SPE-183605-MS

Ghana's Response to National Emergencies and Disaster Management: An

Advocacy for a Multisectoral Approach

Gina Teddy, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration; Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, Ghana Health
Service

Copyright 2016, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE African Health, Safety, Security, Environment, and Social Responsibility Conference and Exhibition held in Accra,
Ghana, 4-6 October 2016.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
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Abstract
The past two decades have seen an increasing trend in national disasters in Ghana resulting from natural
catastrophes and human activities. In the past few years however, the range of threats have dramatically
shifted to human activities leading to environmental degradation, infectious diseases and other public health
hazards, technological and chemical hazards, and conflicts with consequences to public health and climate
change. Across the country but largely in cities and towns, the threat for disaster are created through poor
sanitation and building plans, mining and forestry practices, poor regulation and enforcement, lack of
education, corruption and greed, and poor health and safety practices. Response to disaster and emergencies
such as floods, bushfires, drought, deforestation, collapsed buildings, infectious disease outbreaks, unsafe
food and water contamination, and road accidents have been adhoc, haphazardly planned and poorly
supported. There is a lack of collaboration and partnership among the institutions responsible for managing
these risks and disasters. The efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Disaster
Management Organisation (NADMO), ministries of health, agriculture, mines and natural resources,
ambulatory and fire services are all independent of each other on the one hand and isolated from the
community, NGOs, civil societies and research institutes on the other.
These had led them to operate in silos, pursue individual policies at the detriment of maximising the
scarce resources and capacities available to support risk management. Sordidly, providing relief to disaster
victims is currently politicised by governments and political parties for campaign and voting purposes,
leading to political inteference and manipulations. These short term approaches to disaster management
had been the cause of recurrent preventative catastrophes, public health challenges and rapid environmental
degradation experienced in Ghana. We are advocating for a multi-sectoral approach to emergency and
disaster management in Ghana by all sectors and partners involved to ensure adequate prediction, regulation,
prevention, and lessons for mitigation and monitoring, information and education to the public. NADMO
cannot continue to haphazardly support disaster victims, nor the EPA overwhelmed with the growing
challenges. We are calling for clear national policy direction and systems approach to disaster, risk and
emergency management that allow for effective partnership, encourage capacity strengthening and resource
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collaboration among all partners for effective measures towards prevention, mitigation, preparedness,
response and recovery.

Introduction
News Headlines:
Some 200 people lost their lives in the June 3rd flood –fire disaster in Accra (3rd June, 2015: BBC,
Ghanaweb, All major Ghanaian newspapers)
There have been exponential record of disasters in Ghana over the last two decades but recent rate, force
and impact of natural or man-made disasters happening in towns and cities is on the rise. These disasters are
triggered by human activities, natural forces, climate change, regional conflict or disease outbreaks and they
tend to have detrimental and fatal consequences (Noran, 2004). The above headlines are clear indications
of the implications of these disasters on lives and properties and their growing public health concerns.
Responding to and managing the impact of these disasters require efficiency and coordinated action in
decision making, implementation and regulation, critical to prevent, prepare, respond to and recover from
disasters and emergencies with lessons for preventions and regulations. Yet there are structural and strategic
gaps of how disasters and risk are managed and regulated in Ghana making their impact vicious to both
lives and properties.
This paper examines a recent catastrophic disaster in Ghana (specially the 2015 news headlines above)
to enable unpack the challenges associated with disaster management and emergency response (DMER)
that had made the process ineffective, adhoc and unresponsive to those affected, in order to explore the
importance of multi-sectoral action in DMER. We are taking systems perspective towards the management
of issues around vulnerability, capacities and competencies, response to, prevention and regulations of
DMER to enable advocate for a multi-sectoral action in Ghana during emergencies and catastrophic events
overall.
Preparedness of a country towards disaster management, mitigation, response and recovery are usually
complex requiring political and administrative network of actors to coordinate their efforts ((Waugh &
Streib, 2006). However, response to natural disasters in Ghana had been mostly adhoc involving government
and non-government actors, the security agencies, emergency groups, community members and in some
cases foreign search and rescue teams. During disaster situations, the government and/or its organisations
usually lead disaster management using specific policies, departments and organizations (Noran, 2004),
and in recent years key personalities such as politicians, religious and community leaders to intervene
during national disasters to calm community members and justify government actions and response to those
emergency situations.

Disaster Management and Emergency Response in Ghana

The operation of emergency services is typically legislated at the national level. The government
organization responsible for DMER is the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), which
has a mandate stipulated in Act 517 of the National Disaster Management Act 1996, to manage areas affected
by disaster and emergencies while supporting to rehabilitate persons affected by disaster, and to provide for
related matters (NADMO, 1996). NADMO like most disaster management organizations (DMOs) operates
in a complex environment featuring a wide range of geographical locations, socio-economic and ethnic
groups, traditions and cultures, histories, emergency situations, and types and level of local governance
(Noran, 2004). They also deal with different organisations to collaborate towards response, support and
relief during emergencies. Despite this complexity, the role of NADMO has been increasingly relegated to
adhoc provision of response during emergency event and relief in situations of critical concern or political
implication. Their mandate to pursue inter-sectoral actions, prevention and awareness campaigns is limited
SPE-183605-MS 3

to situations considered to be ‘politically sensitive’, and in response to the specific needs of communities
during crisis situation and usually expressed through mandates and goodwill.
Reports and records of emergency response in Ghana are fraughted with poorly coordinated actions and
delays by the agencies responding to the crisis situation. Usually there are reports of confusion, inadequate
information flow and dispute of who is in charge and which regulatory body has failed to function leading
to lack of trust between the authorities and the media on one the hand, and the authorities and the public
on the other. A series of systemic failures have been blamed on the ways in which DMER is provided in
Ghana. Several episodes and discussions about these systemic failures points to the structures, capacities
and competences of agencies charged to provide DMER. This is because having policies and providing
directives had not translated into responsive and coordinated action during crisis situation (Noran, 2004).
During crisis and emergency situations, providing DMER can be costly to individuals, households,
communities, agencies involved and the state. When disasters strike, they most affect individual, families
and their source of livelihood. It is often asserted that vulnerability to disasters or emergencies are often
related to the level of development and access to resources (Bolin & Stanford, 1998; Blaikie, 1994). The
implications of disasters are both short and long-terms and in Ghana, they can be most detrimental to the
poor, vulnerable and voiceless groups easily who are easily dismissed after the event. It is difficult to prepare
for, respond to and prevent disasters and public health emergencies likely to be exacerbated by the following
structural factors: poverty, poor governance, social inequity emanating from low education levels and lack
of access to basic services, dwindling economies dependent on international markets and donor support,
high population growth rate and high urbanization and rural exodus (FAO, 2011).
Recent macro-economic and climatic conditions in Ghana have implications to DMER, especially in
terms of its ability or capacities to manage disasters and emergencies. Natural or human induced disasters,
transboundary animal and human diseases, global health issues, plant, pests and diseases are increasingly
poorly managed, whereas the regulation of structural and human actions have significantly impact on the
vulnerability of populations to shocks (FAO, 2011). The macro-economic conditions also impact on a
country’s ability to provide effective and efficient DMER. Despite the socio-economic growth reported in
Ghana over the past two decade, those economic growths have not translated into community structures that
allow informed decision-making, self-reliant development pattern, regulations and preventative measures
(Buckland & Rahman, 1999). The agencies charged to support during crisis situations are still constrained
by resources and lack of capacities to support and manage disasters effectively (FAO, 2011). This had led
to sub-optimal efforts towards prevention and response by the agencies.
Across the country but largely in cities and towns, the threat of disaster are created through poor sanitation
and building plans, mining and forestry practices, poor regulation and enforcement, lack of education,
corruption, greed and poor health and safety practices. Response to disaster and emergencies such as floods,
bushfires, drought, deforestation, collapsed buildings, infectious disease outbreaks, unsafe food and water
contamination, and road accidents have been adhoc, haphazardly planned and poorly supported. Besides
the lack of resources, competencies and capacities, there is a lack of collaboration and partnership among
the institutions responsible to and managing these risks and disasters.
The piecemeal approach to solving these challenges and providing DMER have created barriers to
agencies and resources responsible for risk management and had led to inefficiencies in the way the agencies
charged to prevent and respond to these disasters operate. Failure to collaborate for disaster management
has dire consequences for lives and property. For instance, the recurrent flooding of Accra during the
raining season each year can be prevented if regulation and sanitation agencies enforce the standards for
environmental safety, authorized building plans, provide preventative strategies to avoid sewage blockage
and indiscriminate citing of properties and disposal of waste. Similarly if the various authorities such as
the local authorities, environmental regulation agencies, works and housing, roads and transport and other
relevant authorities work collaborative and efficiently to compel compliance by individuals, communities
and industries, it will improve preventative measures for the flooding situations in Accra in particular.
4 SPE-183605-MS

Recent concerns around government policies, ability to provide regulations, enforcement, control and
accountability measures to ensure high standards to reduce risk and enable preventions in occupational,
environmental, industrial and domestic activities are not pursued. These have had long-term environmental
and health consequences of exposure, vulnerability, and environmental degradation for both communities
and individuals. The ‘flood and fire’ case study provide a typical example pf the concerns around these
issues and how DMER is provided.

Research Methodologies
The main objective of this advocacy piece is to use this single case to examine the causes, effects and
implications of disaster management and emergencies response (DMER) in Ghana in order to understand
the weaknesses in current DMER practices for which we are advocating for multi-sectoral action. We used
the single disaster scenario dubbed ‘flood-fire disaster’ that occurred in June 2005 as the cases of analysis to
examine the reality and challenges associated with the current practice of DMER. By using the case study,
we will interrogate the issues around DMER provisions in depth while comparing the role of actors in the
scenario. Using multiple sources of evidence and reported in the news, we have unpacked real life issues
for lessons specific to the context and experiences in the scenario yet applicable to how emergencies are
responded to in Ghana overall (Yin, 2009).
This is also an advocacy call for key actors locally and externally to reflect on the gaps in providing
DMER in Ghana, the implications of their roles, actions and inactions and most importantly appeal to
for community involvement. Using academic platforms such as conferences and journals to pursue this
advocacy, we intend to appeal to key actors and agencies identified in this paper to be more responsive
towards DMER. This is a relevant cause in public health as well as the social-economic development of
Ghana and improvement in how DMER is offered. Advocacy is a powerful means to create or change
policies, practice, laws and regulations on DMER, distribution of resources and decisions making. It is
our intent that this piece impact on the way actors/agents respond to disasters and emergencies to be more
responsive and proactive in their actions. We also want to ensure that DMER policies and decisions lead to
change that is more integrative and systemic during implementation.

Case Analysis
This case analysis presents the scenario of the ‘flood-fire’ disaster, identify the categories of key actors
and analyse their roles and responsibilities towards DMER. Using reports from the British Boadcasting
Corperation and other local news, we present some of the reports on the disaster:

The Case Scenario of the ‘Flood-Fire’ Disaster in Ghana

On the 3rd of June 2015, the major Ghanaian newspapers reported that about 200 people lost their lives in
a flood and fire disaster in Accra.

It is the raining season here (in Accra), and it had been raining heavily for a while that Wednesday
evening. People were trying to get home from work. The rains were not abnormal for the time of year
and the flooding would not have alarmed many on the roads (users) to start with. When it rains, Accra
floods; it is one of the most predictable things in our city. So it would have been a diverse group of
people who were taking shelter in and around the petrol filling station to wait out the rain. They would
have been vendors selling umbrellas in the rain and food for those on their way home. They would
have been passengers in buses and vans being taken to all parts of the city. They would have been
cars whose drivers and occupants had also stopped to let the rushing waters subside. It is not clear
how and why the fuel started leaking from the station but the fast-flowing flood waters quickly spread
SPE-183605-MS 5

the fuel. Then the lights (power outage) went out; that too, unfortunately, has become part of normal
life in Ghana (BBC News, 2015).
In the middle of heavy floods (on that) Wednesday night, an explosion at a petrol station in the
Ghanaian capital, Accra, killed at least 150 people (BBC News, 2015). Reports from BBC News
explain that: The figures range from between 150 and 200. It might be more, and the real tragedy is
(that) we might never know just how many people died. Bodies are still being found in drains and
sewers, and it is not unlikely that, in the next few days and weeks, the search will give up more bodies.
The morgues are full and hospital authorities are reported to have given up to 28 days for families
to claim the bodies. That is going to take some doing. Many of the bodies were burnt beyond easy
identification and, sadly, it is likely to take some time before some people are missed, searched for
and confirmed dead. As an official three-day period of national mourning starts, Elizabeth Ohene (a
Minister of State) reports from a city in grief (BBC News, 2015).

From the scenario presented in the news above, the risk of flooding in Accra is predicable at least,
making it possibility to mitigate and prevent the damage and impact of floods during the raining seasons.
It also indicate how the floods are not entirely created by the natural forces from heavy rains but also the
manifestation of unresolved preventative and developmental problems (Yodmani, 2001). Yet mitigation and
preventive measure were not pursued by the agencies responsible, neither were they prepared to respond
to this recurring disaster.
In the debates following this disaster, like many others before it, there were no prior warnings issued
to commuters about the severity of the rains or to those in the areas to expect the floods or avoid the risk
areas. Also, flood-prone neighbourhoods are located in the heart of the city of Accra’s business district –
Circle, Avenor, Adabraka, Nima, Mamobi, etc. – and are closely cited near rivers, lakes and waer bodies that
have been channelled through poorly constructed open drainage systems choked with filth. These drains
are linked to major tributaries, rivers and lakes meandering into the sea. They have become main sources of
illegally refuse dumps creating extreme hazards during rains. Most of these flood-prone areas are also highly
concentrated with people, buildings and structures haphazardly cited for domestic and commercial usage.
Like most disaster in Ghana, the risk is deeply rooted in systemic failures where recurring hazards and
risks are responded to like one-off occurrences therefore lacking a comprehensive approach that allow for
risk and hazard assessment, vulnerability analysis or provide measure and initiatives for prevention and
mitigation. The agencies and actors in this scenario had failed to provide basic health and safety mechanisms,
hazard reduction and risk management and to prevent, respond and mitigate the situation. These agencies
were tasked to regulate and control sanitation, building and planning standards, domestic and industrial
health and safety measures, provide mechanisms for industrial, commercial and individual actions and to
mitigate risks, engage the communities to prepare, manage and prevent vulnerable condition to risk as well
as work collaboratively to improve the situations leading to the floods.

Who is Responsible and Accountable for the Flood-Fire Disaster?

The actors and stakeholders indentified in this scenario constitute three categories of responsibility towards
the disaster: 1) those creating and causing the hazard; 2) those responsible to prevent and regulate health,
safety and risk management; and 3) those mitigating and responding to the risk.
It is evident from the table above that various agencies/actors are directly responsible to the causes of
the disaster as well as its prevention. First and foremost, the government have an oversight responsibility
through its ministries and agencies to manage, prevent, mitigate and respond to disasters. The effective
functioning of these agencies in terms of their capacity, resources, competencies and responsiveness has
implication during disasters and emergency situation. In this scenario for instance, the failures of the
regulatory authorities especially the local government authority (e.g., AMA), EPA, Town and Country
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Planning, and Meteorological Agencies to forewarn communities had directly let to the disaster. It also
demonstrates how significant their roles are towards preventing such occurrences.

Table 1—Categories of Agencies and Actors

Types of Actors List of Agencies/Actors

Agencies/ Actors creating or causing the hazard Individual residents; commuters; businesses and industries; transport
providers; the building and construction firms; Electricity Company of
Ghana (ECG) and the sanitation management agencies.

Agencies/ Actors responsible for the prevention and regulation of health,
safety and risk management
Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA, the local government authority);
Town and Country Planning Units; Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA); the Private Sector (including Industrial and Commercial entities);
the Petroleum Industry; Meteorological stations and weather agencies,
Media, Ministry of Health (and its Public Health Unit), Ministry of Roads
and Transport; Ministry of Local Government, and the Government of
Ghana.

Agencies/ Actors responsible to mitigate and respond during hazards and NADMO, Emergency Response Team; Ghana National Fire Service;
disasters Ambulance and Emergency Services, Emergency Units at Health Facilities,
Community disaster volunteers; and Civil Society Volunteering groups

Similarly, the private sector especially the industries, commercial entities and petroleum industry in
this particular instance, also have a responsibility towards safety practices to prevent and avoid creating
hazards to lives (individual workers, residents and their communities), properties and the environment.
For instance, preventing fuel leakage at petroleum stations in cities and residential areas or within busy
commercial district must follow normative international standards without exceptions. Encouraging the use
of technologies and tools to enable early detection of some of these hazards could prevent reoccurrence of
this situation. Failures to comply with these safety standards and regulations must attract penalty adequate
to deter violation of the regulations. This is particularly important with the recent surge of petroleum and
gas station cited in residential areas to avoid similar disasters and effective adherence to safety standards.
The private industries and commercial entities must be proactive in dealing with hazards, health and
safety issues and must be strictly regulated to make them accountable to the regulations when they violate
safety rules. These regulations must be applied systematically irrespective of the size and wealh of the
industry to enable manage risk and safety standards in their operations. The law enforcement agencies
responsible must remain transparent and diligent in enforcing these rules. As corruption and political
interference is affecting the functioning of enforcement agencies making them weak in enforcing the rules
and safety practices.
Individuals, community members, small scale industries, commercial transport operators, traders,
construction firms, etc. who are directly affected by the disaster ironically contribute the greatest towards the
hazardous conditions. The utmost responsibility of these agents/actors must be to prepare, plan and prevent
risk associated with the raining season. For instance, individual and traders must be held accountable if
they do not dispose of the waste they produce responsibly. The role of small scale industries, trader and
commercial transport operators in disposing of waste for instance is a mitigating step towards controlling
and managing the open drainage systems and littering of the water bodies. The construction firms have also
failed to build responsibly, cover-up holes, drains and dug-up areas, provide adequate signage and simple
follow safety precautions.
Disaster management agencies such as NADMO, Emergency Response Team; Ghana National Fire
Service; Ambulance and Emergency Services, hospitals and clinics and Community volunteers do have
greater responsibility to prepare for, prevent, respond and mitigate to reduce similar hazards through the
enhancement of local capacity in disaster risk management or during disaster season. But they do not engage
actors after the crisis or pursue adequate mitigation and preventive measures. Most often the volunteers
from the Ghana Armed Forces and the community provide major support during disaster in Ghana, as was
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the case in this scenario because of lack of capacities, resources, competencies and the absence of disaster
management framework that allow actors to collaborate toward a mutual goal. This particular group of
actors work in silos to respond to floods, NADMO for instance hardly collaborate with the health emergency
response team, ambulatory and fire services teams and health facilities. They operate independent of each
other and independent of the community, NGOs, civil societies and research institutes.
It is evident that these actors have responsibility and/or accountable towards each other in the ‘Flood-
fire’ disaster because their actions, inactions and inability to adequately DMER with implication to
lives, properties and development. As much as the agents/ actors causing or creating the hazards have a
responsibility to ensure safe communities, the regulatory agencies have the responsibility to ensure they
adhere to those regulations while making them accountable through sanctions and rewards. Similarly,
the response teams have a responsibility to prepare, anticipate and adequately and efficiently respond to
emergency and catastrophic situations. This however requires collaborative efforts with checks and balances
among the agents/actors to ensure hazards are minimised or prevented.
During the ‘flood-fire’ disaster, the response teams handling the event were reported to lack the capacity
in terms of resources and competency to handle both the flood and fire hazard. These include the official
response team, media, bystanders, and volunteers. Understandingly, different sets of competencies are
required for each of these hazards but in the face of lack of preparedness and resources, the implications were
detrimental. Volunteers were easily mobilised to support the response team, however, they were exposed to
more threat because of the lack of resources and capacities to handle the situation.
Considering the range of agencies/actors that have failed to recognise how their contributions and actions
created more hazards, it is evident that an integrated approach to disaster management and emergency
response (DMER) is required in Ghana. The systemic failures in DMER are not simply led by one agency
of factor but all agencies involved leading subsequently to failures to support the victims. Issues around
regulations by various agencies, preparation to deal with such disasters, monitoring standard of operations
and preventions to allow for lessons are mostly politicised or veered into unrelated political topics. There
loosing focus on the victim and implication of the disasters to them.

Discussion
From the case analysis, it is essential to point out the lack of collaborations among actors and the different
sectors towards preparedness, mitigation, response, relief and prevention. This has partially resulting from
the effect of capacities, competencies, resources, and the command-and-control style of managing disaster
and emergency response. It also points to the autonomy of funding, organisational operations, different aims
and goals that the organisations subscribe to, and the absence of national disaster frameworks applicable
for actors. The way each agency/actor address and deal with emergencies and crisis is dependent on the
priority assigned to it, resource allocation implications and competencies. Leadership also provide another
dynamic to how DMER is managed from one organisation or actor to the other. These factors determine
the extent of involvement by agencies/actors in DMER.
Although NADMO Act 517 makes provision for collaboration among various sectors and actors, in
practice these collaborative effects are limited to specific response to disasters. There is not a deliberate effort
to sustain these collaborations beyond the response and relief events. For instance, these mulit-sectioral
actions for preparedness, prevention is lacking. The NADMO Act 517 emphasise the need for the agency and
related sectors to manage disaster in affected areas, provide rehabilitation, prevention, relief and mitigation.
But in reality, the actions of NADMO and other emergency response agencies focus on providing response
and to some extent relief planning instead of prevention, preparedness and recovery activities (de Guzman,
2013). This case analysis demonstrates how some actors have neglected their functions and roles, especially
preventive roles and preparedness function. We are advocating for a multi-sectoral approach to DMER
in Ghana to enable all actors/ agencies including government, DMOs, private and community groups to
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participate in disaster management. This participatory approach although relevant may require care and
active coordination to help structure response, prevention, mitigation and response during catastrophic
events.
The multi-sectoral approach to DMER prioritises the central role of the community for both long and
short term disaster management. This entails reducing vulnerable conditions and the root causes of hazards
and vulnerability (Noran, 2004). The community is the key actor, contributor as well as the beneficiary
of disaster risk and hazard reduction. Therefore mobilizing the community to participate in the planning,
prevention and implementation of DMER create an opportunity to bring together community stakeholders
and expand the resource base available for emergencies and disaster management. There is the opportunity
for lessons to be drawn for practice and learning in subsequent events, to promote community ownership
while developing coping strategies appropriate to their context (ibid)
Most disasters experienced in Ghana are seasonal in nature, but there are no sustainable structures
to adequately address them or effective methods to develop seasonal cycles of preparedness (Yodmani,
2001). The analysis of capacities and vulnerability of disaster-prone areas and communities require further
development. Although flooding in Accra is predictable during the raining seasons, assessing communities
prone to these disasters in terms of their socio-economic, demographic and infrastructural capacities will
enable provide assistance to them. Through these assessments, specific relief, preventative and recovery
requirements can be determined with the active participation of the community members (Buckland &
Rahman, 1999). So far, victims and their family members have complained about inappropriate relief
assistance and the insensitive ways through which support schemes were provided. Mostly, relief and
recovery schemes have become highly political and serving as an opportunity for political parties to win
brownie points for elections when the government entities provide such support.
The absence of national disaster management plans to serve as a guiding framework for all actors is
equally detriment to leveraging multi-sectoral actions for DMER. Although these plans and frameworks
do not automatically translate into actions, they serve as reference during human and natural disasters
while outlining preventative and mitigating measures. National plans outline long-medium term national
goal towards DMER and defined the government position. Also, most national plans acknowledge the
resources, capability and skills required to reduce risks, prevent losses, prepare and respond to, and recover
or provide significant improvement during relief activities. It provides the basis to takes actions towards
reducing vulnerable conditions and tackling the root causes of disasters and risk. It is the legal basis for
proactive disaster risk reduction, preparedness, effective response and relief. Elsewhere, it is acknowledged
that national disaster management plans considerably enhanced the technical capabilities in forecasting and
closely monitoring hazards like floods (Yodmani, 2001). With the absence of the national plans, there is a
shift in the primary focus of DMER with every change of government because of the lack of framework to
guide, provide direction and reinforces actions in accordance with the plans.
Government structures and public sector organisations alone cannot provide DMER, which is why
we are asking for a shift in policies, actions and implementation. But we also acknowledge that in
pursuing collaborative action among the different sectors, it is also worth noting the challenges associated
with inter-sectoral action. Some common barriers include inherent politics climate and over-politicisation
of DMER services, diverse perceptions among actors, hierarchy and lines of reporting, accountability
towards achieving targets, organisational culture, lack of trust and the tendency to protect organisational
resources may all hinder efforts towards collaborative and participatory action (Noran, 2004). Therefore,
it is important to be weary of these barriers when designing policies and implementing strategies. For the
case of Ghana, providing a legal framework to legislate and actively promote multi-sectoral action is an
important step to commiting to engage and open spaces for paticipation. Successful participatory approach
accross the various sectors will enhance commitment among actors and their ability to work together in
an optimal way.
SPE-183605-MS 9

Conclusion
Conducting advocacy and campaign to seek collaboration among the various actors from the national to
the local communities is important to open up spaces of engagement, decision making and reforming the
policies, goals and resources allocated for DMER. Disasters and emergencies provide social experience
because of the relationship between its occurrence and people, communities and livelihood. (de Guzman,
2013). Most disasters experienced in towns and cities are human-made and those emanating from natural
hazards also involve human activities. Collaboratively designing ways to solve these problems is more
appropriate for sustainable plans towards mutual implementation, prevented or mitigated.
Advocating for multi-sectoral action provides adequate platform for awareness creation, collaboration
and participation among key actors. They also reduce people’s long term vulnerability and create
opportunities for establishing the spirit of cooperation, effective decision making process and overall
community development. We conclude by advocating that having a clear national policy plan and using
a multi-sectoral approach will provide synergy and leverage participation for disaster, risk and emergency
management. It will also allow for effective partnership, encourage capacity strengthening and resource
collaboration among all partners for effective measures towards prevention, mitigation, preparedness,
response and recovery. We are also seeking for proactive measures towards DMER to establish an
emergency protocol and a multi-dsicplinary team to provide first response at the community levels during
crisis and emergency situations.

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