It is quite often the case in many situations today, that the presence of an agreement as a guide, helps to avoid issues and misunderstandings. For instance, the creation of a clinical supervision agreement template, could help medical students and their supervisors to present a common stand on the supervision process, for the understanding of third parties. The document is describing and explaining the policy to be followed about clinical supervision as it pertains to professional practice and clinical skills.
The document comes as an example that compares to the process of setting in place proper legal frameworks for the management of floods. In the case of The Federal Flood Commission, FFC in short, it specifies the core objective of the Federal Government to coordinate in accordance to the National Flood Policy and to execute its flood management responsibilities pursuant to the National Flood Policy, to help safeguard the lives and properties of the communities that would be affected by floods across Nigeria. The FFC requires the execution of collaborative policies between related public institutions, the private sector and non-governmental organizations and groups to incorporate flood management into the nation’s planning process.
The National Flood Policy was introduced in 2006 by the Federal Government to promote the shift from reactive flood management through emergency response to proactive disaster risk reduction and mitigation through full integration of flood management into the nation’s development process. It has promoted the application of new technologies to address flood problems, including the utilization of indigenous engineering and designs, and the adaptation of foreign technology to local needs. The policy aims at ensuring that the best technical skills are used and that Nigerians have the capacity to implement the policy.
The FFC functions as a focal point for floods, and is working on formulating comprehensive strategies to mitigate the effects of floods on human, animal and material resources of the country through the implementation of flood management and prevention strategies. The FFC is meant to facilitate coordination of flood related activities among all stakeholders, provide guidance on flood policies and sensitization on the need for adoption and integration of flood policies, plans and programmes in planning and development processes at national and state levels.
The FFC promotes the utilization of flood forecasting and warning systems in Nigeria and awareness of the ecological, economic and social impacts of floods. In the last few years, Nigeria has been faced with several flood disasters, notably with a flood disaster occurring in October 2012, estimated to have left more than 2.1 million people displaced, more than 600 deaths; and over 100,000 houses, as well as more than 2000 km of roads being washed away. According to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA in short, the ten states with the highest number of people affected were Benue, Anambra, Kogi, Adamawa, Delta, Abia, Enugu, Nasarawa, Rivers, and Taraba. The amount of land affected by the 2012 floods was estimated to be 7,545 km2.
As a result, the National Assembly of Nigeria ordered investigations into the immediate and remote causes of the flooding so that policies may be implemented to minimize the occurrence of such disastrous floods in the future. Ultimately, the National Assembly noted that climate change that is resulting in increased rainfall patterns in the region was the main cause of these floods. The Flood and Erosion Management Bill is currently pending in the National Assembly awaiting passage into law. It is this ongoing legislative process that refocuses the attention to the importance of the documents being promoted by The Federal Flood Commission (FFC), which describe the needed policies to be adopted and engaged with, to achieve optimally effective flood management in the country. The documents are meant to be adopted by key stakeholders in the flood management sector to promote operational and institutional synergies.
For more information on flood management policies, you can visit the Federal Emergency Management Agency.