The meeting of experts and ministers in charge for the adoption of the model for National Disaster Management Agency holds in Accra, Ghana from the 21^st to 24^th of October 2015.

The meeting is a key program approved for the Humanitarian and Social Affairs Directorate to validate the Model for National Disaster Management Agencies (NDMA) as a component of capacity building in the area of disaster management.

Development of the Model was in response to the instruction of Heads of States of ECOWAS, as reflected in their approval of the ECOWAS Humanitarian Policy and Plan of Action. This being practical implementation of the obligation of Member States to establish dedicated disaster management agencies at the highest level of government as a prioritization of the goal of protection of populations from disaster risks.

The NDMA initiative is also a critical institutional capacity building program for the region.

The Meetings will also constitute a platform for consideration of the current state of implementation of the ECOWAS Humanitarian Policy and Plan of Action and sharing experiences by the focal points on humanitarian affairs issues in Member States.

It will also consider the current situation of the ECOWAS Humanitarian space, including prevalence of conflict related displacement in a number of Member States, floods and the Ebola health epidemic.

Other participants at the meeting are representatives of United Nations Agencies including the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Also on hand to share experiences are officials from the African Union (AU), World Bank, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC)

Attendance by partners is an acknowledgement of the existing collaboration between ECOWAS and humanitarian partners in responding to challenges in the West African humanitarian space.