PRAVNI ZAPISI • Year VI • No. 1 • pp. 52-84
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
Prof. dr Bogoljub Milosavljević
Redovni profesor, Pravni fakultet Univerziteta Union u Beogradu
e-mail: bogoljub.milosavljevic@pravnifakultet.rs
.
.
Pravni zapisi, No. 1/2015, pp. 52-84
Original Scientific Article
KEY WORDS
disaster risk reduction, prevention, preparedness, early warning, civil protection, international humanitarian aid, UN, EU, global, regional and bilateral cooperation, conventions, contracts, state of emergency.
ABSTRACT
Natural and human induced disasters have always been one of the biggest threats to human security, quality of life, material goods, the environment, society and the economy. Causes of disasters can have cross-border origins and their consequences can simultaneously affect multiple countries, whole regions, even the whole world. For an efficient response to disaster risks, besides local and national actions, international cooperation is very important and when disasters strike, the affected countries often cannot deal with their consequences without international assistance. Based on these considerations and needs, during the past quarter of a century, within the United Nations system and regional organisations, as well as on the bilateral plan, intensive cooperation has been developed. So far, it has resulted in the conclusion of a number of important conventions and a far larger number of bilateral agreements, and particularly in numerous resolutions, guidelines, guidebooks and other soft law instruments. The author analyses the basic results of international cooperation with an aim to identify the international obligations of the Republic of Serbia in the field of disaster risk reduction. Based on that, the author provides some recommendations important for the improvement of cooperation of the Republic of Serbia in this field and upgrading of the domestic legal and institutional framework.