Each year for the past two decades, more than 200,000 Ugandans have been affected by natural and human-induced disasters.

In 2000, for example, epidemics killed 224 people while in 2002, drought affected 655,000 people, killing 79 persons. In 2008, drought affected 750,000 people while in 2010 landslides killed about 250 people and displaced 8,500. In the same year, floods affected over 350,000 people.

These disasters result in enormous losses. For example, in 2007, the government and its development partners required more than Ush100 billion ($36.7 million) to respond to the Teso floods that affected more than 300,000 people.

“Enormous resources that should have been utilised for development are spent on responding to such emergencies,” said Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi.

This scenario is expected to change now that Uganda has established the National Emergency Coordination and Operations Centre (NECOC), a 24-hour, 7-days a week central facility for early warning, disaster and climate modelling and forecasting, emergency response and recovery co-ordination, and disaster information.

It has been established under the National Policy for Disaster Preparedness and Management as part of an integrated and multisectoral systems approach to planning, preparedness for, and management of disasters.

The centre is equipped with the latest digital communications technology. It also has a mobile command and control truck and rapid assessment and response vehicles.

The facility, which is housed in the Office of the Prime Minister in Kampala, has been funded by UNDP at a cost of $350,000.

Office of the Prime Minister Permanent Secretary Christine Guwatudde said Uganda has been responding to emergencies as they occur due to inadequate resources, inadequate early warning systems, poor information flow and inadequate co-ordination.

Ms Guwatudde said that since April 2011, when the National Policy for Disaster and Management was approved, the focus has shifted from disaster response to prevention, mitigation and preparedness.

In setting up the centre, UN resident co-ordinator and UNDP representative Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onochie said the UN employed its “Delivering As One” system with UNDP using its experience in setting up similar facilities in countries such as Ethiopia to provide technical support while the World Food Programme provided the equipment which will enable satellite data to be available in real-time.

On its part, Unicef has installed an interface to its U-Report system for further integration of information. Unicef is working with the Office of the Prime Minister and UNDP to get volunteers who can help with data gathering, disaster monitoring, early warning, and emergency and recovery response.