» RCRP-2 Supports DoDMA Popularise DRM Act

The Regional Climate Resilience Programme (RCRP-2) is supporting the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) in raising awareness on the 2023 Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Act. DoDMA is familiarising district councils with key aspects of the Act, and in turn, the local authorities will sensitise Area Disaster Risk Management Committees (ADRMCs), which are responsible for implementing DRM programmes at the traditional authority level. The Act establishes a comprehensive, integrated, and coordinated systems for the implementation of the DRM Act at the national and local levels. It also gives DoDMA powers to establish the Disaster Risk Management Trust Fund, which shall be a repository of funds intended for implementing various DRM programmes. In addition, the 2023 DRM Act also spells out offenses and penalties for individuals who, among others, abuse their office, misrepresent the source of relief items, and defeat the response efforts in case of a disaster. Speaking in Karonga during a familiarisation session of the DRM Act, DoDMA’s Deputy Director of Disaster Resilience, Hastings Mwanjoka, emphasized the department's commitment to ensuring that DRM activities are carried out in a professional and law-abiding manner. The council’s Director of Planning Khumbo Mkandawire promised to take the DRM Act to all ADRMCs in the district. “There are seven of those committees and if we are to achieve the goal of the 2023 DRM Act, we must reach out to all them. They will then transfer the knowledge to people in communities,” he said. Similar meetings are being held in other councils, including Mzuzu and Blantyre cities, Nkhata Bay, Salima, Dedza, Mchinji, Lilongwe, Nsanje, Chikwawa, Balaka, Machinga, and Mangochi, with support from the Regional Climate Resilience Programme. RCRP-2 is a World Bank-funded Government of Malawi programme aimed at building the country’s resilience to disasters and climate change shocks.