Protecting rights of natural disaster victims

Muddied tsunami survivors carry items from their destroyed homes in Indonesia in 2005 Keystone

A leading human rights specialist says the United Nations has scored its first success in efforts to improve conditions for victims of natural disasters.

Switzerland’s Walter Kälin, representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, told swissinfo the aim was to reduce the number of victims by better preparing people living in high-risk areas.

Working together with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the expert has established guidelines to improve the rights of those affected by natural disasters.

“We are now seeing the first success thanks to the implementation of these norms,” Kälin explained.

“In Mozambique, for example, through the creation of an alarm system and implementation of evacuation drills the number of victims of a natural disaster has been reduced from a few hundred to a few dozen,” he added.

One of the world’s poorest countries, Mozambique is often affected by flooding, with farmers hardest hit, losing both their homes and fields.

Included in the improved preparations from the government’s side is the timely delivery of medications, food and water to affected regions.

In most cases, Kälin said, emergency aid from abroad also gets to victims quickly, in part thanks to the new UN Central Emergency Response Fund (Cerf), which is supported by Switzerland.

Indifference

Human rights violations committed against displaced persons following natural disasters are often the result of indifference or neglect rather than intent, he said.

The number of recorded natural disasters has doubled over the past 20 years. Part of the increase is due to improved reporting but climate change is largely responsible.

The Swiss legal expert said one of the visible impacts of climate change is the increasing numbers of persons displaced by natural disasters. Last year alone 234 million people were affected by more than 400 natural disasters with more than 16,000 lives lost and millions displaced.

“Tropical storms and flooding have become the norm in countries like Honduras, Mozambique and Madagascar.”

However the international community is only partially equipped to face this challenge, Kälin said. “We must find an adequate humanitarian solution to deal with this development in the long term.”

Displaced persons often receive no support to restart their lives, since most aid is either directed at saving lives immediately following a disaster or classic development projects.

“The displaced are marginalised. They have almost no chance at generating income because they don’t have the necessary means, such as tools or seeds.”

Often only small sums are needed to have great impact and get people standing on their own two feet again.

And Kälin can already imagine the creation of a fund similar to Cerf that would assist displaced persons in rebuilding their lives.

swissinfo, based on an article in German by Rita Emch

Walter Kälin, UN representative

The representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons was appointed at the request of the Commission on Human Rights to address the human rights issues of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

His mandate calls upon him to engage in dialogue and advocacy with governments and other actors concerning the rights of IDPs, strengthen the international response to internal displacement, and mainstream human rights throughout the UN system.

Kälin’s activities include promoting and disseminating the rights articulated in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, undertaking country visits, engaging governments and other actors with regard to specific situations of internal displacement, and reporting annually to the Commission on Human Rights and General Assembly.