Connect with us

News

Italy supports ECOWAS with $14m on risk management, sustainable development

Published

on

Italy supports ECOWAS with $14m on risk management, sustainable development

… Spends $200,000 on Newly Inaugurated ECOWAS Disaster Operation Centre in Abuja

By: Michael Mike

The Government of Italy has invested over $14 million in the last one year on risk disaster management and sustainable development in West Africa.

The Ambassador of Italy to Nigeria, Mr Stefano De Leo said this at the inauguration of the ECOWAS Disaster Operation Centre in Abuja on Thursday, a project which the Italian government donated $200,000 towards.

De Leo said his country’s investment has been through the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).

He said: “The Government of Italy is particularly proud of the cooperation in this sector with ECOWAS, United Nations Office for Disaster and Risk Reduction, International Center for Environmental Monitoring, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Over the last year Italy has invested, through UNDRR, more than 14 million dollars to support a better understanding of risk, the real impact of disaster, how these disrupt the socio-economic system and the possibility for a sustainable development.”

The ambassador disclosed that the Italian government looked to increasing the strategic role of Africa in tackling global challenges, with great attention to the growing leadership of the African Union and its regional organisations.

The envoy revealed that Thursday event was dedicated to the Disaster Operation Centre of ECOWAS, the fourth centre of the African Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Action System (AMHEWAS) for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).

He noted that the centre in ECOWAS would play a key role in multi-hazard monitoring and early warnings for floods, extreme weather, droughts, and food insecurity in the region.

He said: “The roadmap to establish a continental mechanism is still long, but the network of cooperation is widening.

“It is crucial to step up and to deepen relationships also in facing together the challenges of sustainable economic development, protection of climate change and policies for disaster reduction,” insisting that: “The close interconnection of all these challenges is evident to all of us.”

He stressed that event provided an important moment to reflect on specific commitments to take together to promote safer and resilient communities, adding that it also provided commitments to put in place an effective continental mechanism to enhance data access and exchange across the region and the continent.

In her remarks, ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs, Prof. Fatou Sow Sarr, expressed the gratitude of ECOWAS to the Italian government for the significant contribution and steadfast commitment to the project.

She said the centre would be linked to established centres in the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development – Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (IGAD- ICPAC) in Nairobi, and the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) in Niamey.

Sarr said: “We gather to mark a significant milestone – the inauguration of the Regional Disaster Operations Centre within our Department of Human Development and Social Affairs.

“This centre, a testament to the generous contributions of the Government of Italy, the CIMA Foundation, and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, is outfitted with the free, open-source platform, myDEWETRA, which will significantly enhance our capacity to monitor, analyse, and exchange disaster risk data.”
myDEWETRA is a real-time system for hydro-meteorological forecasting and monitoring.”

The commissioner said the commission had emerged as a vital aspect in driving Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063, in strengthening the regional ability to tackle cross-border challenges.

She said: “Through partnerships and collaborations, we have made considerable strides in supporting member states and fostering resilient communities.

“By 2030, we aspire to substantially augment the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information.”

On her part, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Mami Mizutori, said DRR required the contribution of all partners.

She further said all ECOWAS member states would be able to contribute and receive fundamental support, noting that.
“This effort would not have been possible without the generous support of the Government of Italy, to whom we are grateful.

“The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction is proud to have played a role in establishing this centre by providing both technical and staffing support and we will continue this support moving forward to help the centre reach its full potential.”

The UN representative said the establishment of the ECOWAS Disaster Operations Center, as a core element of the African Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Action System, was an important milestone in achieving the Early Warnings for All initiative.

She, however, said the UNDRR was committed to helping all countries achieve this level of resilience.

The Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Mustapha Ahmed, who also spoke at the event, said management of disaster risks could not be actualised without an efficient coordination mechanism.

He noted that effective early warning systems for anticipatory early actions were needed.

Ahmed said: “The West African sub-region like any other Sub-Saharan Economic Groups is faced with different hazards scenarios that have posed serious threat to the human population, the environment, infrastructure, and means of livelihood based on the hazards manifestation into disasters that are trans-boundary in nature.. The establishment of the Centre in the region is quite commendable considering the location of West African sub-region in the Sahel Zone with its associated disturbing physical and human development indices.”

He insisted that: “Most of this area are characterized by fragile ecosystem and economy that are exacerbated by extreme weather conditions and climate change phenomenon, poverty, insecurity, political unrest, terrorism and banditry. These have undermined community resilience to shocks and stress with varying degree on demographic structure of the zone consisting of women, children, the elderly, people living with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.”

Italy supports ECOWAS with $14m on risk management, sustainable development

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

VP Shettima Mourns Borno Terror Attack Victims, Says No Religion Endorses Killing Of Innocent Lives

Published

on

VP Shettima Mourns Borno Terror Attack Victims, Says No Religion Endorses Killing Of Innocent Lives

By: Our Reporter

Ahead of his trip to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Vice President Kashim Shettima , has expressed grief over the death of 25 persons killed in the multiple explosions in different locations across Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Monday.

He pointed out that no religion sanctions the killing of innocent lives, as the sanctity of human life remains a core tenet of major world faiths.

VP Shettima, who spoke on Tuesday during the closing of the Annual Ramadan Tafsir at the State House Mosque, Abuja, prayed Almighty Allah to grant the souls of those killed in the terror attack in Maiduguri eternal rest, reward them with Aljannah firdaus and give their family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Praying Almighty Allah to also vanish all agents of terror from the surface of the earth, the VP said, “May the lives of innocent souls – 25 of them – that lost their lives in Maiduguri last evening rest in peace. May Allah grant their souls eternal rest and reward them with His Aljannah firdaus, and may Allah also grant their families the fortitude to bear the irreparable losses.

“May Allah bring this madness to an end. No religion sanctions the killing of the innocent. Whatever that is motivating them, may Allah either guide them on to the right path or May Allah vanish them from the surface of the earth.”

The Vice President emphasised the need for all Nigerians to continue to pray for the country across every sector, as well as pray that the Almighty should continue to grant President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and members of his team wisdom, courage, sincerity and equity in service.

He noted that each season of Ramadan reminds Muslims of a truth that power often tries to hide from man, and that no sit is permanent, just as no office is ultimate and no human being stands above his dependence on his creator.

VP Shettima said, “In the presence of Allah, the distance between the mighty and the unknown vanishes. What remains is character, what remains is accountability, what remains is what we did with the trust placed in our hands.

“This is why gatherings such as this matters. They rescue public lives from arrogance; they retain soul to scale; they teach those entrusted with authority that the nation is not built by policy alone but by conscience; not by proclamation alone but by restraint; not by ambition alone but by fear of Allah.”

The VP called on the Muslim faithful to continue to live in the teachings and lessons of the month of Ramadan, as the final days of Ramadan begins to sleep through their fingers.

“The question before us is not whether Ramadan is ending. The question is whether its teachings will continue to live in us after the moon has changed.

“It is quite easy to cut the head when the atmosphere is charged with devotion. The harder task is to carry it into ordinary days, into the market, into the office, into the home, into the chamber of power, and into the private corners where only Allah sees what we are doing, ” he noted.

While drawing from the lessons of Ramadan, the Vice President said the holy month had thought the Muslim faithful that pity without mercy is noise and worship without service is incomplete.

“So, as we close this year’s Tafsir, let us not return to the habits that weaken our common lives; let us not go back to bitterness, to reckless speech, to indifference dressed as sophistication. A believer doesn’t spend the whole month learning only to become a captive again of anger, greed and division.

“Nigeria needs homes where children encounter good examples before good advice. Nigeria, indeed, needs leaders in every spare who understand that influence is a trust, not a license, ” VP Shettima said.

He paid growing tribute to the Chief Imam of the State House Mosque, Sheikh Abdulwaheed Suleiman Abubakar, and his lieutenant for conducting the Tafsir with wisdom, calm hearts.

Earlier, the Chief Imam prayed for sustainable peace and development of Nigerian and the success of the Tinubu administration’s policies and programmes.

The cleric emphasised the need for leaders at all levels to continue to discharge their responsibilities with the fear of Allah for the process and development of the country.

VP Shettima Mourns Borno Terror Attack Victims, Says No Religion Endorses Killing Of Innocent Lives

Continue Reading

News

IGP Visits Maiduguri Bombing Sites, Assesses Security Measures

Published

on

IGP Visits Maiduguri Bombing Sites, Assesses Security Measures

By: Zagazola Makama

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has visited victims of the recent IED explosions in Maiduguri and assessed the security situation at key attack sites, underscoring the force’s commitment to public safety.

The IGP visited the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), where casualties of the bomb blasts are receiving medical attention. He commiserated with victims and their families, assuring them of the Nigeria Police Force’s resolve to identify and dismantle networks responsible for the attacks.

Following the hospital visit, he proceeded to the Maiduguri Monday Market, one of the sites targeted by the terrorists, for an on-the-spot security assessment. The visit included interactions with local security personnel to review operational preparedness and strengthen coordinated response measures.

The IGP also visited the Borno State Government House and the State Police Command Headquarters as part of ongoing engagements to enhance collaboration between federal and state security agencies.

He emphasized that security has been significantly tightened across Maiduguri and its environs, with increased patrols, surveillance, and joint operational deployments aimed at preventing further incidents. Residents were reassured of the force’s commitment to safeguarding lives and property in the aftermath of the attacks.

IGP Visits Maiduguri Bombing Sites, Assesses Security Measures

Continue Reading

News

Save us From Heavy Trailers Killing Our People… Muna Garage Residents Cry Out to Zulum

Published

on

Save us From Heavy Trailers Killing Our People… Muna Garage Residents Cry Out to Zulum

By: Bodunrin Kayode

Residents of Muna axis after customs area in Maiduguri have called on Governor Babagana Zulum to save them from the excesses of heavy duty vehicles who deliberately clog the international highway leading to Gamboru Ngala council area on a daily basis.

Some of the residents who spoke to this reporter after a recent crash which almost killed all the occupants of a commercial “Keke” regretted that the road traffic authorities in the state have not given this international highway the priority it deserves in terms of traffic management due to it’s prominence.

A careless trailer which was parked along the road close to the Alkome police hospital had narrowed the road for another trailer and a Keke nappe which struggled for the little space remaining all driving towards the Muna Garage area when a brush occurred and a sudden bang from the back by a third trailer which almost killed all the occupants of the keke nappe.

Some of the commuters came out alive from the crushed Keke with minor wounds while a particular man had his forefoot crushed almost hanging away from the ball of one of that very foot.

It was a bloody weekend for the commuters as blood from one of them flowed freely into the Keke and on the tarred road leading to Muna while onlookers rushed to see if anyone survived the crash.

Since no security personnel showed up within the first 30 minutes of the crash, the wounded were rushed to a nearby hospital while the trailer cleared from the road to ease traffic movement.

Most of the eye witnesses were enraged by the incident with some blaming it on the Keke riders while others castigated the trailers who insist on parking on the shoulder of this international route which should be free from these kinds of challenges.

Baana, a vulcanizer who says he has spent over three decades on this axis of the town called on Governor Babagana Zulum to as a matter of urgency build a massive modern trailer park for the heavy trucks so that they will stop parking along the road while they wait for clearance in the morning to embark on their journeys to Ngala and beyond.

“Lack of a modern trailer park is the main reason why we keep recording lingering accidents on a daily basis here with countless of people being wounded and are not recorded in the government statistics.” He stressed.

For mallam Isa, a teacher inside the suburb behind Alkome police Hospital, the Governor should as a matter of urgency sign an executive fiat to stop trailers from parking on main roads like this one leading to Mafa,Dikwa and Ngala.

” We are calling on the Governor to invoke an executive order based on section 5 of the 1999 constitution by banning all trailers from parking on the trunk A roads leading to Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

” This is because, apart from endangering the lives of commuters, prolonged stay on the tarred roads cause a lot of damage to the roads which the Governor has dualized after destruction by insurgency.”

Mallam Isa also called on Federal and State Road Safety managers in the state to create a road side emergency station along this route that would be assisting them in clearing accident victims in the road throughout the week and even during the weekend.

“look at this accident that just happened, they are all guilty of one offence or the other. But I equally blame the Keke riders because if they have respect for human lives, they will not be contesting for right of way with heavy duty trailers.

” These trailers are very wicked people. They use their big structures to block and entrap people only to be begging for mercy when the damage has been done.

” Their excesses are as grave as that of the keke napep people. The Federal Road Safety and the Borno traffic management authorities should increase their fines further to serve as deterrent on the rest.

Save us From Heavy Trailers Killing Our People… Muna Garage Residents Cry Out to Zulum

Continue Reading

Trending

Verified by MonsterInsights