Key stakeholders on Disaster Risk Reduction in the Northern Region have met to assess the impact of previous disasters on communities in the region to fashion out measures to make the communities resilient to disasters.

A consultative meeting, held in Tamale, organized by the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) with support from the Swiss Red Cross, drew participants from the Ghana Meteorological Service, Ghana National Fire Service, Hydrological Services, Forestry Commission, National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Swiss Red Cross and District Organizers of GRCS in the region.

Mr Abdul-Rahamani Yussif, Northern Regional Manager of GRCS, said “after today, we are moving down to developing a curriculum to train our District Directors of NADMO and District Officers of GRCS to also train our Community Disaster Prepared and Response Teams and our zonal coordinators of NADMO so that they will be aware of the hazards in the communities.”

He said this is to ensure that they worked towards making the impact of disasters lower on communities such that community members did not always wait for relief as the country did not have enough resources to spend on relief.

Mr Yussif said effective preparation towards Disaster Risk Reduction is needed adding that “anyone Cedi spent on the preparedness stage of disaster is worth ten of it in the relief stage so we always want to spend less on preparation and save more during relief.”

He called on community members to work towards making their communities more resilient to disasters especially floods, fire, windstorms and rainstorms.

Mr Yussif said, “today is to kick-start our next phase of Disaster Risk Reduction in the Northern Region so we expect all the key stakeholders to play a role in contributing their quota to ensure the success of the Disaster Risk Reduction programme.”

Mr Saladin Mahama, National Disaster Management Coordinator of GRCS, urged stakeholders in Disaster Risk Reduction to research and adopt indigenous knowledge to help manage disasters in their communities in the region.

Mr Mahama said, “We will not like to overlook this indigenous knowledge but rather research into it to develop a system of disaster risk reduction to save lives and property.”

Mr Adamu Tamimu, Early Warning System Officer at the Northern Regional Office of NADMO, lauded GRCS for collaborating with key stakeholders in disaster risk reduction to ensure preparedness and quick response to disasters in the region.

The Red Cross is doing its best on Disaster Risk Reduction in collaboration with other stakeholders in the communities but it is challenged with resources and is calling on government and other agencies to provide support in making communities disaster resilient.