ISLAMABAD: An eleven-member United States Army Central (USARCENT) delegation led by Deputy Command General Major General Wendul Glenn Hagler arrived here for taking part in four-day interactive session with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) officials and relevant stakeholders dealing with Disaster Management (DM).

Sessions were aimed to acquire knowledge from each other’s experiences, find common zones for future shared cooperation and to work out modalities for training Pakistani disaster management officials through FEMA, academia exchange programme and sharing of latest technology-driven software or products to forecast changing weather conditions to plan well ahead of disasters, said news release.

After welcoming remarks by Chairman NDMA Lt. Gen Inam Haider Malik, delegation was briefed about devastating effects of 2022 floods in Pakistan. NDMA brief also identified shortfalls in DM system of Pakistan based on lessons learnt during calamities faced by country in 2022 and indicated areas where possible US cooperation was urgently required.

“There is dire need for midcourse discussion over redefining the SDG goals owing to its limited achievement, as climate change is not restricted to one country but whole globe is being affected,” he suggested.

NDMA with remodeled approach is now focusing primarily on fore-warning of weather patterns resulting in disasters, creating a common operating picture predicting hazards months in advance and incorporating national/regional universities through National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) to create research-based think tank.

Chairman raised questions about whether there is possibility to work on global climate stress reversal and replacement of disaster risk reduction with Disaster Risk Elimination.

Deputy Commanding General, Major General Hagler offered condolence over loss of lives in floods 2022 and appreciated efforts of Pakistan for remodeling of disaster management system while incorporating vulnerable. SUPARCO and Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives, USACE and PMD furnished session on post-flood damages need assessment, reconstruction efforts and satellite-based inundation and damages assessment.

Sessions will continue for subsequent two days with active participation of USARCENT and Pakistan DM teams to further deliberate upon matters related to Pakistan hazards and vulnerabilities, NDMA’s role in integrating international assistance, search and rescue capacity of Pak-USAR Rescue Team.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 16 2023

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