دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی ساماندهی بلایای طبیعی: نقش حقوق بین الملل در جلوگیری از بحران - امرالد 2017

1.1. Introduction

The past few years have seen a remarkable shift in the acknowledgment of the role of law in the management of disasters. Importantly, the developing field of international disaster law (IDL) has moved from a strong focus on disaster response and relief, towards a more holistic view of the role of law in disaster prevention and management. The field, as is now developing, builds upon and around other areas of (international) law, such as international human rights law (IHRL) (IASC, 2011; Lauta, 2016), international environmental law (Stephens, 2016; Peel and Fisher, 2016), climate change law (Lyster, 2016), and international water law (Phan and Winkler, 2016). Rather than a coherent corpus of law, IDL, in its current form, can be considered an “overarching umbrella”, under which various areas of law are integrated into the context of disaster management (Breau and Samuel, 2016). One of the core challenges for scholars currently working in this multifaceted area of international law is how to account for its fragmented legal foundations, in order to achieve a more comprehensive account of IDL. Although this work is in its infancy, important progress has already been made through academic initiatives (see, especially, Breau and Samuel, 2016; Caron et al., 2014; Lauta, 2015; de Guttry et al., 2012) as well as through the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) International Disaster Law Programme.

4. Considerations for the future research agenda

Many issues come into mind when considering the future research agenda on law and disasters. We would argue that there is a need to continue to develop a more coherent corpus of IDL and to consider closely the place, role, and interpretation of various areas of law in disaster management. In addition to this, it would be beneficial to investigate the impact of national laws in the operations of disaster actors and the extent to which existing international instruments and guidelines are implemented into national law, policy and practice. In so doing, it is very important to closely collaborate with the wider disaster management community, so as to learn more about their practice on the ground. Further research topics could touch upon human rights in disasters, an area of burgeoning interest among scholars, but which is still in need of further clarification and development.

As suggested by Kristian Lauta, “research into the interlinkage between human rights and disaster management and its implications on the ground is presently missing, and should form part of the future research agenda for interested scholars” (Lauta, 2016). There is, indeed, a need to further investigate and exchange with disaster practitioners in this area, and much is to be learned on the implications of applying human rights on the ground. For example, how far do or should human rights permeate disaster management activities? Would this politicise disaster actors’ work? Would it limit their access to communities, causing greater harm than if such a sensitive issue would be simply left out? And would it be possible to conduct effective disaster management while turning a blind eye to human rights issues, such as patterns of discrimination against certain members of society? Bizzarri (2012) argues for the “need to increase sensitivity to diversity and inclusiveness in disaster management” and that “[t]his is currently more of a theoretical commitment than a practice in disaster management.