ReliefWeb

Background

The dimensions, frequency, and complexity of natural disasters are increasing. No country is immune from this trend. Countries within the OSCE area, for example, have recently been hit by floods, tropical storms, and forest fires. Japan, an official OSCE “partner for cooperation,” has been devastated by an earthquake and tsunami, and Australia, another partner for cooperation, has been hit by heavy flooding. In other parts of the world, OSCE states have contributed to relief efforts in Haiti, Pakistan, and South East Asia, for example. Indeed, OSCE participating states are some of the biggest donors to humanitarian aid and the biggest providers of military and civil defense assets (MCDA) for disaster relief.

Recent experience shows the need for strengthening local, national, regional, and international capacities for preparedness and response to natural disasters. Significant challenges to improving response effectiveness include further developing regional and sub-regional mechanisms to assist neighbors in helping neighbors, especially in the use of foreign military and civil defense assets.

Is there a role for the OSCE? The purpose of an IPI workshop held in Vienna on May 19, 2011, was to look at what possible added value the OSCE (as a regional arrangement of the UN) could play in disaster relief, reflecting on existing commitments and experience, and taking into account the experience and mandates of other relevant actors in the OSCE area. The workshop was held on the eve of the V to V Ambassadorial Meeting on Natural Disasters. After providing a background on collective responses to natural and man made disasters within the OSCE, this meeting report reflects the discussions during the workshop.