Nigeria’s National Emergency Management supports Gambia on disaster and emergency management

Press release:

The Nigeria’s National Emergency Management has approved the deployment of two technical officers to The Gambia to support the country in the takeoff of its National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA). The Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi made the disclosure today at the commencement of a 3-day visit to The Gambia to formalize the partnership between the two countries.
He said the essence of the collaboration is in realization of the implementation of the Hyogo Framework of Action, The African Regional Strategy and its Plan of Action 2006 – 2015 and the ECOWAS Policy on Disaster Risk Reduction and the need to implement this at the National level.

Sani-Sidi who also met with the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the Gambia, Mrs. Chinwe Dike said the two Technical Officers have backgrounds in Planning, forecasting and Search and Rescue operations and would be seconded to the Gambia in April 2012. The agency he added might consider offering placement to some officers of Gambia’s National Disaster Management Agency to participate in master’s programme in Disaster Management being offered in 6 Nigerian Universities to strengthen their capacity.

The Executive Director Gambia’s National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), Essa Khan said a four-man delegation from the NDMA had paid a study/facility visit to NEMA in 2011 to seek collaborations so as to tap from its vast experience in Disaster Management and request for technical support and learn examples of best practices in Disaster Management and Warehousing among others. He said it is widely acknowledged that Nigeria’s NEMA has capacities in Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Risk Reduction and one of the best established structures in Africa.

He said the request to NEMA would strengthen the Gambian National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) in the areas of capacity building, Monitoring & Evaluation, Programme implementation, Planning and Search and Rescue. Responding to the remarks at the United Nations House in Banjul, the Coordinator of United Nations in the Gambia, Mrs. Chinwe Dike commended the efforts of the two ECOWAS countries in the partnership which she described as a welcome development in the spirit of South-South cooperation. She promised that the UNDP would examine the partnership with a view to render technical and logistical supports where necessary.