NGO holds workshop to curb natural disasters

A Non- Governmental Organisation (NGO), Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) Nigeria, has held a three-day workshop on disaster risk reduction.

The workshop, which took place, Wednesday through Friday in Abuja, in collaboration with the European Union, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other partners, had in attendance participants drawn from the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, Gambia and other African countries.

Addressing journalists at the event, Head of Programmes VSO, Mrs Regina Afiemo, said the workshop was to ensure that man-made and natural disasters are curtailed to the barest minimum.

She said participants were expected to replicate their ideas with their different communities.

Afiemo said: &VSO Nigeria is over 60 years and has been delivering impactful programmes in the areas of health, education of livelihoods and recently in the areas of safe, peaceful and resilient community. We do believe that, as an organisation, it is important to work with the primary actors at the community level.

“We do that through our relational humanitarian services, either through volunteers at different categories or at the national and community levels. This is to be able to strengthen interventions within the community and make the primary actors heart of the solution.

&They can be able to come up with local innovations, in terms of identifying issues and also addressing them.  Beyond that, we are also looking at communities that experience man made or natural disaster.

“We expect that after the training, the participants will go to the communities where they work and conduct assessment, identifying with those issues that are of high risk to them and put in place measures to mitigate such disasters.&

Also speaking, one of the facilitators and a Global Resilience Advisor, Mr Jonah Tendere, said Nigeria, like many African countries, is threatened by natural disasters.

He said there was need for urgent intervention by government and concerned individuals.

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