National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) incollaboration with the ECOWAS Commission’s Department of Social Affairs and Gender has concluded a three-day stakeholder engagement to strengthen the coordination mechanism and data collection for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in The Gambia.
The engagement targets to strengthen capacity of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction to enable ECOWAS member states to establish multi-sectoral groups to handle disaster risk reduction in their countries in a more coherent and systematic approach.
Funded by the European Union (EU), the forum was held at a hotel in Kololi and brought together stakeholders and members of the national platform on DRR and members of National Disaster Management Council.
Deputy permanent secretary at the Office of the Vice President, Bintou Gassama, said Gambia has been part of few countries in 2011 that were chosen as pilot projects for the establishment of the National Platform. “The aim was to strengthen disaster management institutional framework through awareness creation among stakeholders and provide technical services through preparation of DRR programmes and mobilizing resources,” she said.
According to her, disaster management coordination is the most challenging issue facing Gambia’s National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), saying that is partly because of the transfer of the institution from one sector to another at some point. “This crippled communication and its strategic management brought in a conflict of interest and competition over its mandates among other factors. We will work as a government to change this situation.”
Executive director of NDM, Sanna Dahaba, said the forum is expected to propose policy ideas to strengthen disaster management capacities in the country and highlight operational activities and strategies needed for increased accountability. “It will also facilitate the participation of all relevant sectors and stakeholders in the disaster management system of the country.”
He said the role of local communities, local authorities, civil society organisations and the private sector along with increased regional and global cooperation initiatives in the country targets to secure greater financial support an transfer of technologies that can build national and local capacities in disaster mitigation and risk management.
Vabah Kazakh Gayflou, representative of the ECOWAS Commission commended the government and NDMA for operationalizing the ECOWAS policy on DRR, saying any national policy that is at variance with international standards can have serious implications for the conduct and realization of disaster management goals and strategies.
“It is noteworthy that significant steps have been taken by relevant stakeholders at national, regional and global levels to minimize the dastardly effects of disasters, hence the poor and most vulnerable including women and girls suffer disproportionately during disasters,” she added.
