Deputy Country Director UNDP, Mohamed Abehir says Sierra Leone is gradually becoming one of the disaster prone countries in the World.
Delivering the keynote address,during the commemoration of International Day bfor Disaster Risk Reduction,he said the aim of the awareness is to develop a disaster resilient society and promote a global culture of disaster reduction.
He said women and girls are powerful agents of change, and that they have unique knowledge and skills crucial to addressing or managing disaster risks.
Abehir lamented that women must participate in poverty reduction, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, that will shape their future and those of their families and communities adding that women must use their roles within families and communities to strengthen risk reduction.
He also pointed out that climate change adds a new dimension to community risk and vulnerability, although the magnitude of these changes may appear to be small, they could substantially increase the frequency and intensity of existing climatic events ; floods, drought, storms.
Speaking on the day itself which was on Saturday, the Disaster Management Department; Office of the National Security, Director, Mary Mye Kamara said the day was an occasion to pay tribute to millions of girls and women around the world who are in the frontline, making their communities and societies resilient to the impacts of disasters and the effects of the climate change.
The theme for this year’s Celebration is ‘Women and Girls-the (in)Visible Force of Resilience’
The awareness of the day was raised to journalist and a large audience especially the disabled, at the Thompsonian Hall, Syke Street on 12th October 2012 with its major objective being to raise awareness of how people can take action to reduce their risk to disaster.
Speaking at the celebration ceremony, Mary Mye-Kamara; Director, Disaster Management Department disclosed that as the department is striving to recognize the role of women and girls as pillars of resilience within communities, their focus for this year shall be on special needs categories of risk population, such as the blind, deaf and dumb, crippled and amputees.
She said they have trained about 300 volunteers all over the country including those in slum communities to continue sensitisation on the reduction of disaster.
By Emmanuella Kallon
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