The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has trained 40 emergency responders across the 19 Northern states, to handle human and natural disasters effectively.
This is contained in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja by Mrs Nneka Anibeze, the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq.
The minister was represented by the Deputy Director, Disaster Management in the ministry, Dr Abubakar Sulaiman.
The training included participants from Ministries Departments and Agencies involved in humanitarian emergency response and rescue operations in the region.
The minister said at the event that the ministry was reviewing existing legal frameworks, mapping stakeholders and designing framework for effective coordination of disaster management in the country.
“The ministry is coordinating all activities necessary to build, sustain and improve the capacity to prepare for, protect against, respond to and recover from threatening or actual natural or human-induced disasters.
“Furthermore, the ministry is enhancing the safety and security of organisations providing humanitarian services across the country,” Umar-Farouq said.
She explained that the training was to identify the consequences of disaster on migration, and the roles and responsibilities of first responders to mitigation of migration due to disasters.
“Also, to understand the effects of disasters on migration and how to mitigate such and to also acquire the ability to appropriately respond to migration resulting from disasters,” Farouq stressed.
The facilitator of the training, Rev. Father Emeka Obiezu described the training as very apt considering the various and complex humanitarian crisis experienced in different parts of the country.
“The result of the group work and the pre and post evaluation tests bear witness to an increased capacity of the participants, which is indicative that the goals of the training were achieved.
“It is hoped that at participants will be able to assess the nature and scale of disaster emergencies, understand migration as a consequence of disaster, provide search and rescue assistance as well as basic care immediately after disaster emergencies.
“They will also be able to gather accurate information on disaster emergency to mitigate migration and provide information on any local equipment, as well as mobilise such for disaster emergency usage.
“The training is also expected to build community resilience to disasters and subsequently improve humanitarian conditions in the communities,” Obiezu said.
Recommendations were made for the training to be extended to more agencies and the grassroots.
The next capacity training takes place in Lagos on July 15, 2021 for all the Southern states. (NAN)
