Download This PaperDisasters and Non-State Actors – Human Rights-Based Approaches
Disaster Prevention and Management (2017) 26/5, p. 526-539.
University of Groningen Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 27/2020
16 Pages Posted: 27 Aug 2020 Last revised: 23 Jun 2021
Date Written: November 6, 2017
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the roles and responsibilities of non-state actors (NSAs) in contributing to disaster governance from an international human rights law (IHRL) perspective. In particular, it examines how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and business enterprises are implicated.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper analyzes a range of IHRL instruments, particularly treaties and international soft-law documents, and it utilizes the concepts “human rights-based approaches” (HRBAs) and “direct”/“indirect” human rights obligations to frame and understand how IHRL responsibilities for NSAs arise from these instruments.
Findings: IHRL not only includes relevant standards for NSAs in the area of disaster management, but NGOs and businesses also actively engage with IHRL and HRBAs by means of (soft) self-regulatory instruments to further clarify their responsibilities.
Research limitations/implications: The findings are of interest to all actors involved in disaster governance, and are instructive for NGOs and businesses seeking to improve the design of disaster management activity. The research addresses only the responsibility of NGOs and private companies, but the framework of analysis set out is equally of interest to other actors’ activities.
Keywords: human rights, disasters, human rights-based approaches, HRBA, non-state actors, companies, NGOs, international human rights law
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