The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has urged policymakers to fully involve scientific experts and technocrats in disaster management in efforts to reduce and build resilience against catastrophes.
This follows the recent floods that devastated Dar es Salaam Capital of Tanzania.
The Speaker,Abdirahin Haithar Abdi, said when addressing a UN disaster conference in Geneva early this week that drought currently ravaging the Horn of Africa has long been predicted but nothing has been done to curb its effects.
“This is a clear sign of disparity between scientists and legislators. If meaningful advances in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster management is to be realized, we need to urgently close ranks and begin working together for the betterment of the communities,” he said.
He said Eala would soon call together regional parliaments to share experiences on disaster management and put DRR on the radar. He remarked that disasters were hindering development and that it was time for action.
Parliaments, he noted, must carry out their functions of legislation, oversight, budgeting and representation with more deligence “but must be true ambassadors who are accountable on disaster matters.
On what the East African Community was dealing with the issue,Abdi revealed that the EAC Transboundary Ecosystems Bill 2010 was likely to be brought before the House for its second reading when the Assembly convenes in Kampala, Uganda late next month.
The Bill inter-alia aims at providing a legal framework to streamline management of trans-boundary ecosystems with the view of enhancing quality of environment and ensuring sustainable utilization of shared natural resources.
At the same time, Eala shall look into the possibility and way forward towards finalization of the model legislation on DRR for the EAC region.
Participants at the meeting hailed the parliaments of Uganda and Senegal for the positive progress on the DRR realized.
Both nations have a positive parliamentary fora on DRR, a move termed as positive in efforts to address disaster risks at the high level.
According to a Uganda MP Alex Byarugaba, Uganda has developed and refined its policy on DRR and was headed towards instituting an Act of Parliament which will be the first in the region.
Abdou Sane of the Parliament of Senegal said it was time legislators formed networks consisting of parliamentarians, media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), citizens and other stakeholders to champion DRR.
“We in the Ecowas (Economic Community of West African States) are contemplating forming networks in each of the 16 member states of the bloc”, he stated.
An MP from Bangladesh Saber Chowdhury termed mapping of disaster prone areas as essential in the universal bid to contain disasters.
He called for a change of mindset by identifying modalities that build resilience and capacities to handle disasters as opposed to relief and reconstruction which, he said, were reactionary and defeatist.
The two day consutative talks in Geneva concluded with a clarion call by the legislators to re-double their efforts in building global resilience of nations and communities to disasters.
The Parliamentarians called for the enactment of legislation on Disaster Management, increase in resources and scale-up of networking and information to shore up DRR in the local, regional and global communities.
The objective of the meeting was to review progress with regards to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNIDR) initiative on Parliamentarians in disaster risk reduction,exchange views on challenges that Parliamentarians encountered in promoting DRR and identify priorities for the 2012-2013 Action Plan.
Margareta Wahlstrom, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Reduction reiterated the UN’s support for DRR as key in sustainable and equitable development.
“We are pursuing this important subject on the multilateral agenda of the UN. Business as usual is not an option adding that it was time for re-definition of development to be sensitive to disasters and climate
risks” she said.
The UN Representative further informed Parliamentarians of major forthcoming events including the next World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2015 and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development where disaster risk was set to take centre stage in the discussions in line with the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA).
The Hyogo Framework is a blueprint adopted by Member States of the UN in 2005 at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction and it aims at building resilience of nations to disasters.
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