Economic Community of West African States’ Commission (ECOWAS Commission) has said tackling humanitarian crises caused by both natural and man-made disasters across West Africa requires enhanced budget.

The commission stated this, yesterday, in Abuja at the opening of a mid-term consultations meeting of the Regional Committee for Disaster Management in West Africa (GECEAO).

The Head, ECOWAS Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Mohammed Ibrahim, expressed fear that the magnitude of vulnerability and exposure to hazards and losses from disasters was expected to continue increasing over the next decade due to flooding, land degradation, water scarcity and coastal erosion occasioned by climate change.

Ibrahim stated that since the inception of the regional committee for disaster management in 2009, it had been coordinating disaster management efforts, bringing together national and regional agencies and other partners with the intention of developing and implementing a unified strategy that would build community’s resilience to natural and man-made disasters.

He said: “Disaster management is a big phenomenon coupled with the ongoing hazards we are facing. In Nigeria, the recent flood incident in Bauchi State destroyed lives and properties worth over N8 billion. So, ECOWAS, in its mandate, has been trying to ensure that the affected population is assisted. Working in collaboration with the Ministry of Humanitarian affairs and Social Development, it has tried to support the activities of the government through cash donations to support the victims.

“Also, to address the causes of disaster is very important and generally, ECOWAS is investing a lot on it and we need more resources to be able to do that and efforts are made to ensure that humanitarian response takes the lion share in the budget.”

The committee had met last year in Niger to reinforce capacities of its focal points in disaster management.

“Today, we gather to review the progress made on that consultation’s recommendations. This mid-term consultation will provide the platform for validating the draft regional recovery roadmap and resilience strategy developed by ECOWAS Commission with technical support from UNDP,” he added.

The Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Zubaida Umar, Nigeria stood to benefit from the initiative to provide guidance in addressing the cumulative destructive impacts resulting from the multi-dimensional risks in the country.