Nigeria National Disaster Risk Management Policy.

This National Disaster Risk Management Policy outlines Government’s commitment to reduce the risks from hazards and climate change impacts facing the country, and provides guidelines for decision making in disaster risk management. The Policy aims at implementing measures to enable communities, individuals, businesses and institutions to minimise the adverse effects of disasters in Nigeria, thereby enhancing the ability to prevent, prepare, respond to and recover from disasters across all elements in the country. The vision and the mission of the Policy concern the development of a culture of disaster risk reduction, in which communities and institutions understand the risks from hazards and are prepared with coordinated capabilities, in order to build safer and more resilient communities. Concerning the comprehensive risk reduction approach, the Policy focuses on: risk of loss of life, economic loss and damage to property, infrastructure and the natural environment, and therefore the Policy defines four priorities: expanding awareness and understanding of disaster risk; strengthening multi-stakeholders governance systems for disaster risk reduction management; enhancing preparedness capacity to reduce exposure, vulnerability and impacts of hazard events or conditions; increasing social, economic and environmental investments to strengthen resilience to disasters through hazard risk reduction.
Concerning targeted measures and actions of each priority, the first one involves risk anticipation, identification and assessment, risk information and analysis, coordination of early warning systems, risk communication for public education, awareness and advocacy; the second priority aims at strengthening governance of managing disaster risk through the following themes: legal and regulatory framework, arrangements for disaster risk management planning and coordination, development of disaster risk management capacity, participation and inclusion, financing and investment; the third Policy priority promotes the broad concept of risk preparedness, covering the following themes: framework and capacity on disaster preparedness, disaster response, disaster recovery and reconstruction, in order to ensure that Nigeria has the capacity and capability to respond to emergencies and to facilitate the recovery of affected individuals, wards, communities, local government areas and states as well as the social and economic infrastructure, and environmental resources in a sustainable manner; the fourth Policy priority involves the application of social, economic and environmental measures in climate risk management, slow-onset disasters, disaster risk and conflict management.