, acting on an urgent basis to conclude the Doha Development Round, and creating a strategic U.S. approach to global food security that interlinks approaches to relief, development, energy, and trade and that is backed by new robust organizational capacities. —Synopsis.

Relatively few OAS states parties have signed this Convention, which provides for situations in which one country requests, or is offered and accepts, assistance in the face of the "disasters, catastrophes, and calamities that take and threaten the lives, safety, and property of the inhabitants of the American hemisphere" (Preamble).

This special issue includes a collection of 20 papers from around the world, 4 book reviews, a media review and and an annotated compilation of resources focusing on children and youth before, during and after disasters occur.

A four year update of country reports, accounts of the relief and rebuilding effort, the effects on children, and news, focused on the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004. Includes video reports.

"The Secretary-General proposed a number of reforms which, in particular, would enhance the capacity of the United Nations to respond promptly and comprehensively to situations of mass exodus, whether arising from armed conflict or from massive natural disasters like the tsunamis of 4 December 2004."—Summary. Although the report focuses on human rights, Part VI specifcially addresses mass exoduses caused by natural disasters.

"The ISDR aims at building disaster resilient communities by promoting increased awareness of the importance of disaster reduction as an integral component of sustainable development, with the goal of reducing human, social, economic and environmental losses due to natural hazards and related technological and environmental disasters."—Mission.

"The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has developed a new portal for emergency information from a traveller's perspective. The Tourism Emergency Response Network (TERN) aims to provide good, accurate and timely information about emergency situations and to focus on tourism related aspects and impacts. This includes dissemination of information from UN, government, industry, public, media and other relevant sources. It will serve as a reference point for involved public sector, private sector and civil society interests, as well as travelers themselves. They provide RSS feeds. The initial focus of the portal is on avian flu."—UN Pulse, November 8, 2006. A second focus is on tsunami disasters.

United Nations, Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters figures for worldwide natural disasters for 2007

"To be effective, early warning systems must be people-centred and must integrate four elements—(i) knowledge of the risks faced; (ii) technical monitoring and warning service; (iii) dissemination of meaningful warnings to those at risk; and (iv) public awareness and preparedness to act. Failure in any one of these elements can mean failure of the whole early warning system."—Executive Summary.

"...for use by firefighters, police, and other emergency services personnel who may be the first to arrive at the scene of a transportation incident involving a hazardous material. It is primarily a guide to aid first responders in (1) quickly identifying the specific or generic classification of the material(s) involved in the incident, and (2) protecting themselves and the general public during this initial response phase of the incident. The Emergency Response Guidebook is updated every three to four years to accommodate new products and technology."—BeSpacific Summary

This report focuses on the environmental effects of natural disasters that occur on the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Natural hazards adversely affect hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year and cause extensive property damage. In 2007, a year that was not considered an exceptional one for natural hazards, natural hazards caused an estimated 14,600 deaths and $70 billion in property losses. For that year, the insurance industry covered $23.3 billion in losses. In catastrophic loss years, such as 2005—the year that saw Hurricane Katrina—losses can be far greater. Scientific assessments indicate that climate change is expected to alter the frequency and severity of natural hazard events, and as a result, losses can be expected to climb. Given this scenario, examining policies that are used in other countries to reduce the loss of life and property caused by natural hazard events and examining insurance approaches that provide coverage for natural hazard losses can help identify practices in both areas that could benefit the United States. Similarly, given the ongoing challenges facing the United States, international cooperative efforts may provide instructive examples of risk management and disaster reduction."—Introductory Letter to Congressional Committee on Financial Services

"The present report first traces the evolution of the protection of persons in the event of disasters. Next, reference is made to the sources and international efforts to codify and develop the law on this topic. The report then presents in broad outline the various aspects of the general scope with a view to identifying the main legal questions to be covered. Lastly, the Special Rapporteur advances a tentative conclusion without prejudice to the outcome of the discussion that the report aims to trigger in the Commission." —Introduction

"There is now international acknowledgement that efforts to reduce disaster risks must be systematically integrated into policies, plans and programmes for sustainable development and poverty reduction, and supported through bilateral, regional and international cooperation, including partnerships. Sustainable development, poverty reduction, good governance and disaster risk reduction are mutually supportive objectives, and in order to meet the challenges ahead, accelerated efforts must be made to build the necessary capacities at the community and national levels to manage and reduce risk. Such an approach is to be recognized as an important element for the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration."—Preamble.