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Disaster risk reduction experts have ended round of talks to fix benchmarks of success in curbing the impact of natural and man-made hazards through to 2030.
Economic losses have risen steadily, stoked by climate change, unbalanced urbanization and inequalities, and now average US$250 billion to US$300 billion a year, according to UNISDR’s 2015 Global Assessment Report. Reducing risk is also good business sense, with studies showing that every dollar invested in preparedness saves up to seven dollars in aftermath costs.
In Nigeria, flood killed 363 people and displaced over 2.1 million people in November 2012. The floods were termed as the worst in 40 years, and affected an estimated total of seven million people.The estimated damages and losses caused by the floods were worth N2.6 trillion.
The two-day meeting of the national platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) organized by National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), held in Abuja, dwelled on the outcomes of the African Regional Platform meeting, which recommended the need for National Plan of Action (PoA), to implement the Sendai framework.
The Sendai Framework succeeds the Hyogo framework that ended in 2015.Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is a 15-year agreement adopted by the international community in March 2015 and part of the wider global drive to make development sustainable.
The Sendai Framework has seven targets. It aims to bring about substantial reductions in disaster deaths, the number of affected people and economic losses, plus damage to critical infrastructure and disruption to basic services such as health and educational facilities, with the period of comparison being 2020-2030 against 2005-2015.
It also seeks to increase the number of countries with national and local risk reduction strategies – by 2020, the earliest deadline in the framework and a key step for meeting the other targets – as well as bolstering the capacity of developing countries, and vastly increasing coverage by early warning systems.
Consequently, the meeting developed a draft National Plan of Action for the implementation of the Sendai Framework; and agreed that Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDAs), States and Local Governments should develop and implement locally oriented programmes of action to actualize the Sendai framework.
In their communique, the participants affirmed the need to mainstream DRR into plans, policies and programs of government at all levels; emphasized the importance of gender mainstreaming in DRR activities and calls on government to take appropriate action in this regard.
While calling on MDAs, to designate desk officers for Disaster Risk Reduction in their various establishments, the stakeholders resolved to leverage on science, technology, academia and indigenous knowledge to provide DRR solutions.
They also agreed to set up a technical committee to come up with recommendations for the strengthening of the National Platform on DRR and recommended that adequate budgetary allocation for DRR be made by all tiers of government.
Earlier, NEMA Director General, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Sidi, explained that Nigeria instituted the national platform on Disaster Risk Reduction as a nationally led multi stakeholder forum on disaster risk reduction and membership are drawn from MDAs, International Organizations, NGOs, Women/Youth organizations, the Academia, the private sector and the media.
He said that the platform reflects the commitment of government to implement national and local disaster risk reduction activities. “It equally brings together organizations and individuals of diverse disciplines and sectors, and in assembling, synthesizing, managing, and further disseminating knowledge on disaster risk management in diverse sectors.
An official of UNDP Nigeria, Minjae Kang expected that the platform will leverage the momentum from the regional platform to articulate a national plan of action, national implementation plan for the Sendai framework as inputs into the upcoming meeting in Mexico.
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