Daily Times

Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik, participated in thought-provoking panel discussions on climate change, humanitarian crises and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), during his visit to Bangkok on official duty. Panel discussions were held during Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week (RHPW) 2022, in Bangkok. The discussions were divided into two sessions; first session was collectively organized by International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), Asian Disaster Risk Reduction Network (ADRRN), Community World Service Asia (CWSA), and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). It discussed data challenges at the nexus of DRR, humanitarian crises and climate change adaptation. Besides Chairman NDMA Pakistan, participants from Global Data Laboratory, Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), ADRRN, Green Climate Fund and University of Delaware CERD took part in discussion.

Chairman NDMA explained value of archived, upgraded and studied databases that can help enable tangible outcomes of any action plan in the field of DRR. He reiterated importance of variable and intangible components of data that impact quality of responses and add further value. He stated the importance of data usage and actionable intelligence’s availability to forewarn communities before a disaster strikes and expand scope of national alerts to target audience in affected zones. Second session of the discussions was specifically about Impact of climate change on Pakistan. Organized and hosted by Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF) and National Humanitarian Network (NHN), including representatives from key donor agencies.

Chairman NDMA apprised the house about devastating floods experienced by Pakistan this year and the resilience driven national response.