The Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (KADSEMA), says it will partner with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on strategies to mitigate natural disasters.
Muhammed Mukaddas, Executive Secretary of the agency made this known on Thursday during a courtesy visit to UNICEF office in Kaduna.
According to him, the aim of the visit is to collaborate with UNICEF, which it described as a key partner in tackling the challenges facing vulnerable groups and affected populations during emergencies.
Mukaddas said that the collaborative strategy included training its members of staff on emergency preparedness and response, contingency planning, disaster supply and logistics.
He said that KADSEMA was the only agency saddled with the responsibility of coordinating international organisations and disaster management activities in the state.
“As stipulated by the National Disaster Framework, the agency has commenced addressing disaster issues from the grassroots level, which prompted the identification of nine persons per LGA in managing disasters.”
“We hope to achieve disaster risk reduction at grassroots level in collaboration with all our international donors,” Mukaddas said.
Zakari Adam, head of UNICEF Kaduna, said that women and children were the most vulnerable in times of emergency, hence the need for UNICEF to support KADSEMA in preparedness towards emergencies.
“Emergencies are always around us but we can build on those disasters to accelerate development,” Adam said.
He assured KADSEMA of the Fund’s continuous support, stressing that UNICEF would always support issues that affect children through its child and social protection systems and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene).
This, he explained, was a pathway to resilience building.
Adam called for support from other partners to support the state government as it moved to be proactive towards disaster risk reduction.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that KADSEMA had on March 9, inaugurated Local Emergency Committees (LEMC) to manage disasters across the 23 local government areas of the state. (NAN)
