SPEECH ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING OF THE NICS WORKSHOP
MONDAY 17TH APRIL AT 0930 HOURS, SAVOY HOTEL AND SPA
From the outset let me welcome you all to the two-day workshop under the theme: Operationalisation of the National Incident Command System jointly organised by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs and the Disaster Risk Management Division.
My colleague, the Minister for Local Government and Community Affairs, Mrs Rose-Marie Hoareau, cannot be present today. She has however, requested me to convey her good wishes for the workshop and commend all who have worked towards its realisation.
It was on the 4th of August last year, that I had the honour to officially launch the High level workshop organised jointly by the Government of Seychelles and the World Bank, to launch the operationalisation of the National Integrated Emergency Management Plan (NIEMP), which had been approved by government in early 2020. The NIEMP sets out the way forward for all stakeholders to develop their sectorial plans in 5 different functional areas – Search and Rescue, Health, Humanitarian Services, Essential Infrastructure and Emergency Management.
Since August last year, our Ministry, through the DRMD, has been consistent in the development of plans and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in collaboration with MDAs across government, to meet government’s expectation to lower disaster risk through a collaborative approach. In so doing, Seychelles continues to strengthen its emergency preparedness in meeting its international obligation under the Sendai Framework’s priority area of “Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to build back better in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction”.
In this light, I wish to reiterate the need for all MDAs to integrate Disaster risk reduction, and business continuity planning as crucial activities in their planning processes as their contribution towards more disaster resilient communities; after all, disaster risk reduction is everyone’s responsibility.
This workshop is crucial as it gets communities and responders together towards not only the implementation of the Incident command system, but will also address day to day administrative challenges faced by districts, and emergency responders in providing services aimed at guaranteeing the safety of citizens and infrastructure. I commend this collaborative approach and highly recommend the same to other MDAs when addressing disaster risk reduction activities in their workplaces.
Finally, I wish to put on record my appreciation for all the men and women who devote their lives to ensuring that our citizens are kept safe at all times and it is my privilege to launch this important workshop.
I thank you.