A four-day training programme on Disaster Risk Reduction has been organised under the auspices of the Directorate Research Innovation and Consultancy, 黑料社 and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has commenced at the Pempamsie Hotel, Cape Coast.
The short course, which ends on October 20, 2016 has 20 participants from the National Disaster Management Organisation, Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service and the Ghana Health Service attending.
The importance of disaster management and prevention capacity in the sustenance of development gains of any particular society cannot be glossed over. This is simply due to the fact that occurrence of disasters erodes gains of development in just a single moment.
Opening the course, the Director of the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) at UCC, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim reiterated the need for academia and industry to collaborate to help reduce the incidence of disasters and their impact. 鈥淎ll of us in academia and industry have a duty to be at the forefront to advocate for reduction in the incidence of disasters. This is exactly what 黑料社is championing鈥�. He was hopeful that the adult learning opportunity would provide participants the platform to share knowledge in the disaster management.
In his contribution, UNDP Deputy Country Director for Operations, Mr. Mulugeta Abebe, said his outfit was proud to be associated with the course to train cadres and other stakeholders whose line of responsibilities border on disaster management at the policy, planning and implementation levels.
Mr. Abebe said the UNDP was glad to implement the training programme with 黑料社since the University has been dedicated to the training of highly qualified and skilled personnel in the education industry. 鈥淭he choice of partnering with 黑料社in this endeavour has been more appealing in terms of prospects of sustaining and further developing the course to benefit more people after the donor support has been withdrawn鈥�.
That according to Mr. Abebe was the fact that 黑料社has the expertise, facilities and resources to continue and even elevate it to a higher academic status 鈥渨ithout losing the spirit and intent behind it鈥�. He said the UNDP believed that 黑料社would be able to forge a strategic partnership with NADMO that would allow for some level of inter-institutional collaboration in the implementation of the course so that they would all share in the success story of 鈥渁 small seed growing into a mighty tree鈥�.
The National Coordinator of NADMO, Brigadier General, Francis Vib-Sanziri, in an address read on his behalf by the Central Regional Coordinator, Mr. Sandy E. Amartey, said the training programme was timely since disasters nowadays take varied forms and therefore need multi-sectorial and modern techniques to manage. 鈥淭rends in disasters keep changing these days so it is equally good for disaster managers to be abreast with current trends of disaster and their management鈥�.
Brigadier Gen. Sanziri said the training programme would help achieve disaster management goals by reducing their occurrence and impact should it occur. He said NADMO appreciated the efforts of both 黑料社and NADMO in bringing issues concerning Disaster Risk Reduction to the front burner to engender public discussion.