A/HRC/28/76 I. Mandate and introduction 1. In its resolution 22/16, the Human Rights Council requested the Advisory Committee to prepare a research-based report on best practices and main challenges in the promotion and protection of human rights in post-disaster and post-conflict situations. 2. At its eleventh session, in August 2013, the Committee established a drafting group composed of the following experts: Chinsung Chung, Latif Hüseynov, Vladimir Kartashkin, Katharina Pabel, M. Cecilia Rachel V. Quisumbing (Rapporteur), Anantonia Reyes Prado (Chairperson) and Imeru Tamrat Yigezu. Subsequently, Karla Hananía de Varela, Kaoru Obata and Ahmer Bilal Soofi also joined the drafting group. 3. At its twelfth session, in February 2014, the Committee decided to appoint Ms. Reyes Prado as Rapporteur and Mr. Hüseynov as Chairperson of the drafting group. At its thirteenth session, in August 2014, the Committee designated Mr. Soofi as Chairperson of the drafting group to replace Mr. Hüseynov. The Committee also recommended that the Human Rights Council extend the time for the submission of the progress report, a recommendation that the Council endorsed in its decision 26/116. The Committee therefore presented the progress report to the Council at its twenty-seventh session.1 4. Pursuant to Council resolution 22/16, the Committee sought the views and inputs of Member States and various stakeholders. Questionnaires were prepared and disseminated in September 2013 to all Member States and to representatives of civil society and other stakeholders requesting information on experiences, best practices and main challenges faced in the promotion and protection of human rights in post-disaster and post-conflict situations. A total of 39 responses were received, including from countries that experienced post-disaster and post-conflict situations (see paras. 48 – 70 below). 5. In February 2014, the Committee, pursuant to paragraph 2 of Council resolution 22/16, decided also to seek the views of United Nations agencies. No replies were, however, received. II. Scope 6. The title of the Committee’s mandate suggests commonalities between post-disaster and post-conflict situations, which can be found in the fact that both can represent a critical threat to the health, safety, security or well-being of a community or large group of people. The Committee has therefore adopted a holistic human rights approach to post-disaster and post-conflict situations, in terms of applicability of other branches of international law, including international humanitarian law, refugee law and international criminal law, with a view to strengthened protection. 7. A post-disaster or post-conflict situation starts immediately after a disaster has occurred or after the end of a conflict. It ends once the right to life and the security, physical integrity and dignity of the affected population is protected again and the population has recovered its rights related to basic necessities of life, including economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. Some reflection is needed on the meaning of recovery of civil life, namely whether the restoration of the status quo ante would suffice, 1 The members of the drafting group are grateful to Veronica Sagastume, Programme Coordinator of Norwegian Church Aid in Guatemala, and leader in the ACT Alliance Forum in Guatemala, for her important input during the drafting of the present report. 3