- ‘Millions of people have been impacted by natural disasters; it is important to build resilient communities’
- UN’s WFP, NDMA, PDMAs sign framework of cooperation for 2016–2018
The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH)’s Department of Emergency Management, formally FOCUS Pakistan, in close coordination with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Balochistan launched Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) and school safety projects in Nasirabad and Jaffarabad.
PDMA Director General Muhammad Tariq said that the government of Balochistan is working together with its partners to minimise risks to human lives during disasters, adding that there is a dire need to spread the CBDRM and school safety programmes across the province.
He emphasised to increase the project area in future and to work on hard component, i.e. hazard free infrastructures. He ensured the cooperation of his department for all sort of activities in near future.
Education Minister Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal said that the government of Balochistan is working to improve the lives of the people through providing basic necessities of life, including food, education, shelter, etc. during a seminar held on Tuesday at a local hotel in Quetta.
The government is also working to raise awareness among the communities to prevent them from natural disasters, with its partners, including UN agencies, INGOs/NGOs and research institutions.
He said that the government welcomes the launching of the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP)’s CDBRM and school safety programmes in Balochistan.
Funded by the UNWFP, the CBDRM and school safety projects will benefit around 3,150 community members by increasing their ability to identify hazard, vulnerability and risk.
It will help to minimise loss of life and property during disasters covering more than 6,500 people, including school children, teachers, school safety committees, local community members, trainers, local and district government officials from 40 schools, 14 revenue villages with 40 sub-villages in both Nasirabad and Jaffarabad.
A similar project was launched in Sindh towards the end of last year.
‘Losses can be minimised by educating people on disaster risk management’
WFP Pakistan Head of Policy and Programme William Affif said, “Pakistan has suffered from consecutive natural disasters and emergencies in the recent past, including devastating earthquakes and flooding, causing the unfortunate loss of human as well as animal lives. These losses can be minimised by educating the people on disaster risk management and disaster response strategies”.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), NDMA and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs) have signed framework of cooperation for the years 2016–2018. The department of emergency management of AKAH has been selected as the implementing partner of the WFP Pakistan to launch a series of orientation sessions for projects on CBDRM across Pakistan.
The department also has the credit of developing school safety strategy for Gilgit-Baltistan.
Addressing the gathering, AKAH Chief Executive Officer Nawab Ali Khan said, “It is very important to build resilient communities in Pakistan as millions of people in the last decade have been impacted by natural disasters like earthquakes, floods and landslides,” adding, “Disaster risk management is a shared responsibility of the government, private sector, civil society and the communities. This partnership will create the environment for all to synergize efforts for creating a safer human habitat.”
