‘Operational best practices regarding the management of human remains in a disaster situation’ was the theme of this workshop organised at Antananarivo on 19th May 2016 under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).


‘Operational best practices regarding the management of human remains in a disaster situation’ was the theme of this workshop organised at Antananarivo on 19th May 2016 under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Led by a forensic medicine expert from the University Hospital of Saint-Denis in Reunion Island who was made available by the Indian Ocean Regional Intervention Platform (PIROI), Madagascar’s National Office of Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC), and the Malagasy Red Cross Society (CRM), the workshop aimed to raise natural disaster management authorities’ awareness of the importance of operational best practices for dignified and respectful handling of the dead. Authorities represented included the National Gendarmerie, the National Police Force, the Ministry of Justice, various health facilities, the Faculty of Medicine of Antananarivo University, burial ground administrators, and Antananarivo Municipal Board of Health.
The meeting aimed to:

  • Present the results of an ICRC fact-finding mission conducted in 2015 on the existing national system for the management of human remains;
  • Alert participants to the importance of this issue in Madagascar;
  • Present and discuss the content of a field manual concerning human remains management.