Protocol…
It is my pleasure to welcome you all to this Lessons Learned Exercise (LLE) workshop for Emergency Preparedness and Response organized in collaboration with the World Bank.
Emergency preparedness and response is a critical component of disaster management cycle which if when given adequate attention can save lives and mitigate negative impacts of disasters both nature or human induced across the country. Over the years, NEMA has carried out various preparedness and response activities to emergencies which include development and review of plans and policies, dissemination of early warning messages, sensitization and awareness campaigns, disaster risk reduction measures, search and rescue of the distressed, distribution of relief items and rehabilitation among others.
To complement these efforts, the World Bank in collaboration with NEMA carried out this Lessons Learned Exercise in order to understand the systemic opportunities to develop and strengthen the core element of Nigeria’s emergency preparedness and response program, at the National and Sub- National level in case of emergencies.
The focus of the Lessons Learned Exercise (LLE) is to give key government officials and emergency relief entities an opportunity to discuss the country’s systems, procedures and experiences related to emergency preparedness and response. Also it is to better understand each agency’s perspective, capacities and placement within response operations using the 2022 flood experience.
You will all agree with me that there were two landmark flood disasters that Nigeria have witnessed in recent past which were that of 2012 and 2022. In 2012, 363 people were killed, 5,851 injured, 3,891,314 affected, and 3,871,53 were displaced due to the resulting floods. While in 2022, 665 people lost their lives, 3,181 injured, 4,476867 affected and 2,437,411 displaced. These were accompanied by economic, agriculture and livelihood losses.
Therefore, this Lessons Learned Exercise is a step in the right direction at this critical period when Nigeria is experiencing climate related hazards such as flooding. The purpose of selecting a single focusing event for the LLE is not only to identify what happened during that event or what might have been done differently but to also stakeholders to look more broadly at the structures, systems and resources for emergency preparedness and response, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and potential options for improvement and capacity building.
Disaster management experts and stakeholders have been engaged in the last three months to elucidate information to enrich the findings, which has culminated into this two day meeting involving State Emergency Management Agencies, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Private Sector, the Media, Insurance Companies, the UN System and Non Governmental Organizations among others.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, in addition to knowledge exchange, participants at this meeting will also have an opportunity to discuss the states and national systems, procedures and experiences related to emergency preparedness and response, and to better understand each stakeholder’s perspective and its own placement within the 2022 Floods response. More broadly, this understanding will inform future government discussions on preparedness and response capacity, including institutional actions and integrated operations.
I sincerely want to appreciate the World Bank and the Global Fund for Disaster Risk Reduction (GFDRR) for bringing up this initiative and providing the necessary support for its implementation. I also want to appreciate participants from both far and near for making it here today.
I enjoin all participants to contribute actively to bring out the best from this workshop in order to ensure we have effective and efficient emergency preparedness and response system in Nigeria.
Thank you and God bless.
