World Bank sets aside funds for disasters

An EIGHT hundred thousand dollars grant has been set aside by the World Bank to support Ghana in its quest to mitigate occurrences of disasters in the future, a Senior Country Operations Officer of the bank, Ms Beatrix Allah-Mensah, has said.

She said as development partners, they found it necessary to partner the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) towards the implementation of the Disaster Risk Management Plan Project (DRMPP) to enable it address disaster challenges in future.

Collaboration to mitigate disasters

NADMO, in collaboration with the World Bank and the United Development Programme (UNDP), as part of its pragmatic measures to reduce disaster in the country put up the DRMPP to mitigate disasters nationwide.

Ms Allah-Mensah made this known at Anyamam near Sege in the Ada West District in the Greater Accra Region to mark the International Day for Disaster Reduction, 2015 and launched a brochure dubbed “Knowledge for Life.”

The Chief Executive of the Ada West District Assembly, Mr Anthony Yklopa, said the brochure entailed mechanisms to be applied locally to manage disaster risk and save lives, as well as assets in local communities.

Data on disasters

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ghana, Ms Christine Evans-Klock said in 2014, about 19.3 million people were displaced by disasters worldwide.

That, she said, caused loss of life and great social and economic upheavals, adding that “sudden disasters can destroy years of investments in infrastructure, housing and public services.”

Commendation

The NADMO boss, Brig. General Francis Vib-Sanziri, commended the development partners for their support in implementing the DRMPP and assured them of the commitment of NADMO to educate the public on disaster precautions.