A Review of Disaster Management Policies and Systems in Pakistan for WCDR 2005 January, 2005 Islamabad Abbreviations 1 ADB Asian Development Bank AJK Azad Jammu & Kashmir DCO District Coordination Officer DERA Drought Emergency Relief Assistance DANIDA Danish International Development Assistance ECF Energy Conservation Fund EIA Environmental Impact Assessment ERC Emergency Relief Cell FATA Federally Administered Tribal Areas FFC Federal Flood Commission GDO Goods Dispatch Organization GoP Government of Pakistan HKH Hindu Kush – Himalayan LGO Local Government Ordinance MDGs Millenium Development Goals MF Micro Finance MMTs Medical Mobile Teams MSDP Micro-Finance Sector Development Program NWFP North Western Frontier …show more content…
Introduction 4 Like other South Asian countries, Pakistan continues to suffer from a plethora of natural and human induced hazards that threaten to affect the lives and livelihood of its citizens – natural disasters including floods, earthquakes, landslides, cyclones, and drought to human induced disasters such as fires, civil unrest and terrorism, refugees and internally displaced people, health epidemics, transport accidents, industrial accidents and war. The human impact of natural disasters in Pakistan can be judged by the fact that 6,037 people were killed and 8,989,631 affected in the period between 1993-2002 (World Disasters Report 2003, Geneva, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies). 1.1- Geography: Pakistan lies between latitudes 24 and 37 degrees north and longitudes 62 and 75 degrees east covering a total land area of 796,095 sq km. The country shares its borders with Iran to the west, India in the Southeast, Afghanistan in the north-west, and China in the north. The Arabian Sea lies to its south. Pakistan is a land of great topographic and climatic contrasts. The topography varies from coastal beaches, sandy
Pakistan with a population of 182,143,000 in 2013, it is one of the most populated countries in the world, but it is also one of the least developed (poverty in Pakistan) (WHO reference). Poverty is a prevalent issue through out Pakistan: “about one quarter of the population lives below poverty line” (Poverty in paki). Pakistani’s living in poverty being less common in the urban areas, and more common in the rural areas with about half of the rural population still under the category of absolute poverty (Poverty in paki). Poverty in Pakistan and throughout the world impacts the population’s ability to live healthy lifestyles. Without the means to acquire adequate nutrition, health care, and services, these people are unable to meet their individual health needs. Due to the link with poverty and health, it has remained priority in almost all national plans of Pakistan (Pakistan poverty).
Disaster is anything that can occur causing damages, an ecological disruption and deterioration of health and the health services. Disaster can be manmade or natural disasters such as floods. When disasters like flooding or tornadoes that may be accompanied by floods occur, the public health personnel and public health nurses are normally the first people who respond to the emergency, given that they are the people who understand and know the available resources used in providing first aids to the affected victims.
Every year, there are approximately 150,000 deaths and 200 million people affected by natural disasters and humanitarian crises (Thomas, 2003). Natural disasters alone, which include various occurrences, cause substantial disruptions such as the temporary displacement of more than five million people. According to the Fritz institute, statistics show that uprooted people from humanitarian crises such as civil conflict and war is greater, with an average of 13 million refugees and 20 million internally displaced people each year. As the biggest worldwide participants in the relief effort in the global community, disaster relief organizations are the forerunners of the help supplied to people affected by catastrophic events.
1. Gen. In the world Pakistan is a county that is facing one of the most critical conditions of terrorism. Pakistan is on an urge of war against the terrorism since more than 15 years that has been killed thousands of innocent citizens and several hundred of soldiers and law and enforcement agencies' personnel during fighting against terrorism. This irritation has not only affected the peoples of Pakistan, but it has been also very bad effects upon the economy of Pakistan. These things have made the economic situation of the state unsteady and unsecured.
First, Incident Response (IR) plan “is a detailed set of processes and procedures that anticipate, detect, and mitigate the effects of an unexpected event that might compromise information resources and assets.” (Whitman, 2013, p. 85). Consequently, Incident response planning (IRP) is the planning for an incident, which occurs when an attack affects information systems causing disruptions. On the other hand, Disaster Recovery (DR) plan “entails the preparation for and recovery from a disaster, whether natural or human-made.” (Whitman, 2013, p. 97). For instance, events categorized as disasters include fire, flood, storm or earthquake. Thus, the differences between an Incident Response (IR) plan and a Disaster Recovery (DR)
In this paper we will discuss the history of Emergency Management and the political influence shrouding this field for the past two hundred years. Political influence has been steadily increasing and this can be attributed in part to the rise in social media and the increased involvement by local leaders during disaster recovery and response. To support this theory we will also analyze Hurricane Sandy and looking at three politically charged components of the disaster. Finally, we will discuss disaster policy and the future of emergency management.
Although changes to the constitution are not likely to change unless in the form of an amendment politicians will do their best to maintain what has been established. On the other hand on a the level of governmental administration bureaucracy is less of a factor. Plans to have federal emergency sites throughout the country are in the works to help responsiveness to crisis zones when events occur, the application process to request federal aid has been streamlined and simplified and FEMA itself has been restricted and given specific areas to address along with a budget approximate to 3 billion dollars to disaster victims. The role of the federal government and its response to disaster has been given the directive to play a more prevalent role
The aspects of disaster management are an important step that is required to be inclusive in the national legislation of any country. This is implicative to the differential aspects that may help the nation to recover the stature of disastrous conditions that could ruin the infrastructure of a city or the country as a whole. The essay has been designed to be undertaking an effective study of the similar aspects that defines the structure of the
Disasters weather man-made, natural, or technological are ineluctable. Community stakeholders, leaders, and citizens are ultimately culpable for ensuring that a sound disaster preparedness and recovery plan is in place should a calamity materialize. Failure to enact such a plan comes with immeasurable consequences. Over the discourse of this paper, the Banqiao Dam disaster will be examined as a case analysis, to render what preparedness and recovery plans were sanctioned, as well as the scope of the response effort.
In the United States, people who live in poverty are already one of the most vulnerable populations and it is this population that is heavily impacted by public policy relating to natural disasters. Often, public policies relating to disaster preparedness and recovery are not discussed until after a natural disaster takes place which is too late to do any good for the people affected and who are devastated almost beyond comprehension. The role of government in disaster preparedness and recovery became a “hot button” issue especially after Hurricane Katrina when the federal and local governments seemed to protect/help those who already had resources and not those with little to no resources. According to a Gallup Poll by Jones & Carroll (2005), forty-nine percent of respondents said that FEMA was most helpful to them while thirty-one percent of respondents said that nothing was helpful to them during recovery from Hurricane Katrina. This information indicates that there is a gap in services disaster relief policies and programs that needs to be filled.
Pakistan, due to its diverse range of terrain, is susceptible to wide ranging hazards from droughts to floods and earthquakes to cyclones. Pakistan suffered a major drought from 1995-2000. Pakistan almost every year suffers from floods but the destructions faced in 2010 have changed parameters of our thinking. Pakistan has also experienced earthquakes ranging from moderate to severe in intensity. Despite all these hazards, Pakistan is yet to
Disasters of both natural and technological origin have a considerable impact on communities. The effects of disasters in India are significantly reduced by well established counter disaster arrangements at all three levels of government. These arrangements comprise comprehensive plans of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery and in more recent times, of mitigation. The economic effects of disasters can be devastating and widespread. When disasters strike houses, businesses and community infrastructure get damaged or destroyed and people’s livelihoods are temporarily and sometimes permanently disrupted. Physical damage is the most visible economic impact of disasters. Major natural
Pakistan is an incredibly important nation when it relates to the United States and foreign policy. With just shy of two hundred million people, it is the sixth most populous nation on Earth and also has significant influence on southern Asian and middle eastern politics (Worldometers). In the coming paragraphs, many important factors of Pakistan such as geography, language, religion, and political make-up will be analyzed and discussed in how it relates to the United States and the military.
On August 29, 2009, Hurricane Katrina struck the United States Gulf Coast. It was a Category 3 Hurricane, according to the Saffir Simpson Scale. Winds gusted to up to 140 miles per hour, and the hurricane was almost 400 miles wide . The storm itself did a tremendous amount of damage, but the storm’s aftermath was cataclysmic. Many claimed that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the storm. This paper will examine the four elements of disaster management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation – as well as an analysis on the data presented.
Bangladesh is one of the largest deltas in the world which is highly Penetrable to Natural Disasters because of its Geographical location, Flat and low-lying landscape, Poverty, Population density, Illiteracy, Lack of Institutional setup etc. Similarly the Physical, Social as well as Economic states of Bangladesh are very typical to any of the most Penetrable countries to Natural Disasters in the world . The total land area is 147,570 sq. km. consists mostly of Floodplains (almost 80%) leaving major part of the country (with the exception of the north-western highlands) prone to flooding in the rainy season. Moreover, the adverse affects of Climate Change – especially High Temperature, Cyclones and Sea-level Rise, Storm Surges, Salinity Intrusion, Heavy Monsoon Downpours etc. has aggravated the overall Economic Development scenario of the country to a great extent.