Building Resilience By Learning
The provincial and local governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa committed to institutionalise the disaster risk management process in their respective jurisdictions following the catastrophic earthquake of 2005. To supplement these efforts, the Government of Pakistan with the support of multilateral and bilateral international development agencies extended full support and cooperation. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (then North West Frontier Province) and German International Cooperation (former German Technical Cooperation - GTZ), in 2007 for piloting a disaster risk management system in Mansehra under its Disaster Preparedness and Management Project (DPMP). GIZ had already been operating in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2006 on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), across a project to support disaster preventive reconstruction. Thereafter, DPMP focused on supporting the institutional development of disaster management authorities at provincial and district levels to improve and strengthen disaster risk management and disaster response mechanisms. Mansehra experience has demonstrated that disaster management remains a significant and important focus for local governments. The ability of District Disaster Management Units (DDMUs) to develop and maintain the capacities for disaster management planning and operation are key factors in helping to ensure the safety, resilience and sustainability of communities. This handbook is intended as a learning tool to supplement the significant work done by DDMU Mansehra in preparing communities to manage and mitigate the effects of disasters. It is another step towards supporting linkages between the strategic and operational disaster management plans of the district administration in making district administration responsive and the communities resilient to disasters. Incorporating disaster management into local governments’ development planning was made possible under the concept of disaster management alliance in collaboration with line departments, local government agencies, emergency services and technical specialists. An enabling environment was thus created where everyone could feel responsible for individual and collective actions. Working relationships based on mutual trust and confidence were built among all partners including local government elected representatives, appointed officials at the local governance tiers, representatives of the government line departments, law enforcement agencies, scientific research institutions, international development partners, national non-government organisations and the communities of District Mansehra. The handbook attempts to explain the processes, approaches, methodologies and tools that were developed, used and tested by DDMU Mansehra. Knowledge management based on documentation of empirical knowledge, best practices and technical experience illustrate GIZ’s ongoing commitment in promotion and adoption of disaster risk management mechanisms for replication of DRM Model Mansehra across other geographic settings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
