ECOWAS must adopt common disaster-preparedness laws – Sierra Leone Minority Leader

Sierra Leone’s Minority Leader has called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to establish common laws and institutions for disaster preparedness, arguing that several countries in the region remain inadequately equipped to respond to climate-related emergencies.

He said the absence of effective emergency-response systems was leaving communities vulnerable to the consequences of floods, mudslides and other disasters.

Speaking to JoyNews’ Stephen Mensah, the legislator said ECOWAS should develop a regional disaster-preparedness framework that member states can adopt and enforce.

According to him, the focus should shift from mobilising resources after disasters occur to putting systems in place that enable countries to anticipate and respond before lives and property are lost.

He cited Sierra Leone’s experience with a deadly mudslide as an example of the consequences of inadequate preparedness.

The Minority Leader said the disaster claimed more than 1,000 lives, with homes buried and some bodies never recovered.

He argued that the scale of such disasters demonstrates the need for West African countries to develop coordinated emergency-response mechanisms rather than relying primarily on individual national systems.

He said regional cooperation should include stronger early-warning mechanisms capable of providing timely information to communities at risk.

He also called for investment in resilient infrastructure and institutions with the capacity to respond rapidly when emergencies occur.

“Early warning” and “early action” have featured in the ECOWAS Parliament’s discussions on climate resilience. The regional parliament has also highlighted the need for stronger environmental policies and programmes aimed at reducing vulnerability and adapting to climate change.

The ECOWAS Parliament’s Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee is mandated to consider climate change and environmental protection, including the harmonisation of environmental policies and programmes among member states.

The Sierra Leonean legislator wants that regional framework to translate into practical preparedness measures that can be implemented consistently across West Africa.

He also called for the ECOWAS Commission to report periodically to the regional Parliament on disaster-preparedness programmes and assess whether they are delivering the intended results.

Such reporting, he argued, would allow policymakers to identify gaps in national preparedness and strengthen coordination between member states.

The proposal comes against the backdrop of growing concerns over the impact of extreme weather events across West Africa, including flooding and landslides.

The ECOWAS Parliament has previously urged governments to integrate climate considerations into national planning and budgets, while advocating regional and national measures to strengthen resilience to climate-related risks.

For the Sierra Leonean legislator, the objective is to establish a system in which countries are prepared to act before disasters occur, rather than waiting until communities have already suffered major losses.

He believes a common ECOWAS framework, backed by appropriate institutions, legislation, early-warning systems and predictable financing, could strengthen the region’s ability to protect lives and property when climate-related emergencies occur.