Kanwal Naseer

Pakistan needs to finance the upgradation and modernisation of weather forecasting systems, and build the capacity of communities to respond in a better way to disasters in future and minimise damages, experts said at a panel discussion. The event titled “Adaptive Social Protection: Preparing for Future Disasters” on the second day of 25th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) was organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) along with UNESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) 6th South and Southwest Asia High-level Political Forum and Policy Dialogue on SDGs (sustainable development goals), according to a statement received by WealthPK.

Gul Najam Jamy, Senior Technical Adviser of the World Bank, Pakistan, said the local communities have tremendous potential to adapt and respond to emerging challenges. However, he said, focus needs to be paid on strengthening linkages between the stakeholders and building resilience of the communities through capacity enhancement initiatives. Anum Zeb, Programme Coordinator Climate Advocacy, Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), was of view that currently Pakistan's seasonal-based forecast has an accuracy of 60-75%, which acts as a hurdle in designing Early Action Protocol for Forecast Based Financing.

Therefore, he said, Pakistan needs to invest in the weather forecasting systems. Moreover, he said, systems should be in place for data sharing, risk assessment, particularly area-wise assessment, for effective social protection response. Shazia Maqsood Amjad, Executive Director, Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, highlighted that the duplication of efforts during the response needs to be minimised. She said various actors such as the government, NGOs (non-governmental organisations), and other organisations should harmonise their response strategy.

“Working with local organisations could play a crucial role because of their familiarity with local issues and the trust that communities pose in them,” she added. Arif Goheer from the Global Change Impact Study Centre was of view that the state of preparedness in Pakistan in the face of natural disasters is quite low. He also pointed out that the country lacks adequate information and data capacities in terms of Adaptive Social Protection (ASP), which hinders the proper assessment of the impacts of a disaster on diverse groups of the population. Panellists during the discussion also asserted that early warning systems should be linked to social registry to address the key issues pertaining to ASP.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk