Disaster Management: FEMD Tasks Responders On Capacity Building

By: Nkechi Isa & Prudence Okonna

Innovations, knowledge sharing and technology driven rescue operations are crucial areas in disaster management.

The Acting Director-General of the FCT Emergency Management Department (FEMD), Florence Wenegieme, stated this at the inaugural symposium of the International Association of Emergency Managers in Abuja.

Wenegieme said that this was in tune with international best practices.

She noted that in the past during the rainy season, emergency responders prepared for either river or flash flooding but now, have to contend with building collapse, drought and suicide attempt.

The Director -General expressed the hope that the symposium will come up with a methodology to handle these emerging challenges in the country.

Also speaking at the occasion, the pioneer Director-General, FEMD, Dr. Abbas Garba Idriss, said that disaster response was a multi-facet, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency issues.

He said that multi-agency activities require networking to share information, expertise and resources.

Idriss spoke on a paper entitled, “Communication, Coordination, Cooperation, and Collaboration: A Multi-Agency Approach for Effective/Efficient Disaster Management Across Africa.”

He argued that understanding communication, coordination, cooperation and collaboration, would enable emergency managers work more effectively and efficiently in responding to disasters and minimizing the impact on communities across Africa.