UNICEF, NEMA Train Emergency Responders On Community Engagement In 7 Northern States

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in partnership with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other stakeholders, has commenced a multi-day training to strengthen emergency preparedness, community engagement and coordinated response across seven states in northern Nigeria.

The training, held in Gombe, brings together emergency preparedness and response actors from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Plateau, Taraba and Yobe States with participants across agencies include NEMA, UNICEF, National Disease Control Centre NCDC, Ministries of information among others.

The programme focuses on the Community Engagement for Social and Behaviour Change in Humanitarian Action Toolkit (CHAT), equipping participants with skills in preparedness, risk communication, accountability to affected populations and coordinated responses to sudden-onset emergencies.

Speaking during the training, UNICEF Nigeria Deputy Representative, Dr Raunak Khan, said the initiative was designed to ensure that communities affected by emergencies are involved from the beginning of humanitarian interventions.

Khan said Nigeria faces both natural and human-induced emergencies, making it critical for responders to understand the needs and feedback of affected communities before designing interventions.

She stressed that humanitarian response should not be left to a single government agency, noting that emergencies such as floods require coordinated interventions covering shelter, food, education, water, sanitation and other essential services.

“We need different sectors to come together for humanitarian response,” Khan said, urging state governments, governors and commissioners to provide leadership for effective multi-sectoral coordination.

She said UNICEF would work closely with participating government officials and its field offices across the seven states to ensure that the skills acquired during the training translate into practical community-level engagement.

Also speaking, UNICEF Social and Behaviour Change Officer for Emergencies, Margaret Adaba Soyemi, said the training was particularly important as Nigeria continues to face floods, disease outbreaks, displacement and other humanitarian emergencies.

Soyemi said UNICEF’s focus on women and children made effective emergency preparedness essential because crises ultimately affect families and vulnerable populations.

She identified stronger coordination among agencies as one of the expected outcomes of the training, stressing the need to eliminate duplication of interventions and promote collective action.

Representing NEMA’s Operations Office, Zonal Chief Fire Officer, Abubakar Haruna, described the training as timely, particularly during the rainy season when communities face increased risks of flooding and windstorms.

He said disaster management was “not a one-man job”, adding that NEMA had engaged traditional and religious leaders, state and local authorities and the media to sensitise communities following the release of seasonal rainfall predictions.

Haruna also called on state governments to do more in addressing disasters, particularly through effective use of ecological funds, saying NEMA could not shoulder the responsibility alone.

For the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Director of Community Outreach and Development, Adeline Waya Patari, said the agency’s grassroots presence positioned it to support community mobilisation, risk communication and behavioural change.

She said NOA officers work with NEMA and State Emergency Management Agencies at state and local government levels, making the agency a critical partner in ensuring that emergency information reaches communities.

The Executive Secretary of the Gombe State Emergency Management Agency (GOSEMA), Haruna Abdullahi, had earlier thanked the organisers and urged participants to make effective use of the knowledge and skills acquired during the training.

Participants at the workshop also shared experiences and pledged to step down the knowledge gained to relevant actors in their respective states, with the ultimate goal of strengthening community-centred emergency preparedness and response.