CT Newsroom
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari laid stress on climate change and the development of effective climate resilient infrastructure as National Resilience Day is being observed nationwide today.
As per details, Pakistan is observing National Resilience Day today across the country to express its solidarity with the victims of 2005 earthquake. Around 15 years ago, an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude in northern areas of Pakistan and Kashmir caused the loss of over 70,000 lives while more than 35,000 buildings were collapsed. This unfortunate incident made the country suffered a loss of around 2.6 percent of total Gross Domestic Production (GDP) at that time.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in his message laid stress on understanding the needs for climate change and developing effective coordinating infrastructure for the climate resilience. He said, “this day is a motivation for us to embrace the best practices and implement policies and strategies in various sectors aimed at fortifying our nation’s resilience. Pakistan is facing an immense impact of climate change despite not being responsible for it.”
President Asif Ali Zardari in his message emphasized the importance of educating people about climate change and natural disasters management through community engagement. He also praised the local community’s support and spirit in helping the affected people at that time.
It is worth mentioning here that after 2005 earthquake, Pakistani government has developed policies, and institutional and legal framework including the establishment of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs), and District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) for the disaster risk management.