As part of activities marking the International Day for Disaster Reduction, the Upper East Regional Directorate of the Ghana Red Cross Society has organised a durbar at Doba, a community in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality.

The durbar was aimed at sensitising the people on the need to grow trees around their houses, build resilient houses among others.

The regional branch of the Ghana Red Cross Society also called on the government to build resilient educational and health infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters such as floods, rainstorms and windstorms.

International Day for Disaster Reduction focuses on how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and the importance of reining in the risks that they face.

The theme for International Day for Disaster reduction 2019 is “Reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services”.

The main aim is to focus on the target of the Sendai Framework.

According to the UN, the Sendai framework highlights “Substantially to reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, among them health and education facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030.”

The Upper East Region has for the past five years lost many lives through collapsed buildings whiles many schools also got their roofs ripped off.

Authorities in the region say the annual ritual can be curtailed if building codes are enforced.

In an interview, the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Red Cross Society, Paul Wooma, said it is important to ensure that schools and hospitals are built in such a way that during earthquake and tsunamis damages incurred should be less.

On the side-line of the one-week-long torrential rains recorded in the region, the Deputy Upper East Regional Director of National Disaster Management Organization, (NADMO), David Mba, expressed worry over the damaged caused by the torrential rains in the region.

Currently, five persons have confirmed dead while hundreds of residents have been rendered homeless.

Most of the people in Kologo, Nayagnia, Doba, Pongu among other communities in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality are currently seeking shelter in classrooms.

Several farmlands have been submerged by floodwaters. Sendai Seven campaign is an opportunity for all including governments, local governments, community groups, civil society organizations, private sector and international organizations to promote at all levels across all the sectors to reduce disaster risk and disaster losses.

A tree was later planted at the Doba chief’s palace to create awareness of the importance of tree planting around houses.