The Ghana Red Cross Society and its collaborators has launched and presented to government a comprehensive strategy to help mitigate perennial disasters which continue to ravage especially some parts of the three regions of the north.
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Ghana Red Cross Society launches disaster management strategy
The plan put together by the Ghana Red Cross Society and the Swiss Red Cross Society is codenamed, “Framework for community-led Disaster Management: Northern Region, Ghana.”
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It is expected to serve as a panacea to help people living in disaster prone communities to build their own resilience during such occurrences.
At the official launch and handing over ceremony, Secretary General of the Ghana Red Cross Society, Kofi Ado urged government to place premium on the strategy.
He bemoaned situations where such relevant documents were dumped in office cabinets to gather dust.
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Kofi Ado implored the officers of district and regional National Disaster Management (NADMO) Coordinators in the three regions of the north to religiously study and adopt the strategy as a solution to recurrent disasters within their zones.
A representative of the Swiss Red Cross, Seth Addae Kyeremeh said the organization was proud to associate itself with the strategy.
He narrated that the Swiss Red Cross Society was preoccupied with reducing and preventing avoidable blindness.
He however added that disaster risks reduction was added to the organization’s priority list, hence the collaboration with Ghana Red Cross Society.
Seth Addae Kyeremeh impressed upon duty bearers to implement recommendations captured in the strategy.
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Northern Region NADMO Coordinator, Alhaji Abdulai Silimboma commended the Ghana Red Cross Society and its collaborators for the initiative.
He gave the assurance that the strategy would be put to good use.
This, he expected would serve as one of the best approaches to mitigating the impact of the perennial floods experienced in the Northern Region.
Alhaji Silimboma attributed the cause of floods in the region to the Bagre dam spillage coupled with torrential rains.
The project Consultant, Dr. Togbiga Dzivenu who gave an overview of the strategy via power point presentation called for multiplicity of approaches to disaster management.
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According to him, the strategy contained systematic approaches to disaster management which should be fully implemented.
Dr. Dzivenu said his team painstakingly gathered in-depth data from 25 communities in some selected disaster prone districts in the three regions of the north.
He tasked NADMO officers in the indentified disaster prone communities to educate residents on the need to adopt the culture of good disaster management practices.
He said the ecology of the Guinea Savannah area coupled with varied socio-economic practices contributed to disasters.
He categorized prevalent disasters in Ghana as floods, bushfires, drought, rainstorms, epidemic and boat disasters which impact could be mitigated if the strategy is adhered to by the stakeholders in disaster management.
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The strategy among other recommendations stressed the need to design and develop community-led disaster management plans for the identified 25 disaster prone communities.
It also called for the training and building of the capacity of disaster risks management community volunteers.
The strategy recommended that community volunteer groups should be trained on rapid risk management data collection and disaster reporting.
The Sagnarigu District Chief Executive, Alhassan Mohammed Sorigudoo received the documents on behalf of the Northern Regional Minister and promised that it would be adopted as a constitution on disaster management.
He admitted that the various district assemblies needed such a strategy to strengthen their disaster prevention and management agenda.
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