Road map for Disaster Risk Management: PDMA-KP signs MoU with ADPC in Bangkok

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (PDMA-KP) and Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) in Bangkok have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a collaborative alliance between the two parties.
The co-operation would be based on the road map for Disaster Risk Management 2014-2019, a comprehensive framework designed by the PDMA-KP to build a disaster resilient province.
The collaborative alliance would cover the strengthening of legal and institutional arrangements in support of disaster risk reduction initiatives in the province, capacity development of District Disaster Management Units (DDMUs), and enhancing the resilience of local communities through participatory community-based disaster risk reduction initiatives.
"We must build disaster risk management capacities at the district level, and link DDMUs with the communities to make them resilient," Muhammad Tahir Orakzai, Director General of the PDMA-KP said. Orakzai said ADPC and the PDMA-KP would strive to mainstream disaster risk reduction into development policies, plans and programmes in the province as well as to enhance the national information management systems, visibility of disaster preparedness in the media and awareness of disaster risk reduction among people of the province.
He said the KP province is at risk of a number of natural hazards including landslides, floods, earthquakes, droughts and glacial lake outbursts. The most vulnerable entities include schools, housing and health infrastructure. "To invest in disaster risk management costs much less than disaster response and it is very important for the stability of the province," Shah Nasir Khan, Advisor to the PDMA-KP and Head of newly established DRM/CCA Strategic Unit said.