Dr. Seyni Salack, the Regional Thematic Coordinator for the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change, Adaptation and Land Use (WASCAL), has called for Ghana to have a robust information management system for disasters.
He said the Center’s observation following its interaction with Ghanaian State institutions showed a fragmented and individualized approach to communicating disaster-related issues, especially early warnings of impending disasters.
Dr. Salack made the call at a training programme organised by WASCAL to improve Ghana’s disaster management system and climate change response.
The five-day programme is aimed at training personnel from relevant institutions in Ghana’s disaster management ecosystem to prepare for, prevent, and mitigate the impact of climate-related disasters in the country.
The programme will also enable the institutions to harmonise information and data collection and develop people-centred and problem-solving strategies in disaster management.
Representatives from the Ghana Journalist Association, the Ghana Meteorological Agency, the Ghana Hydrological Authority, and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) were among the participants.
Dr Salack noted that the lack of well-organized mitigation mechanisms would put the entire African system—especially West Africa—in a state of uncertainty when it faces climate disasters.
“I believe that the entire African system, particularly West Africa, will be placed in a grey zone. When it comes to climatic calamities, we are neither bad nor good,” he said.
Dr. Salack said there was a need to unify Ghana’s multiple disjointed disaster management initiatives.
“One of the recommendations, which is primarily aimed at Ghana, is to bring together the existing sub-systems and put the fundamentals of disaster risk management together,” he said.
Dr Salack noted that the harmonization of disaster information systems is essential to establishing the credibility of early warnings. Thus, the Meteorological Department, NADMO and Hydo Services must collaborate to effectively communicate the same message.
He expressed optimism that Ghana would be able to integrate its early warning systems and create an anticipatory action framework for disaster risk management because of the training programme.
Professor Emmanuel Wendsoryré Ramdé, the Executive Director for WASCAL, argued for a multi-disciplinary strategy involving the academia, state institutions, and civil society organisations (CSOs) to address climate-induced disasters in Ghana.
