Oslo Guidelines
Also called: Guidelines on the Use of Foreign Military and Civil Defence Assets in Disaster Relief · Topic: Natural Hazards and Disaster Management in India · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Oslo Guidelines are United Nations rules on using another country's soldiers and civil defence teams in disaster relief. Their full name is "Guidelines on the Use of Foreign Military and Civil Defence Assets in Disaster Relief". The first version came out in 1994, and they were revised in 2007. They make two main points. First, the affected country leads relief on its own land. Second, foreign military help is a last resort: it should be asked for only when no civilian option can do the same job and only the military can meet a critical need. These rules matter because they keep disaster aid humanitarian and stop it from becoming an excuse for foreign troops to enter a country.
Example
After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, India ran Operation Maitri. Indian Air Force aircraft flew National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams into Nepal. An Army field hospital also worked next to them. Nepal's government stayed in charge of relief inside Nepal. The military did the job it does best, moving people and supplies quickly, and NDRF did the search and rescue. This is the kind of split the Oslo Guidelines describe.
Don't confuse with
- Sendai Framework (2015-2030): This is a UN plan for reducing disaster risk in general, with 4 priorities and 7 global targets. It does not deal with when foreign troops may be used.
- Quad HADR Guidelines (2022): These are rules for four countries working together on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) in the Indo-Pacific. They are not global UN guidelines, but they also require the affected country to ask for help before partners can act.