NEMA DG pledges support for IDPs, people with special needs

The Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Mustapha Habib Ahmed, pledged support for subnational governments in their efforts to provide special care for persons with special needs, including internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The NEMA helmsman gave this assurance in Abuja during the commemoration of the 2023 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction with the theme: ‘Fighting Inequality for a Resilient Future.’

He noted that the theme aligns with the inclusive position of the United Nations (UN), ensuring that ‘no one is left behind.’

In order to achieve this goal, he emphasised the need for synergy among relevant stakeholders.

He stated, “The 2023 International DRR Day celebration focuses on the mutual relationship between disasters and inequality. Inequality and disaster vulnerability coexist.

Unequal access to services, income inequality, unequal opportunities, and discrimination, as well as a lack of adaptation of fiscal policies that promote equality, have exposed a majority of the global population, especially women, children, the elderly, and people living with disabilities, to disaster risk.

“In this regard, developing countries like ours and small island states have been recognised as facing inequality and therefore bearing the adverse effects of disasters, especially those induced by climate change and climate variability.

“The World Bank, in one of its reports in 2022, indicated that 75 per cent of extreme weather events are currently connected to climate change fueled by carbon emissions, largely from industrialised countries.

The Climate Adaptation Platform has indicated that developing and small island states, which contributed least to the drivers of climate change, experience the greatest disaster losses.

“It further stresses that inequality has facilitated the transfer of disaster risk from more advanced countries that benefit from risk-taking to developing countries that bear the cost.

“With concerted efforts and awareness creation, we can curb the destructive powers of both natural and human-induced disasters through careful planning to reduce people’s exposure and vulnerability to harm.

The Sendai Framework for DRR calls for more dedicated action on tackling underlying disaster risk drivers, such as poverty and inequality. Disaster risk reduction requires society-wide engagement and partnership.

“It also requires empowerment and inclusive, accessible, and non-discriminatory participation, paying attention to people disproportionately affected by disasters, especially the poor.

It calls for the integration of gender, age, disability, and cultural perspectives in all policies and practises while promoting women and youth leadership in our democratic processes.

“In this regard, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has over the years introduced policies that seek to reduce inequality in its National Disaster Response Plan (NDRP), damage and loss assessment, and relief intervention activities.

“Exclusive care is granted to women, children, the elderly, and persons living with disabilities through the Gender Unit, the Vulnerable Group Care Unit, and the Food and Nutrition Unit, which were all created and mandated with the responsibilities of ensuring that equality and addressing the challenges faced by vulnerable groups in disaster risk management programs are safeguarded.

“Under our IDP camp management policies, while supporting state governments, NEMA ensures that persons with special needs, including lactating women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, are granted the special care they deserve. We have strived hard to take disaster risk reduction to the grassroots.

“Through constant advocacy for state governments to set up functional SEMAs and LEMCs with adequate funding and trained manpower to save lives and safeguard livelihoods in times of disaster,” stressed the NEMA Chief.

Speaking earlier, NEMA’s Director of Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr Daniel Obot, who observed that NEMA has achieved a lot over the past 10 years of DRR in Nigeria, noted that this year’s celebration marks the beginning of another decade for realigning and strengthening DRR in Nigeria in partnership with our esteemed stakeholders.

“Disaster risk reduction thrives on collaboration and synergy within the ‘philosophy of leaving no one behind.’ DRR is an inclusive approach that facilitates the realisation of the vision propounded by great DRR thinkers for disaster risk management to grow in bounds and leaps globally.

Even inequality among countries and the human family cannot constitute a hindrance to this noble global initiative.

“This underscores the importance of this year’s theme, ‘Fighting Inequality for the Resilience of the Future.’ We have been collaborating together over the years, compelling us to strengthen the synergy in order to collectively fight inequality, considering that 2030 is fast approaching as a timeline for the actualisation of the Sustainable Development Goal. Goal 10 specifically deals with reducing inequality.”

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