The Director General National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Mustapha Habib Ahmed has said that the Agency will continue engage the stakeholders including States Government towards building a vibrant system for efficient and effective disaster management in Nigeria.
The Director General said this during the weekend at the closing of workshop for staff of NEMA and States Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) on “Disaster Management and Preparedness Institutional Capacity Strengthening”.
The training was organized by NEMA in collaboration with UNOCHA and supports from UNICEF, International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent, International Organization for Migration Food and Agricultural and Nigerian Red Cross Society.
Ahmed highlighted the significance of capacity building of personnel as a critical component for effective and efficient disaster management and said it had “become more imperative in view of the increasing global complexity and impacts of disasters.”
He said the decision to bring together staff of NEMA and SEMAs for the joint capacity building was deliberate to foster cooperation, collaboration, experience sharing and enhance synergy between the Federal and State Agencies in the delivery of their mandates.
He explained that “middle level staff have been targeted for this capacity building with the foresight that as operational officers, they are at the advantage of applying the skills learnt, mentor those behind them and better prepared for future leadership roles in Disaster management.
“Thus, this programme was designed to strengthen the capacity of the participants in the areas of Humanitarian Coordination Mechanism; Disaster Management Cycle and Institutional Capacity; Resource Mobilization; Information Management; Community Based Disaster Management; Search and Rescue; Incident Command System; Disaster Preparedness; Risk Management; and Early Warning System among others.”
“In NEMA we are looking beyond the present and working towards building a more robust system of disaster management where all relevant stakeholders are not only aware but also prepared to carry out their roles. This informs the wide range of collaboration and partnership engaged by the Agency in the delivery of its mandates.”
The DG NEMA Mustapha Habib Ahmed appreciated UNOCHA for collaborating with the Agency for the workshop acknowledged the supports of UNICEF, International Federation of Red Cross and other partners towards the success of the training programme.
He urged the participants to apply the knowledge gained and skills acquired towards improving the services rendered in their various agencies and locations.
The Director General said he would ensure a continuous engagement with all stakeholders including SEMAs towards strengthening synergy for efficient disaster management in the country.
The Head of UN-OCHA Office, Mr Trond Jensen who was represented by the Head of Government Liaison Mr Ibrahima Barry assured that the UN organization would continue to collaborate with NEMA in the discharge of its mandates.
Also, the operations manager of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent, Mr Hopewell Munyari assured the determination of his organisation to collaborate with the Agency.
