The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has commenced training of its staff and States Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) on critical aspects of disaster management for efficient service delivery to save lives and property.
A statement signed by Head of NEMA’s Press Unit, Manzo Ezekiel said this was to further strengthen capacity for flood response and other disasters in the country.
The training is part of a sustained effort by NEMA under the leadership of the Director General, Mustapha Habib Ahmed aimed to reposition the Agency towards efficient delivery of its mandates in timely coordination of disaster management in the country.
At the opening of the training in Abuja on Tuesday, the Director General said that it was designed to strengthen the capacity of NEMA and SEMA officials in Humanitarian Coordination Mechanism; Disaster Management Cycle and Institutional Capacity.
He said it would also equip them in the area of Resource Mobilization; Information Management; Community Based Disaster Management; Search and Rescue; Incident Command System; Disaster Preparedness; Risk Management; and Early Warning System among others.
Ahmed said: “Training of personnel is a critical component for effective and efficient disaster management”.
He said that NEMA would continue to explore avenues to develop the capacity of its staff and stakeholders to ensure that all the principles and practices of disaster management were institutionalized.
He said NEMA facilitated training programmes for the SEMAs in collaboration with United State Fire Service in January, 2023 and with Bournemouth University Disaster Management Center in February, 2023.
The Director General said this was in line with the desire to continuously improve capacity of the stakeholders in disaster management, even as arrangement was already being made for another capacity development programme to hold in the nearest future.
Mustapha Habib Ahmed also harped on partnership with development partners in the areas of stakeholders’ capacity training, especially as the training was organized in collaboration with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
He said it was “A step in the right direction to enhance the capacity of Federal and State emergency management officers.”
The Deputy Head of UN-OCHA Office in Nigeria, Esty Sukoyo assured that OCHA would sustain collaboration with NEMA in line with its mandates.
She advised participants to make the best of the training to improve their skills and also cascade to their various offices.
The training programme for the NEMA and SEMA Staff was organized in collaboration with the UNOCHA and supports from UNICEF and International Federation of Red Cross.
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