The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) has embarked on processes for the development of a National Disaster Risk Management (NDRM) successor policy.
DoDMA’s Chief Economist Boyd Hamela says the implementation period for the NDRM predecessor policy, which was developed in 2015, elapsed in 2020 and there was need to put in place a policy which encompasses emerging issues and enhance effective implementation and coordination of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) programmes in the country, in line with laid down legal frameworks and development blueprint.
Said Hamela: “The frequency and magnitude at which disasters are occurring is so alarming, again; there have been the development of legal frameworks and development plans for instance the DRM Bill and the Malawi 2063. The successor policy needs to speak to existing plans.
“Currently, we have embarked on stakeholder consultations, starting with council-based civil protection committees (CPCs) which are responsible for implementing various DRM programmes at council level. We will also make consultations with other DRM stakeholders such as the academia, the media, legal minds, climate change experts, development partners; among others, the views will greatly assist us in coming up with a policy that speaks to DRM issues we are facing as country.”
Speaking on Friday during one of the consultation meetings, District Commissioner for Salima Grace Chirwa-Kanyimbiri commended DoDMA for facilitating the development of the policy.
“Things are changing, we are experiencing much bigger disasters than the previous years and we need to review and come up with policies that address recent challenges and climate-related hazards that pose a great threat to communities and the country as a whole,” said Kanyimbiri.
The development of the DRM successor policy is being conducted with funding from the World Bank, under the Malawi Resilience and Disaster Risk Management Project (MRDRM).
DoDMA is developing the DRM successor policy through a consultant who is also facilitating the review of the DRM Policy (2015) and the development of the implementation, monitoring and evaluation strategy for the successor policy.
A total of 11 CPCs, one each from 11 district and city councils, are being consulted as part of the development of the DRM successor policy.
The successor policy is expected to be implemented from 2023 to 2030.
