The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Bill that is currently before Parliament is expected to be passed into law by the first quarter of next year.
According to the Chief Director of the Ministry of the Interior, Mrs Adelaide Anno-Kumi, the new Act, when passed, would “give NADMO a clear and well-defined institutional authority to fulfil its mandate as was conceived by the government some 19 years ago”.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Xh5nTSWBUWWc7c1LpBAxBTS0WqHXeifa”]It would also help the organisation to set up a National Disaster Management Fund and enable it to pick up early warning signals.
The Act would also address concerns of disaster management and the issue of climate change to ensure safety of lives and property in the organisation’s operations.
Mrs Anno-Kumi made this known on behalf of the sector minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, at the annual national platform meeting for disaster risk reduction (DDR) and climate change risk management in Accra.
Meeting
The event, which was put together by NADMO, was to provide an opportunity for all relevant stakeholders in the area of disaster risk reduction to share information on what had been achieved during the year.
It was also to review the challenges which had been encountered, promote partnerships and strengthen the cooperation mechanisms of the organisation.
The national platform for DDR, made of up eminent men and women, has been promoting disaster risk reduction through advocacy, research, risk assessment, as well as providing timely and informed advice to NADMO.
Mrs Anno-Kumi described as timely the passage of the bill into an act as it would help NADMO to set up a fund to manage its operations.
Include SDGs
In a speech read on her behalf, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mrs Christine Evans-Klock, commended Ghana for the establishment of the national platform on disaster risk reduction.
She said the meeting should be used to discuss the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mrs Evans-Klock gave an assurance that the UN system was committed to working closely with NADMO to help mobilise resources, including technical and policy advice, to ensure efficiency using the DRR as a vehicle.
Successful year
The Deputy National Coordinator of NADMO in charge of Technical, Mr Ebenezer Dosoo, said during the period under review the organisation had made some strides.
He mentioned the launch of the National Emergency Operations Centre (Web-EOC) in July this year and the implementation of the West Africa Disaster Preparedness Initiative (WADPI) which involved the training of participants from 17 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries as some of the achievements of the organisation.
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Source: Graphic Online