19 countries benefit from Nigeria’s humanitarian assistance – NEMA DG

The Federal Government, through the National Emergency Management
Agency, has provided humanitarian assistance 22 times to 19 countries
faced with emergency situations, the Director General of NEMA,
Muhammad Sani Sidi, has said.
Addressing the 2013 Humanitarian Affair Segment of United Nations
Economic and Social Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Sani Sidi said the assistance were in form of cash and relief items.
He said the donations were in line with the Nigeria’s concentric
foreign policy and the spirit of South-South cooperation.
Sani Sidi said the humanitarian gesture has evolved into closer
cooperation of Nigeria with other countries in respect to disaster
management.
For instance, he said Nigeria recently signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with The Gambia on sharing of information, assets and
manpower for effective disaster management and humanitarian service
delivery.
Through the MoU, two technical personnel of NEMA are presently in
Gambia to support the National Disaster Management Agency of Gambia to develop institutional framework and capacity building.
Sani Sidi said that Nigeria has also received humanitarian relief
donation through NEMA from the international community in the aid of
people that were affected by identified disasters.
Some of the donors included UNFPA, JICA, KOICA, ECOWAS, Islamic
Development Bank and Chad Basin Commission.
He said beside the donations, Nigeria has also benefitted from the
supports of other international humanitarian actors that have
contributed to disaster management in the country.
Such included the joint partnership in the coordinated disaster
preparedness and capacity development such as Post Disaster Needs
Assessment conducted after the 2012 flood, Satellite Imageries from
the International Charter, Space and Major Disasters of three of the
states flooded in 2012 and training of internationally recognized camp
management and camp coordination.
Also speaking at the council, the United Nations
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief
Coordination, Baroness Valerie Amos, advised international
humanitarian and development actors to work closely with governments
and local authorities to efficiently and effectively address
humanitarian issues in the communities.
The Humanitarian Affair Segment of United Nations Economic and Social
Council is organized under the auspices of the United Nations.
It will be recalled that Sani Sidi was recently elected to preside
over the Regional Committee on Disaster Management in the ECOWAS,
which was in recognition of the important roles of Nigeria in the
promotion of disaster issues.