Local humanitarian actors must be considered as essential components of the humanitarian response chain to ensure the successful implementation of humanitarian projects.

Mrs Fatou Ndour, Programmes Manager at the Austrian Centre for Peace (ACP), made the call at the opening of a two-week Course on Humanitarian Assistance in Wes Africa at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) at Teshie on Monday.

The Course was organised by the KAIPTC in collaboration with the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, and supported by the Austrian Development Agency, and the Austrian Ministry of Defence.

A total of 33 participants from 11 countries are participating in the Course.

Mrs Ndour said capacity building for local actors should be before the crisis had occurred to aid preparation and effective response.

She observed that often, resources provided by the international community tended to be available only when the crisis was underway.

“As a result, humanitarian assistance tends to be limited to reaction, when it should also and primarily be oriented towards anticipation, readiness, and preparedness,” she said.

Mrs Ndour also called for the participation of women in humanitarian assistance missions to ensure that gender perspectives were captured in response strategies.

Humanitarian emergencies in Africa have been a source of concern for many years, with millions facing food insecurity, climate disorder, identity-based extremism, and political and religious extremism among other challenges.

According to the African Union (AU), about 113 million people in the 15 most affected AU Member States were yet to receive emergency assistance in 2022.

Mr Moritz Ehrmann, Director of the Austrian Centre for Peace, said the Humanitarian Assistance in West Africa Project would contribute to capacity building for effective humanitarian crisis response in West Africa.

“Those who focus on providing security, and those who look for peaceful and sustainable ways, I think we all do good to listen to each other and learn from one another,” he said.

Air Commodore George Arko-Dadzie, Deputy Commandant, KAIPTC, said the Course contributed to several strategic objectives of the ECOWAS Humanitarian Policy and Action Plan, the ECOWAS

Disaster Risk Reduction Gender Strategy and Action Plan 2020-2030, as well as the EU Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, among others.

“In so doing, we are meeting the training needs in support of effective and well-coordinated humanitarian assistance in the region,” he said.

According to the United Nations Global Humanitarian Overview 2021 report, six of the most significant and urgent crises with alarming humanitarian consequences were found in Africa, with more than 30 million internally displaced people, refugees and asylum seekers.