Legal Disaster Risk Reduction Cooperation During Ecuador's Earthquake

In 2010, Haiti's 7.0 magnitude earthquake resulted in more than 200,000 deaths and more than one million homeless. This event recaptured the attention of international society regarding disaster-related governmental policies and legislation. In 2011, Resolution 7 of the International Conference of the Red Cross reiterated the urgency for states to be prepared to facilitate and regulate any international disaster assistance, using the Guidelines for the domestic facilitation and regulation of international disaster relief and initial recovery assistance (also known as the "IDRL Guidelines"). The International Conference adopted these guidelines in 2007; nevertheless, several countries did not implement the recommendations of the IDRL guidelines before the Haiti earthquake. Such was the case of Ecuador, which, after 2010, began to work on the implementation of the IDRL guidelines. In the beginning, public officials were very skeptical about the IDRL Guidelines as a tool for mitigating the consequences of disasters.