A/HRC/28/76
men; and it should not be forgotten that they often take care of their children and elderly
family members as well.
D.
Respect for cultural values
76.
Providing food and clothes requires taking into account traditional and cultural
practices. There is also a need to increase indigenous community awareness of support and
resilience, which are important for the recovery of livelihoods of the affected persons on
their own territory or on a new one. Information on universal design and accessibility
should also be considered and welcomed for persons with disabilities.
77.
Humanitarian kits responding to cultural practices and the needs of the population in
terms of food, kitchen, home and cleaning are indispensable. Support programmes for
nutrition should be designed in accordance with cultural requirements relating to food and
the nutritional needs of women, girls, children, including those with disabilities, and
targeted populations.
E.
Multilevel approach
78.
Humanitarian aid is based on legal and operational frameworks at the international,
regional, national and local levels, which therefore also calls for a multilevel approach to
facilitate the decentralization of such an emergency response.
79.
Since local governments and traditional authorities are normally the closest to the
affected populations, their experience and lessons learned should be considered for
emergency response planning and implementation. Municipal governments should make
reasonable efforts to ensure adequate and decent living conditions in shelters. To that end,
guidelines should be elaborated and published for managing shelters, and identify areas
where special attention is necessary in assisting vulnerable groups.
80.
A regional approach is also necessary, given that regional organizations and
mechanisms have significant expertise and resources to offer when dealing with disaster
situations. Regional initiatives in humanitarian aid should also be taken into account.
81.
Disaster prevention and disaster risk reduction include practices to prevent serious
human rights violations and to avoid the historical accumulation of violations of economic,
social and cultural rights, including the right to food.
VIII. Challenges
82.
The main challenge is to develop humanitarian responses and actions by States and
specialized, global and national initiatives that fully take into consideration the protective
legal framework granted by international human rights law, international humanitarian law
and other relevant branches of international law. A human rights-based approach is
important because it insists on rights-holders and duty-bearers. By putting the needs of
victims at its centre, international humanitarian law is not less important. It further
strengthens the protection and assistance afforded to affected populations. They should
frame, with other relevant branches of international law, all humanitarian work related to
disasters and conflicts. Furthermore, both international humanitarian law and international
human rights law support the recognition and prosecution of grave human rights violations
or serious violations of international humanitarian law in the context of armed conflict. If
humanitarian assistance is not based on such a framework, there is a risk that this approach
will be too limited and not integrate all the basic needs of affected people in the wider
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