As part of their Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) Pakistan has initiated a mass information campaign.
Under the Pakistan Settlements Flood Recovery Project funded by the Japanese government, UN-HABITAT has produced a calendar for the current year and an interactive board game titled ‘The Indus River Game’ by successfully applying the DRR approach.
These include messages of safe construction and preparedness for probable floods in the future.
These messages have been developed with an aim to empower communities and increase their resilience towards disasters throughout Pakistan.
The game and calendar have been produced keeping in mind the different kinds of disasters that have occurred across the country.
Graphic illustrations have been used for easy understanding and, at the same time, for appealing to a wider audience.
With a team of legal experts, UN-HABITAT has also prepared a simple guide to introduce the principal elements of land administration systems in this country.
The guide has been published as part of the response to the initiative on housing and land so that people could understand the complex land administration system in Pakistan in a very simple and elaborative manner.
The ‘Guide on Land and Property Rights’ could be of use to donor agencies, international organisations, local civil society organisations, lawyers and community leaders engaged in relief, rehabilitation, development or other similar works that necessitate some basic information about the general features of the rural land administration system in Pakistan.
The information campaign includes a useful ‘Guideline for Community Infrastructure’ that provides technical support on community infrastructure projects.
UN-HABITAT has been involved in community infrastructure development through the generous support of Korea International Cooperation Agency under the project titled ‘Facilitating the return of IDPs through rehabilitation of community infrastructure and facilities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ to guide engineers on better construction techniques.
The target audience is particularly the smaller non-governmental organisation community in Pakistan, which might not have access to adequate engineering advice.
Additionally, through the launch of a community participation booklet for the flood affectees, UN-HABITAT is focusing on a people approach as part of their effort towards building a stronger community by encouraging collective participation in self-recovery.