BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – The Deputy Prime Minister(DPM) Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku has signed and endorsed the intergovernmental Memorandum of Agreement.
This is amongst the Southern African Development Community Member States for the Establishment of SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre.
When signing the MOA Masuku said Southern Africa has in the last five years experienced an increase in weather-related phenomena like droughts and tropical cyclones such as Desmond, Enawo, Idai, Kenneth, Eloise and Cheneso.
“The impact has been widespread in some countries in the eastern part of the region, resulting in loss of life, injury, disease and other negative effects on human, physical, mental and social well being, as well as damage to property and infrastructure, loss of services, social and economic disruption, and environmental degradation,” he said.
This has therefore hampered efforts to address poverty, food security and infrastructure development.
Masuku added that, ths MOA facilitated government’s commitment to the coordination of regional disaster risk preparedness, response and early recovery to support Member States affected by disasters.
The Centre facilitates the supply chain management of equipment and supplies that SADC responders require during deployment of humanitarian support to Member States.
He said SADC leaders approved the establishment of the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre (SHOC) last year, as a dedicated institution in preparation for such eventualities.
“A minimum of 11 of the 16 SADC Member States are required to sign any protocol or agreement before it enters into force,” he said.
Worth noting is that SADC Ministers of Justice as well as Attorney Generals had approved the draft MoA for the SHOC at their meeting held in July 2022.
In addition to the SHOC, the SADC region has put in place other complementary response mechanisms to assist in matters relating to disaster management.
One of the initiatives is the SADC Online Vulnerability Atlas developed by the SADC Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis (RVAA) Programme, which is designed to store and share data on food, nutrition and livelihoods security from the 16 SADC Member States in the wake of disasters.
Located in Nacala, Nampula Province in the Republic of Mozambique, the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre (SHOC) is responsible for the coordination of regional disaster risk preparedness, response and early recovery to support Member States affected by disasters.
The Centre facilitates the supply chain management of equipment and supplies that SADC responders require during deployment of humanitarian support to Member States.
