The Executive Director of the Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission, or LRRRC, as it is known, has called on the Government to put measures in place to respond to disasters in the country, according to a report in the Monrovia-based New Dawn newspaper.
Cllr. Abla G.Williams told reporters that victims of disaster situations need special attention, including a better place to live. She made the call Thursday June 10, 2014 on 24th Street Sinkor in Monrovia at a two-day technical working session on the setting up of Liberia national platform on disaster management and climate change adaptation with the theme: Building Liberia as a Disaster Resilient Nation. She said the workshop is to help address issues that confront internally displaced people in Liberia.
According to Cllr. Williams, the LRRRC along with the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS, and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) have embarked on an enormous task of developing a national framework for the domestication of the Kampala Convention, formulated to protect internally displaced people who fall victim to natural or man-made disasters within countries of the region.
"Today, we have gathered to establish a national platform which will reduce the risk of disaster in the wake of eminent climate change in Liberia. Such change often affects the poor people who eventually become internally displaced and, thus, the need for finding a durable solution to their plights, namely protection, safety, assistance and resettlement", she emphasized.
Executive Director Williams also narrated that in pursuit of these respective responsibilities to internally displaced persons, the two institutions continue to coordinate and develop plans to ensure that disasters are effectively managed to minimize adverse effects on internal displacement in Liberia.
She said the two active governmental institutions - the National Disaster Commission and the LRRRC could be more effective in working together so that resources can be more efficiently applied for the protection IDPs.
She reminded that climate change is an inevitable phenomenon that all must watch closely at all times and stand prepared to formulate and apply appropriate solutions for the perfect control of the environment.
Cllr. Williams emphasized that the development of the people depends on their ability to control their environments, saying " Let us therefore work these two days to establish a firm national platform that will vibrantly reduce the risk of disaster whenever they occur in our country or in our region."