The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, in collaboration with the Government of Togo and support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has launched a high level five-day regional training on Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and Disaster Recovery Framework (DRF) in Lomé, Togo. The training aims to enhance disaster recovery capacities and establish resilient recovery practices in the 15 ECOWAS Member States. The training will also contribute to strengthening the PDNA and DRF Roster of Experts hosted by the ECOWAS Commission.

The ECOWAS region has been severely affected by disasters and climate change impacts, with floods and droughts being the most severe hazards, affecting about 100 million people over the last 40 years. “Unfortunately, Togo has not been spared either, as recurrent floods and droughts exacerbated by climate change have caused tremendous hardship for the population in recent years,” Colonel Akobi Messan, representative of the Minister of Security and Civil Protection of the Government of Togo, stated.
 
“Our collective ability to respond to and recover from disasters is critical for protecting hard-earned development gains and for ensuring a better quality of life for all, particularly in the fragile settings of the West Sahel and Lake Chad Basin,” said Ali Tiloh Bassasso Essossinam, Programme Officer for Child Rights and Child Protection at the Directorate of Humanitarian and Social Affairs of the ECOWAS Commission. 
 
She further emphasized that “PDNA is a comprehensive, coordinated, and integrated methodology to assess disaster effects and impacts, identify needs, and build a strong recovery strategy and framework.”
 
The training, which began on 15 May in French and Portuguese, will last until 19 May, followed by sessions in English on 22-25 May. Participants in the training include national government representatives from disaster management, civil protection, planning, gender, and other sectors of ECOWAS Member States.

Seynabou Diaw Ba, Deputy Resident Representative for UNDP in Togo, expressed gratitude to the Government of Togo and the ECOWAS Commission for their unwavering support and efforts in organizing the training, and to the European Union for their generous support, which made the workshop possible under the Project on Strengthening Capacities for Crisis Assessment and Recovery Planning Project. 
 
“UNDP stands fully committed to ensuring that our efforts through our partnership with the ECOWAS Commission are aligned with the aspirations and actions of the African continent and the region,” Ms. Diaw Ba concluded.
 
The ECOWAS Members States are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, (The) Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.