By Fortune Eromosele

The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has said that with concerted efforts, the Agency alongside other stakeholders will curb human and nature induced disasters.

Director-General NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, stated this during the 2023 international day for disaster risk reduction with the theme: “Fighting Inequality for the Resilient Future” in Abuja on Friday.

The NEMA boss also called for more devoted action in tackling basic disaster risk drivers like poverty and inequality.

He said, “With concerted efforts and awareness creation, we can curb the destructive powers of both nature and human induced disasters through careful planning to reduce people’s exposure and vulnerability to harm. The Sendai Framework for DRR calls for more dedicated action on tackling underlying disaster risk drivers such as poverty and inequality.

“Disaster risk reduction requires a society wide engagement and partnership. It also requires empowerment and inclusive, accessible and non-discriminatory participation, paying attention to people disproportionately affected by disasters especially the poor. It calls for integration of gender, age, disability and cultural perspectives in all policies and practices while promoting women and youth leadership in our democratic processes.

“In this regards, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) over the years has Introduced policies that seek to reduce inequality both in Its National Disaster Response Plan (NDRP), damage and loss assessment and relief intervention activities”.