Akosombo Dam spillage: UN deploys emergency data response tools to support NADMO

The United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Emergency Response has deployed an emergency data response tool to assist the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to collate disaggregated data on the number of people displaced by the spillage of the Kpong and Akosombo dams.

NADMO Deputy Director-General, Seji Saji Amedonu, said data collection and capturing had been a challenge for the team in responding quickly to the needs of the affected people.

As of last Thursday, Mr Amedonu said, nearly 27,000 people had been displaced in nine districts in the Volta, Eastern and Greater Accra regions, "and indications are that the figures will rise since the situation is still unfolding".

Child Rights

He said this when the Executive Director of Child Rights International, Bright Appiah, led a team to present a GH¢50,000 donation to NADMO to cater for the needs of children, particularly those with disabilities.

Mr Amedonu said of the nine affected districts, which include North Tongu, Central Tongu, South Tongu, Ada, Shai Osudoku, Anlo, Lower Manya, and Asuogyaman, the majority of the victims were women and children.

The disaster co-ordination centre, set up at Mepe to coordinate relief, search and rescue, evacuation and other related activities, had not been able to undertake rapid assessments of the victims, most of whom, he said, had moved in with relatives and friends.

"To do a proper rapid assessment, you need to have disaggregated data, which has been our challenge.

But thankfully, the UN Inter-Agency Working Group on Emergency Response has developed a tool for an exercise they carried out in the North, and they have since deployed their team to help us in capturing data," Mr Amedonu said.

The team expresses the hope to conclude the data capturing by yesterday, to enable NADMO and all the stakeholders coordinating the disaster to have the needed disaggregated data to help guide the response.

The flooding has seen many homes at Mepe and other areas completely submerged, with some having their roofs completely covered by the water.

Scores of displaced people in Mepe, for example, are being sheltered in classroom facilities located on high grounds that have not been affected by the floods.

There are indications that the water may not recede now, and most of the infrastructure in the affected areas may likely have to be pulled down.

shelters

Scores of schoolchildren were seen idling around during a visit to the holding shelters by the Graphic team, while some were also engaged in gambling games.

Some of the children took to their heels when they saw the team with cameras. However, a few, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, pleaded for means of learning to be provided for them at the holding camps so they would not lose out on academic work.

Child Rights International, which has estimated that nearly 10,000 children are among the 27,000 displaced people, is hoping to provide school supplies to the children, once the government sets in place mechanisms that will see the children return to the classrooms.