By: Saffiatou Colley

The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) Wednesday concluded a two-day data collection training for stakeholders at the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA).

The multi-sectoral platform was based on analysis and utilisation of tools for effective disaster risk reduction (DRR) and early recovery.

The deputy executive director of NDMA, Seringe Modou Joof, in his closing remarks, commended participants for their cooperation during the two-day session.

He went on to remind them about the confidence NDMA has in them towards disaster risk reduction, and urged them to keep the momentum. However, Joof urged them to implement all recommendations made towards building a disaster resilient nation.

Since team building is a necessity especially when different bodies are working towards the same goal, participants were urged by Daniel Otabor of NDMA to work as a team in transforming their objectives into reality. “Team building is a key factor in every group work, for once you choose to work alone, you realize that the task is more difficult than you imagined,” Daniel told the participants.

Edward Ndecky a station officer of the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) told the Daily Observer that the training is relevant to his institution, noting that it will help greatly in dealing with emergency as they are directly involved in DRR.

“Prior to this training, I had little knowledge about disaster risk reduction,” said Mustapha Conteh, a population field officer from the National Population Commission Secretariat in Upper River Region (URR). He stated that URR is a disaster prone zone; so getting them involved in such gatherings will encourage them to take appropriate measures against the menace.

Lamin Samateh, an inspector at the National Environment Agency (NEA), for his part, said the workshop will help them to address disaster and environmental issues, noting that collecting such data is significant for keeping records.