In a bid to strengthen disaster risk management and flood preparedness, the HEDA Resource Centre and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) met on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, to discuss potential collaboration.
The HEDA team led by its Executive Secretary, Mr. Sulaimon Arigbabu, and Program Officer, Environmental Justice and Sustainable Development, Akinmayowa Shobo, were received at NEMA’s headquarters in Abuja.
Mr. Arigbabu at the strategic meeting, outlined HEDA’s ongoing efforts in disaster risk reduction, particularly in hard-to-reach communities. Arigbabu emphasized partnering with NEMA to enhance emergency preparedness, mitigation, and response across Nigeria.
A key outcome of the meeting was NEMA’s invitation for HEDA to participate in their upcoming stakeholders’ meeting. This forum, held after NEMA’s annual report release, provides a platform for discussing climate-related disaster predictions from agencies such as the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
HEDA was encouraged to use this opportunity to deepen its engagement with other disaster management stakeholders. The discussion also highlighted the need for comprehensive data validation related to flood awareness and sensitization in high-risk communities. The meeting underscored the importance of understanding the impact of flooding on community members and leveraging validated data to garner further support for at-risk populations.
The organisation further presented an overview of its previous work, including its use of NiMet’s Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and NIHSA’s flood outlook reports. The team shared insights into their efforts to measure the effectiveness of sensitization activities, illustrating how data-driven approaches have informed community-level interventions.
NEMA provided valuable insights into its operational framework, including its collaboration with State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs). This information is crucial for HEDA as it aims to expand its outreach and strengthen partnerships with state-level disaster management bodies.
The deliberation also addressed sustainability concerns, with HEDA explaining its strategy for maintaining projects beyond initial funding through partnerships and community engagement. NEMA acknowledged the challenges but expressed confidence in HEDA’s approach, especially its focus on collaboration and community involvement.
Both organizations agreed on the need for a follow-up meeting to explore a potential Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). NEMA reaffirmed its commitment to inviting HEDA to their stakeholders’ meeting and provided a strategy document and annual report to align future activities.
The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to improving coordination and collaboration in disaster management efforts across Nigeria.