International conference: Civil protection and humanitarian aid facing disasters and crises together - Reinforcing cooperation on the field for a more efficient international response capacity

The conference will focus its attention on four main issues:

Coordination on the field

Recent international disasters and major crisis show that the number of actors on the field has considerably increased: civil protection authorities, military and private companies have joined the traditional humanitarian community. For this reason the issue of coordination is becoming more and more critical in order to avoid gaps and duplications. In this situation the overall coordination role
of the United Nations is essential to achieve the full effectiveness of the response.

- What is the level of cooperation so far?
- How can mistakes, gaps and duplications be avoided and what are the possible steps forward needed to enhance the level of response of the international community?

Civil-military cooperation/coordination

Civil-military cooperation/coordination is still a serious concern for the whole Humanitarian Community; however, the use of military forces in disasters is becoming ever more frequent. In recent years Civil Protections have offered possible examples of good practice in cooperation between the civilian and military components.

To what extent is such an interaction capable of facilitating the effort in providing relief, how canthose synergies be optimized in compliance with the principles of international humanitarian law, MCDA and Oslo guidelines?

International Disaster Response Law frame of reference

The increasing number of international operations following disasters causes a growing number of legal problems related to the response actions. Working without a clear legal framework in a complex environment is becoming more and more difficult; for this reason the International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) is becoming a key priority for the International Community.

- Is the current legal framework sufficiently developed?
- Do we still have gaps in the overall picture of the rules regarding the response to a crisis?

The role of Non Governmental Organizations and volunteers

Starting from different perspectives Civil protection and Humanitarian NGOs are today working together toward the same objective, aiming at achieving more effective results. Volunteers are also playing a major role both in the humanitarian and civil protection sector and in each of these fields many different good practices have been established worldwide.

- Is it time to mutually contaminate their way of thinking and working methodologies?
- How can their actions be made more effective?
- What role can they play in current and future major international disasters?