Ghana, is mainly exposed to floods and droughts as well as to forest fires. The drought in 1983 impacted more than 12 million inhabitants, while the flood in July 1991 impacted two million inhabitants. Taking advantage of the AARSE conference which was organized by UNOOSA in Accra, Ghana, UN-SPIDER conducted a technical meeting with the National Disaster Management Office to promote the use of space-based information in disaster-risk management and emergency response activities.
The mission included a meeting with the National Disaster Management Office (NADMO) and was attended by representatives from NASRDA’s (UN-SPIDER RSO in Nigeria), RECTAS, and the OCHA Regional Office for West Africa. At the meeting, the current status of use of space-based information at NADMO was discussed and possible next steps discussed, among them a visit of NADMO staff to NEMA/NASRDA or vice-versa, a technical advisory mission to Ghana, and a sub-regional workshop.
The mission allowed UN-SPIDER to establish contact with NADMO and to discuss potential ways to support this institution in the future. NADMO also benefitted from becoming aware of the UN-SPIDER programme, the activities it conducts and the type of technical advisory support that it can provide.
