ISLAMABAD, May 24 (APP):A two-member delegation comprising of Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik and Member Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Idrees Mehsud on Wednesday attended the Partnership Days Event of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) on the invite of World Bank in Washington DC.
The Chairman as a panellist highlighted the requirements for making Pakistan a resilient country, a news release said.
The NDMA Chairman said, “Developing economies critically need innovative DRR approaches based on local challenges and necessities”.
The Chairman unveiled the way forward for a remodelled NDMA that will be able to tackle upcoming challenges owing to multiple hazards, particularly climate change induced.
He emphasized the need for collaboration to incorporate community-centric AI-based/tech-driven early warning capabilities to forecast disasters, which also could be a key solution to minimize time and again financial assistance by donors in affected regions.
The Chairman, during panel discussion also suggested that the World Bank financial strategy developments for DRR and other frameworks must include spontaneity and shared DRR instruments.
Pakistan has demonstrated default resilience and adaptation, which requires support in value addition of protocols, he added.
In the later part of the day, the delegation also held productive sessions with Afreen Akhter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the US State Department and Marcia Wong, Deputy Assistant to the Administrator, in USAID HQs Washington.
During meetings, the NDMA delegation discussed the crucial need to collate with academia and DM responders of vulnerable countries with global universities, for building forward on existing knowledge and capitalization of existing indigenous capabilities.
They further specified the requirement to formulate and connect a team of all DM stakeholders including local/global partners working in silos, for pre-identifying risks and preparation of plans of action for foreseeable potential disasters. NDMA delegation is currently representing Pakistan in sessions/meetings about disaster risk management and financing, organized by global partners/stakeholders.
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