CYIL 2014

THE EXISTANCE OF THE RIGHT TO HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE …

affected in natural disasters, these regulatory frameworks were developed in a rather

fragmented and incomprehensive manner.

This trend continued with another unsuccessful attempt to develop and codify an

international legal regime for disaster relief in a comprehensive manner, this time by

the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator (UNDRO),

which in

1984 presented to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) the final draft

of the Convention on Expediting the Delivery of Emergency Assistance. The scope

of the Draft Convention was wide, as it covered natural and man-made disasters,

as well as a broad range of actors, including assisting States and intergovernmental

and nongovernmental organizations. On the one hand, considering its objective to

expedite the delivery of assistance in cases of disasters, it laid out detailed means by

which the receiving State should facilitate the entry and operation of international

relief operations in its territory, and on the other, it required aid providers to respect

the sovereignty and legislation of the receiving State, abstain from political and

commercial activities, and ensure appropriate and quality assistance.

Lacking

support, the draft Convention was never adopted. It is worth mentioning that the

International Red Cross opposed the draft Convention, as they feared that it over-

emphasized the sovereignty and control of the receiving State.

In the last few decades, institutional and legal initiatives in the field of international

disaster relief have been enhanced with the increasing frequency, intensity and complexity

of natural disasters and the awareness of international solidarity. The general desire to

strengthen international cooperation for the relief of suffering caused by disasters has

grown stronger, and many agencies of the UN system became active and equipped with

mandates to provide effective disaster relief.

In the course of time, the UN General

Assembly has passed a series of resolutions concerning disaster relief operations, the

protection and assistance to victims of disasters and the respect for their human

rights, which in general express international solidarity with the victims and call for

the promotion of legal, administrative and operational measures to facilitate and

expedite international relief assistance.

Major milestones in the area of international

The UNDRO was established in 1971 with UN General Assembly Resolution 2816 (XXVI) and is the

predecessor to the present-day Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Articles 3 and 5 of the Draft Convention on Expediting the Delivery of Emergency Relief, UN Doc

A/39/267/Add. 2-E/1984/96/Add.2.

Several individual entities within the UN and among its specialized agencies have specific mandates in

this area, particularly the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UNWorld

Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Children’s Fund

(UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the

UN Environmental Programme (UNEP), and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

See also Katoch, A., International Disaster Response and the United Nations, in:

International Disaster

Response Laws, Principles and Practice: Reflections, Prospects, and Challenges, International Federation of

the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

, Geneva, 2003, pp. 47-56; Tsui, E., Initial Response to Complex

Emergencies and Natural Disasters, in: Cahill, K. M. (ed.),

Emergency Relief Operations

, Fordham

University Press and the Center for International Health and Cooperation, New York, 2003, pp. 32-54.

Adopted UN General Assembly resolutions can be classified into two groups: those that deal with