ECOWAS, UNISDR and the World Bank GFDRR join forces to strengthen West African capacities on disaster risk reduction
Dakar, Senegal - The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, the World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Reduction Recovery (GFDRR) and UNISDR began a three day training workshop yesterday on mitigating disaster risk to improve the resilience of West African states against disasters. The training will help government officials and practitioners from civil society and the private sector to better understand the role of hazard assessment, risk analysis and vulnerability mapping in reducing the impact of disasters.
Supported by ECOWAS, the World Bank GFDRR and the UNISDR, the workshop on disaster risk reduction brings together more than 40 participants from ECOWAS Member States, sub-regional organization, UN agencies, international organizations, donor countries, scientific sectors and civil society institutions. It will include sessions on the benefits of risk assessment across different sectors in the West African sub-region, methodology for national risk assessment and mapping tools using geo-information data and techniques.
West African countries have become highly vulnerable to the increase of disasters triggered by natural and man-made hazards over the last decades and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report is predicting more floods and droughts in the years to come.
“The training will facilitate cooperation between different stakeholders within the sub-region, enhance the exchange of regional information, data and knowledge on natural hazards and transboundary issues, and encourage risk identification, assessment, early warning and preparedness that will benefit communities and nations that are threatened by disasters” says Pedro Basabe, Senior Officer, UNISDR Africa Regional Office.
Disasters bring not only socio-economic losses but also slow down the process of sustainable development. In line with the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and the Africa Regional Strategy and its Programme of Action (2006-2015), the ECOWAS Policy for Disaster Risk Reduction was developed with the aim to create an inter-governmental framework for collaboration and partnership and to facilitate the ECOWAS member states to strengthen their capacities for building more resilient countries and communities to disasters.
For more information, please contact:
Brigitte Leoni. Media Relations, UNISDR. Phone : (41.22) 917 88 97. Email : leonib@un.org
Maria Alexandra Velez. Phone : + 1 202 458 8789. Email: Mvelezhenao@worldbank.org