The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Malawi is orienting councils on utilisation of the Disaster Risk Management Information Systems (DRMIS) and the Disaster Information Hub (DIH) as one way of improving disaster reporting and management.
DRMIS is a digital platform that enhances coordination during disasters as it facilitates central data storage, processing and access for decision makers, thereby speeding up approval and submission of disaster reports. The DIH is the platform on which DoDMA will be sharing information and documents to stakeholders, including the general public. The DIH also enables district and city councils to share information and documentation related to Disaster Risk Management from their jurisdiction.
The orientation, which is being conducted with funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) and UNDP under the Disaster Risk Management for Resilience (DRM4R) Project, is targeting Disaster Risk Management Committees (formerly Civil Protection Committees-CPCs) which are structures responsible for managing implementation of various disaster risk management programmes at council level.
“We are targeting Chikwawa, Mangochi, Phalombe, Balaka, Zomba, Mulanje, Mzuzu and Lilongwe Councils but we intend to reach out to all the councils.
“We are living in a digital world and we need to work in line with technological advancements if we are to make good progress in managing disasters,” said DoDMA’s Deputy Director of Resilience Hastings Mwanjoka.
In his remarks, District Commissioner for Chikwawa Nardin Kamba stressed the need for teamwork amongst officers and urged participants to put into use the knowledge they have acquired and improve on their work.
DRM4R is a five-year project that started in 2019. Currently in its final year, the project sought to build resilience of the nation through among others; strengthening capacity of national and local level actors for effective disaster risk and resilience governance.
