Held from 24th August up to 4th September 2025, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), in collaboration with the Republic of Zimbabwe, the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre (SHOC), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) conducted the SADC Emergency Response Team (ERT) Induction Course for its second cohort in Nyanga, Republic of Zimbabwe.
The main objective of the training was to familiarise members of the ERT with the SADC region emergency preparedness and response methodology and prepare them for rapid deployment to sudden-onset emergencies on behalf of SADC to her Members States, to assist the national authorities of disaster-stricken respective Members States with coordination of the regional humanitarian response.
Honourable Engineer B. Kabikira (MP), Deputy Minister of Local Government and Public Works for the Republic of Zimbabwe officially opened the training. He underscored the imminence by the SADC region to minimise the devastating consequences of disasters, to safeguarding development gains and strengthening resilience across the SADC region through enhancing regional preparedness and response capabilities. Hon. Kabikira noted the importance placed by the SADC region in training responders as a means of establishing a well-coordinated Regional Preparedness and Response mechanisms. At the same, he called for exploration of the potential of geospatial innovations to support Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, noting key capacity gaps that require concerted strengthening of cross-border collaboration, harmonising search and rescue standards and investing in prepositioned supplies and more importantly, trained personnel.
For his part, Dr. Edwar Kallon, the United Nations (UN) Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Zimbabwe applauded the fruitful collaboration with SADC to see the need to train and be ready to support those affected by the disaster in the region. He highlighted the role of the United Nations as a global emergency coordination agency, noting that this endevours will be more efficient and serving the SADC community within army’s length. He also underscored the role of the UN through the Sendai framework for disaster resilience, which assist countries integrate risk reduction into national planning, supporting early warning systems, and coordinating humanitarian assistance during disasters.
Ms. Nana Dlamini, the Acting Head of Disaster Reduction Unit at the SADC Secretariat paid homage to the support received by the SADC from partners in terms on humanitarian response and relief for large scale disasters and noted the tremendous gains that the SADC region has made in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction. One of the achievements, amongst many others being the training of the ERT which attests to the objective of building its own responders at the same building Capacity of future trainers.
The other speakers were; Honourable Advocate Misheck Mugadza (MP), Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Manicaland Province of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Mr. Anderson Banda, Director of SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre, and Mr. Peter Muller, Representative of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the Global Lead for the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination who also reiterated the importance of preparedness for disasters and mitigation of disaster impacts in the region through provision of humanitarian support to the Member States affected by disasters. The emphasis was made for the continued collaboration amongst partners in the disaster coordination to share specialised trainings in areas such as general coordination, civil military coordination, information management, search and rescues in order to create specialised surge capacities.
This training was anchored on the long standing partnership between SADC Secretariat and OCHA, as such the course curriculum is based on the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC)Mission Cycle, adapted to the SADC context. It combines plenary and group sessions, desktop exercises, group work, and simulation activities focused on emergency deployment methodologies. The intensive programme covered theoretical and technical exercises, coordination responsibilities, group dynamics, and a simulated UNDAC mission under compressed timelines.
The cohort was attended by participants from the 13 Member States being; Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe
