Pakistan stresses redoubling efforts at UN, other platforms to mitigate disaster risks

ISLAMABAD, Oct 13 (APP): On International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Foreign Office in a statement said as a natural disaster prone country, Pakistan had come a long way in terms of policy development, institutional capacity building, coordination and coherence.

The Foreign Office mentioned that this year, the day was being marked at amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing that Pakistan successfully contained the initial outbreak, and was continuing to mitigate its long-term socio-economic impacts.

“We have strengthened the response capacity of our institutions at the national, provincial and local (district) levels. The strength of our governance systems was tested in the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic,” it said.

It said Pakistan launched its renewed ‘National Disaster Response Plan 2019’ with a view to improving the level of preparedness and strengthening the capacity of the country to respond.

It addresses multiple potential challenges including floods, earthquakes, avalanches, droughts and industrial hazards.

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