The commemoration of the day by the UN started in 1989 to promote a global culture of risk awareness and disaster reduction.

The day is also used to celebrate people and communities around the world who reduce their exposure to disasters and also raise awareness of the importance of reining in the risks that they face.

This year’s commemoration focused on Target Nine of a Sendai Framework — increasing the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessment to people by 2030.

In line with this, member states of the UN were encouraged to choose themes based on targets relevant to their local situations.

The programme was organised by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Coping mechanisms

The Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery, in a speech read on his behalf by the Chief Director at the ministry, Adelaide Anno-Kumi, said earthquakes could not be predicted, neither could they be prevented.

She, therefore, called for the building of coping mechanisms to live with the menace, of which early warning was crucial.

The Director-General of NADMO, Eric Nana Agyemang-Prempeh, urged metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to go all out to demolish unauthorised structures on water courses, in line with the law.

"We must do it; sometimes we must take the harsh decisions. It is not that we don't have any laws in this country," he added.

On the recent floods that occurred in the Weija-Gbawe municipality in Accra, he said last year when some unauthorised structures were demolished in the area to pave the way for the passage of excess water, the people protested the action.

However, he said, with the prevailing flood situation in the same area this year, the same people were now calling on the government for relief items.

Nana Agyemang-Prempeh explained that anytime the Weija Dam was full, the water had to be spilled quickly so that it did not cause any damage to the system.

Impact

The UNESCO Representative in Ghana, Abdourahamane Diallo, said disasters, both natural and technologically induced, had increased, with the related devastating socio-economic impact.

He said the organisation was laying more emphasis on pre-disaster actions, including supporting capacity building of countries to manage disasters and climate risk.

“Science and collaboration are very important in all of these, which is why UNESCO promotes scientific exchange and collaborative efforts to establish effective early warning systems for different hazards, such as tsunamis, landslides, earthquakes, floods and droughts,” Mr Diallo added.

UNESCO Ghana and the WFP later donated an animated video and posters on what to do during an earthquake to the government.