Freetown, 29th September 2025 – On Thursday, 25th September 2025, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) hosted its monthly Inter-Pillar Coordination Meeting at its Freetown headquarters, featuring a special presentation by Professor Lee Miles, Professor of Crisis and Disaster Management at Bournemouth University Disaster Management Centre (BUDMC).
Professor Miles, who has extensive experience in disaster management in Sierra Leone, accepted NDMA’s invitation to share his expertise with the Inter-Pillar Coordination Group (IPCG) for National Disaster Risk Management.
During his presentation, he discussed the outcomes of two internationally acclaimed, award-winning research projects: AFRICAB (Driving African Capacity-Building in Disaster Management) and EVALDIS (Evaluating Local Disaster Management in Sierra Leone). Both initiatives were completed in close collaboration with NDMA.
Professor Miles highlighted Sierra Leone’s progress in strengthening national, regional, and local disaster management capacities, emphasizing the critical role of NDMA’s 14 pillars that coordinate disaster risk management across the country. He also noted the global recognition of these projects and the significant contributions of NDMA to their development.
He pointed out the development of NDMA’s first-ever Service Delivery Charter (2024), describing it as an essential reference for guiding and managing public expectations regarding pillar-based disaster management in Sierra Leone.
Additionally, Professor Miles recommended conducting a more detailed Single Points of Failure (SPOF) diagnostic survey to assess the resilience of the pillars and integrate best practices into future strategies.
The IPCG welcomed these recommendations and considered incorporating SPOF diagnostics into NDMA and partner agencies’ orientation programmes to further strengthen capacity-building efforts nationwide. It was also agreed that future engagements with Professor Miles would be pursued to deepen disaster management knowledge in the country.
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Email: mohamedlba@ndma.gov.sl
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