PROGRESS REPORT ON SENDAI FRAMEWORK AND NEXT STEP FOR IMPLEMENTATION
Progress
Ghana has made some strides in putting the Sendai Framework into practice. First of all, the government recognises the enormity of disasters that affect the country and the need to understand the risk that communities face. Therefore efforts at determining possible risks and examining the vulnerability, exposure, capacity and resilient of communities are key elements that disaster managers are currently focusing on.
Ghana's governance in disaster risk reduction has been strengthened through clearly defined disaster laws. Additionally, there have been an increased in institutional capacity to manage the hazards that post risk to communities, especially flood risk. Again, the collaboration between stakeholders, both local and national as well as the private sector in disaster risk management has been encouraging since the country endorsed the Sendai Framework.
To ensure a successful implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), a Coordinating Committee that involves major stakeholders in the government sector has been set up. This Committee meets quarterly to discuss DRR issues and plan on how to achieve the global targets of the SFDRR.
The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) is ensuring that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) include DRR strategies and activities into their development plans and budgets.
Moreover, public education, sensitization and awareness creation about disaster risk reduction at the local levels have improved. Lastly, the country has improved its preparedness efforts by developing preparedness plans and carrying out frequent simulation exercises on the different hazards to prepare communities for disaster events and also ensure effective respond during disasters.
Next Step
Although some achievements have been made with the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Action, there are still more to do. To start with, the country is planning to incorporate early warning technologies, especially weather and climate-related, to alert communities about impending disasters at both the local, regional and national level to improve preparedness level for all.
Again, plans are far advanced to collaborate with the private sector and other development partners to create a disaster finance sources to aid in response and rehabilitation after disaster events. This will help communities to go back to normalcy after disasters since recovery and reconstruction is very critical to 'build back better'.
Furthermore, the country is collaborating with various stakeholders to enhance community resilience by developing the capacity of the youth in the various communities to be able to prevent disasters and also respond effectively when disasters happen before seeking for professional interventions. Since communities are the first responders to disasters, this initiative is considered to help reduce the loss and damages during disasters.
Likewise, there is a strategy to strengthen the cooperation between governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to participate in DRR activities. Since implementing the Sendai Framework requires a multi-sectoral approach, efforts are being made to involve more agencies, both at the government and private sector to understand DRR and also the SFDRR to be able to achieve the global targets.
Additionally, efforts are been made to inculcate DRR into the educational curricula of schools from the basic to the professional levels. The Ghana Education Service (GES) and other professional bodies are collaborating with the National Disaster Management Organisation to ensure a successful integration.
Finally, since data is very essential in the successful achievement of the global target, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the government agency in charge of implementing the SFDRR plans to develop the capacity of its staff in data gathering and data management to be able to meet the challenging needs of modern technology and also be able to provide accurate and credible data onto the Sendai Framework Monitor (SFM) and the DesInvertar.
It should however be noted that due to some challenges that was encountered, Ghana was not able to meet the Reporting Milestone. Efforts are being made to ensure that the problem is resolved so that entries will continue on the SFM.
Thank you
ACCRA, GHANA
OCTOBER 2024