A professional, research-driven institution with a pan-African mandate to strengthen how the continent prevents, prepares for, responds to, and recovers from disasters.
The African Centre for Disaster Risk Management (ACDRM) is Africa's dedicated professional institution for disaster risk governance, resilience building, and humanitarian leadership. Registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in May 2026 and headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria, ACDRM was built to address a gap the continent can no longer afford, the absence of a world-class institution purpose-built to transform how Africa manages disaster risk.
ACDRM does not simply respond to disasters. We build the governance systems, professional leadership, institutional knowledge, and financing frameworks that prevent them from becoming catastrophes.
Working across governments, multilateral agencies, development partners, academic institutions, and civil society, ACDRM delivers governance advisory, policy research, professional training, and resilience financing solutions, grounded in African realities, benchmarked against global standards.
Africa faces a growing and complex disaster risk landscape, one that threatens livelihoods, displaces communities, and undermines decades of development progress. The challenge is not a lack of will or capacity. It is a structural one: the need for dedicated institutions, professional systems, and sustained financing that match the scale and complexity of Africa's disaster risk environment.
ACDRM exists to close that gap. We are the institutional response Africa has been waiting for, purpose-built to move the continent from reactive emergency response to proactive, systems-driven resilience.
To be Africa's leading centre of excellence for disaster risk management, resilience building, and humanitarian leadership.
To strengthen Africa's capacity to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters, through research, policy advisory, capacity building, and innovative resilience solutions.
High standards in every engagement, without exception.
Transparent, responsible, and results-driven in all we do.
Evidence-based approaches and continuous improvement.
Collaboration with governments, institutions, and communities at every level.
Ensuring gender equality and the full participation of vulnerable groups in resilience building.
One of Africa's most specialised institutions for disaster risk governance and resilience.
Grounded in African realities, not imported frameworks.
Founded and led by practitioners with decades of frontline emergency management experience.
Structured for the rigorous demands of multilateral partnerships and donor-funded programme delivery.
A proprietary institutional model, Governance · Interoperability · Ethics, developed from decades of field experience, applied research, and policy engagement across Africa's emergency management landscape.
Strong institutional frameworks, policy coherence, and coordinated leadership at every level. Without governance, resilience has no structure.
Systems, agencies, and actors that communicate, coordinate, and deliver together across government, humanitarian, and development ecosystems.
Accountability, transparency, and the protection of vulnerable populations at the centre of every decision. Ethical governance is the foundation of institutional trust.
An institution led by frontline experience and run with operational discipline.
One of Africa's foremost authorities on disaster risk management, humanitarian leadership, and emergency governance, with over three decades across government, banking, academia, and development. Former Director of HR at NEMA and architect of Nigeria's first NEMA Strategic Plan (2025-2029).
emenike.umesi@acdrm.org
Iheoma coordinates ACDRM's programmes and day-to-day operations, keeping initiatives organised, on schedule, and moving from plan to delivery. With over four years supporting founders and executive teams, she brings operational discipline, project coordination, and a delivery-focused mindset to the Centre's growing portfolio of programmes and partnerships.
Governments, donors, and institutions, let's build resilient systems together.
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