Malawi to launch National Resilience Strategy on disaster management
As one way of breaking the cycle of food and nutritional insecurity and other humanitarian crisis, Malawi Government intends to launch a National Resilience Strategy (NRS) to serve as a roadmap to guide program designs, funding decisions and other priorities.
This was disclosed by Minister of Home Affairs and internal security Cecilia Chazama in Lilongwe at Masintha Ground when she presided over the commemoration of International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR).
She said the NRS will help the government and its development partners to face and deal with challenges the country meets in many crises.
“This NRS will be implemented by ministries’ departments and agencies, civil society organisations, private sector and the UN agencies,” Chazama said.
She said the country is making strides towards building resilience but there are challenges being faced but there is need for more risk informed investments that will ensure integration and coherence.
The NRS launch comes as a wake up call of 2015 disaster where it is estimated that the country lost US$335 million while the cost of recovery was pegged at US$494 million.
At the same time it is also estimated that 2016 drought recovery was pegged at US$500 million.
Chief Secretary to Office of President and Cabinet Lloyd Muhara recently beamoned that Malawi is losing 1.7% of its Growth Development Product (GDP) to disaster.
Muhara said there is need for Malawi as a country to reverse the situation for among other thing applying various interventions.
The IDDR was set aside in 1989, after a call by the United Nations General Assembly for a day to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction.
Held every 13th of October, the day observes how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face.
The 2018 theme continues as part of the ‘Sendai Seven’ campaign, centred on the seven targets of the Sendai Framework. This year focuses on Target C of the Sendai Framework, reducing disaster economic losses in relation to global GDP by 2030.
The Sendai Seven campaign was launched in 2016 seeking to create a wave of awareness about actions taken to reduce disaster mortality around the world. Last year’s target focused on prevention, protection and reducing the number of people affected by disasters.
The campaign is an opportunity for all, governments, local governments, community groups, civil society organisations, the private sector, international organisations and the UN family to promote best practices at the international, regional and national level across all sectors, to reduce disaster risk and disaster losses.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :