Pakistan - Disaster Preparedness and Response

Men surrounded by grey stones build walls in a valley.

In Singal, Pakistan, a village that had been destroyed by flash floods in the past, the Aga Khan Agency for …

AKDN / Christopher Wilton Steer

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In high altitude areas of Pakistan, AKAH holds simulation exercises with specialist partner organisations to …

AKAH

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Immediately after the disaster in July 2018, AKAH Pakistan's trained Disaster Assessment Response Team …

AKAH

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If the river in the village of Gharbochung, Pakistan rises by a certain percentage due to an imminent flash …

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

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Pakistan | Disaster Preparedness and Response

The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) has been working in Pakistan since 1998, with a vision to save lives, reduce suffering and create resilience in communities prone to man-made and natural disasters. We conduct hazard vulnerability and risk assessments (HVRAs) and improve risk anticipation through Weather Monitoring Posts and Early Warning Systems. We also train local community-based emergency management teams. These teams aim to build resilience against disaster events and build the capacity of community members in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and community-based disaster risk management.


AKAH has trained tens of thousands of volunteers for disaster response and management across Central and South Asia. The Government of Pakistan has conferred the Sitara-i-Eisaar award on AKAH in recognition of humanitarian assistance during the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake.


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AKAH has produced hazard and risk maps for 828 villages in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral

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Aga Khan Agency for Habitat

Overview


Since 1999, AKAH has helped to pioneer the concept of community-based disaster risk management. This involves building the capacity of communities to better prepare for and respond to natural and man-made hazards.


Partners


In Pakistan, we work closely with the National Disaster Management Authority, Provincial Disaster Management Authorities, District Disaster Management Authorities and Pakistan Meteorological Department. We also work in partnership with leading humanitarian organisations including:


  • UN agencies;
  • the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department and its disaster preparedness programme;
  • the Office of the United States Foreign Disaster Assistance;
  • the International Organisation for Migration;
  • the Royal Norwegian Embassy;
  • Japan International Cooperation Agency;
  • Global Affairs Canada;
  • Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation;
  • International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development; and
  • Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund.

Recognition


In 2009, our global DRR work was acknowledged by the Jury of the United Nation’s (UN) Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction and awarded the Certificate of Merit for enhancing disaster risk reduction in Pakistan. In 2020 our work using hazard, vulnerability and risk assessments for disaster risk management and sustainable habitat planning and development was awarded the World Habitat Gold Awards. Read the press release


Our programmatic areas include:



  • disaster risk reduction;

  • climate change adaptation; and

  • emergency humanitarian response and relief.


Disaster Risk Reduction


AKAH implements a range of risk reduction programmes to build resilience amongst mountainous and coastal communities that are prone to disasters, and enhance their response capacity.


Hazard Vulnerability Risk Assessments


Hazard Vulnerability Risk Assessments (HVRA) form a systematic approach to identifying hazards or risks that threaten a community or settlement. Teams of geologists and geographic information system specialists conduct hazard and risk assessments at the village level. We assess glaciers, landslides, glacial lakes and other remote hazards to anticipate the risk of floods and other climate-induced hazards. We also work with local communities to identify and analyse risks through historical data collection and participatory hazard mapping.


The data gathered by geologists and communities are further analysed to create hazard and risk maps. These maps are effective tools for disaster risk reduction and are also instrumental for informing safer development planning and interventions at the village level. AKAH has produced hazard and risk maps for 828 villages with over 1.1 million inhabitants in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral (GBC), and 112 maps for urban settlements. We have assessed 777 settlements in Pakistan, mainly in mountainous areas and exposed to hazards. We update these assessments with community participation every three years and we have set up community-based systems to continuously monitor major hazards, including 25 glaciers and 20 lakes in GBC.


We use the data from HVRAs to help communities build homes and infrastructure areas. We have identified 50 high-risk settlements where little safe space remains. We are working with these communities on options for relocation to safer areas with future growth opportunities. We intend to work with local governments, civil society and communities to invest in service infrastructure in the safer zones, creating areas of opportunity for at-risk populations.


We conduct research on the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities, and arrange seminars and conferences in collaboration with academic institutions and donors.


A man stands amid small trees checking a flood warning system.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, a volunteer caretaker checks the Flood Early Warning System installed by AKAH.

AKAH

Structural and Non-structural Disaster Mitigation


We have completed 106 structural mitigation projects since 2005. These include construction of protective walls to shield against a variety of hazards such as floods and debris flows in disaster-prone areas across northern Pakistan.


Non-structural mitigation projects include:



  • training local community-based volunteers as first responders;

  • using specialised plantations for soil stabilisation;

  • deployment of early warning systems;

  • landslide monitoring; and

  • removing boulders through controlled blasting.


We construct protective infrastructure to prevent hydrometeorological hazards. These include:



  • gabion walls, shielding against hazards such as floods and debris flows;

  • avalanche impact tripods, which help deflect and slow down avalanches; and

  • check dams to counter erosion.


Community-Based Disaster Risk Management


Informed and organised communities are more resilient and better prepared to cope with risk and disasters. Community-based disaster risk management builds upon local knowledge with technical skills that enable and empower communities to cope with, prepare for, prevent, mitigate, respond to and quickly recover from natural and man-made disasters in urban and rural areas. We involve community members in identifying and understanding local hazards. We build their skills in first aid, search and rescue, fire safety, safe evacuation and village-based disaster risk management planning.

Community volunteers trained by AKAH are aware of their local hazards and can be first responders in disaster situations. The role of these community emergency response teams (CERTs) is critical, particularly in communities located in risk-prone mountainous and isolated locations. Over the years, AKAH has established 192 structured CERTs across Pakistan and has trained over 36,000 community volunteers (over 50 percent women) as first responders. We provide emergency stockpiles for communities, with items such as tents, blankets, search tools and first aid supplies, to strengthen local response capacities. AKAH also supported the Government of Pakistan to prepare the country’s National Disaster Management Plan and Community-Based Disaster Risk Management guidelines (2012).


School Safety Programme


AKAH’s School Safety Programme, initiated in 2006, builds the capacity of students, parents and school management to assess hazards to their schools, develop emergency and evacuation plans, and build response capacity.

We organised an international conference on school safety in 2008. In collaboration with the Government of Pakistan, various donor and UN agencies, and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), we provided technical and financial input to develop a School Safety Strategy for the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan. The conference also marked the declaration of 16 May as the annual National School Safety Day. AKAH continues to run school safety initiatives across the country in partnership with respective governments, UN agencies and INGOs.

Together with our donors and partners, we have reached over 931 schools across Pakistan through our school safety programme, benefitting over 427,300 students, teachers and parents.


Initiatives include:



  • A pilot project where we developed a school safety manual with support from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and National Disaster Management Authority Pakistan.

  • A school safety programme with PLAN International, implemented at 400 primary schools for girls in Pakistan.

  • A project to improve DRR practices in over 100 schools in Gilgit-Baltistan with support from the Australian Agency for International Development. With technical assistance from the National Society for Earthquake Technology Nepal and Aga Khan Education Service Pakistan, local villagers were trained in stone masonry to retrofit a school in Nomal village, Gilgit.

  • A project with the WFP to improve safety in 120 schools in six disaster-prone districts across Pakistan. Community leaders and school safety committees were trained in developing Village-Based Disaster Risk Management Plans and School Safety Plans. We worked with the schools and local communities to develop plans, train teachers and first responders, implement drills, and distribute school safety and emergency response kits. We also retrofitted 16 schools.

  • Implementation of the Pakistan School Safety Framework in all schools in Islamabad, Quetta, Peshawar and Muzzafarabad, in partnership with the British Council and the National Disaster Management Authority. Our objectives are to capitalise on the role of schools as agents for students’ development, to create a safe learning environment for students and to improve the knowledge and skills of school children and government authorities to deal with disasters.


Volunteers learn first response skills and techniques during training sessions organised by AKAH.

Volunteers learn first response skills and techniques during training sessions organised by AKAH.  

AKAH

Emergency Humanitarian Response and Relief

Our disaster response programme is divided into two components: i) search and rescue operations immediately after disasters, and ii) humanitarian relief, including provision of food and non-food aid, and shelter and camp management for those affected by disaster internally or for refugees. AKAH is one of the leading and most experienced disaster response agencies in Pakistan.


Search and Rescue


AKAH Pakistan has a 50-member specialised search and rescue team (SART). Members are located in Gilgit, Chitral and Karachi. They have been trained by the United Kingdom International Search and Rescue Team, IntOps AB Sweden and Pompiers de l'Urgence Internationale, a group of French firefighters in urban and mountain search and rescue. The team is equipped to conduct search and rescue across the country. SART members are trained on a monthly basis. They are all dedicated volunteers, 35 percent of whom are women.


Humanitarian Relief


Following a disaster, we immediately deploy our volunteer Disaster Assessment and Response Teams (DARTs). The teams are trained based on the standards of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to determine the immediate basic humanitarian needs after a disaster. Based on the DART reports, food, non-food aid and shelter are provided to those affected by the disaster, with support from and in collaboration with government authorities, donors, UN agencies and INGOs.


Read about some of AKDN's disaster preparedness and response work in Pakistan:



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