On Monday, April 17, 2023, Lomé has hosted a regional consultation workshop between ECOWAS Member States, devoted to the analysis of the assessment reports on the 2022 floods.
Opened by the Minister of Security and Civil Protection of Togo, Gal Yark Damehane in the presence of several experts from different ECOWAS member countries, this two-day meeting will be coupled with another workshop scheduled to take place from 20 April 21, 2023 and devoted to the issue of malnutrition and food insecurity caused by floods.
“It will be a question of analyzing the consequences of the floods of the year 2022, the efforts undertaken by the Member States in the face of this disaster and what ECOWAS could do to help its countries in this direction. The last workshop will allow to see to what extent ECOWAS can make its contribution in the fight against malnutrition and insecurity in support of all that the States are already doing in this direction. It should be noted that States manage cases of flooding each year, but this is not sustainable management. Post bearings are always needed. That is to say, we must see what remains to be done after a year of flood management. And that is the objective of these workshops”, explained Ms. Sintiki Tarfa-Ugbe, Director of Humanitarian and Social Affairs of the ECOWAS Commission.
The Minister of Security and Civil Protection of Togo, Gal Yark Damehane, at the opening of the workshop, congratulated the organizers for this initiative and the choice made on Togo to host these important meetings.
The 2022 floods, he said, exacerbated the hardships faced by many affected communities who were already struggling with terrorism and considerable levels of food insecurity as well as the effects of climate change.
“A good preparation for the response to the situation requires a lot of financial and material investment. I therefore invite, on behalf of our governments, all of our development partners and more specifically, the ECOWAS Commission to lend more attentive ear to our many requests in the quest for the well-being of our populations”, he indicated.
In Togo, the results of the evaluations following the torrential rains reported 5 deaths, 17 injuries, 24,889 victims, i.e. 6,717 households and more than 2,098 hectares of devastated crop fields.
Anika A.
