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The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has commenced a stimulation exercise as part of its readiness to effectively respond to disaster during this year’s elections.
The pre-election 2024 stimulation exercise dubbed “Exercise Stay Safe” is undertaken by NADMO in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) and conducted in three regions thus Northern, Greater Accra and Ashanti simultaneously.
In attendance were key partners such as the Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Police Service, National Ambulance Service and other civil society organisations in disaster management.
The Deputy Director-General of NADMO, Seji Saji, in his remarks said the exercise was in line with NADMO’s mandate to coordinate agencies and stakeholders towards the management of activities with humanitarian consequences.
He said the stimulation exercise was to enable NADMO test its readiness to manage possible election crisis.
The Deputy Director stated that the exercise would offer scenarios that guide their response operation to manage possible crisis and also offer lessons to build on systems and capacities for key stakeholders to manage humanitarian concern in the event of elections crisis in a coordinated and effective manner.
The Deputy Country Director of the WFP, Mrs Anna Mukiibu-Bunnya, in remarks on behalf of the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, Mr Charles Abani, said the pre-election simulation exercise comes at a crucial time as Ghana prepares for its upcoming elections.
She said the UN had identified four key areas such as peace processes and peace building, hate speech, dialogue and good offices disinformation, and safety of journalists, to support national efforts in the upcoming election.
Mrs Mukiibu-Bunnya assured of the UN and its partners’ continuous support to government and NADMO in building resilience into disaster planning and response systems.
“Strengthening community-based resilience systems will be essential to mitigate potential risks and ensure preparedness for emerging crises,” she added.
She commended NADMO for the initiative and urged stakeholders and government agencies to work together to ensure successful, peaceful election in the country.
BY ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI
