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Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) arranges CERT Response Challenge

Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) arranged “CERT Response Challenge”, to test the level of preparedness, knowledge, and skills of the teams existing at the village level.

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CERT Response Challenge by AKAH Pakistan in Gilgit-Baltistan

Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) arranged “CERT Response Challenge”, to test the level of preparedness, knowledge, and skills of the teams existing at the village level Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) arranged a “Response Challenge” for the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) to test their level of preparedness and skills to deal with a disaster situation at the village level.

Representatives of local administration and partners including Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority (GBDMA), Rescue 1122 and other stakeholders including leaders of voluntary bodies and Civil Society Organizations attended the event held in Karimabad, Hunza, last Sunday.

CERT Response Challenge by AKAH Pakistan in Gilgit-Baltistan

Over 45 volunteers representing Community Emergency Response Teams of Aliabad, Hyderabad, Altit, Karimabad, Nasirabad, and Gulmit Gojal, participated in the CERT Response Challenge. A jury of three judges assessed and marked these teams for their knowledge and its application for a given disaster scenario to respond.

Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) arranged “CERT Response Challenge”, to test the level of preparedness, knowledge, and skills of the teams existing at the village level Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) arranged a “Response Challenge” for the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) to test their level of preparedness and skills to deal with a disaster situation at the village level.

CERT Response Challenge by AKAH Pakistan in Gilgit-Baltistan

Representatives of local administration and partners including Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority (GBDMA), Rescue 1122 and other stakeholders including leaders of voluntary bodies and Civil Society Organizations attended the event held in Karimabad, Hunza, last Sunday. Click Here! Find Applications Here! Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) arranges CERT Response Challenge Over 45 volunteers representing Community Emergency Response Teams of Aliabad, Hyderabad, Altit, Karimabad, Nasirabad, and Gulmit Gojal, participated in the CERT Response Challenge.

A jury of three judges assessed and marked these teams for their knowledge and its application for a given disaster scenario to respond. Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) arranges CERT Response Challenge The participants were expected to respond to the disaster scenario by applying techniques of search and rescue, evacuating victims to safe places, provision of first aid and transportation critical cases to a nearby hospital. The CERTs had to reflect on the scenario and plan their response strategies within a given timeframe.

The response by CERT Nasirabad / Shinaki by marked as first whereas CERT Gulmit stood second. Addressing the closing ceremony, Mr. Fareed Ahmed, Director General for GBDMA, congratulated the teams for their excellent performances. Also, he expressed the wish to introduce such kind of local-level teams throughout GB under his department by acquiring technical support from Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) in the future.

Nawab Ali Khan, CEO AKAH Pakistan, addressing at the event.

Mr. Nawab Ali Khan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), AKAH- Pakistan, appreciated the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) for their performance at the competition as well as for their time and voluntary services for the communities across disaster-prone areas of Gilgit – Baltistan. He further added that AKAH Pakistan in collaboration with Rescue 1122 headquarters in Lahore arranges training and competitions for the teams to improve their knowledge and capacities and to keep them prepared for unexpected happenings.

Since these village-level teams are the 1st responders in emergencies so AKAH will continue to add value to their skills and capacities in the coming years. He also thanked the local government, Pakistan Army, NDMA and department heads of GBDMA, Rescue 1122 and other NGOs for the continuous support extended to AKAH.

For the last many years, AKAH has trained over 40,000 volunteers at the community level to respond to disasters and help people in need. These 52 CERTs are helping communities through a door to door education on winter preparedness, raising disaster awareness and importance of emergency evacuation and also providing first aid on need basis. 

GBee Staff keeps you updated with the latest happenings in Gilgit, Baltistan and Chitral regions of Pakistan.

Climate

Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) Wins Gold Award at World Habitat Awards 2020

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Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) Wins Gold Award at World Habitat Awards 2020
AKAH geologists and community volunteers measuring crevasses on a glacier, Shimshal. AKAH’s technical teams and community volunteers monitor glaciers and glacial lakes to advise communities on disaster risk.

The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) won the World Habitat Awards 2020 Gold Award today for its “Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Technology for Safer Habitat” project.

In the winning project, the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat in Pakistan pioneered the use of Hazard Vulnerability and Risk Assessments (HVRAs), which integrate science, technology and local knowledge for disaster risk management and sustainable habitat planning and development.

Reflecting the importance of this work, Prince Rahim Aga Khan, Chair of AKDN’s Environment and Climate Committee, said “For decades the AKDN has been working with vulnerable communities to improve quality of life and reduce disaster risk. Today in the face of the climate crisis, understanding and mitigating these risks is even more urgent. Only by helping these communities adapt and thrive in harmony with their often-precarious habitat can we hope to mitigate the effects of climate change.”

AKAH’s technical experts conduct hazard vulnerability and risk assessments using satellite data and geographic information system technologies together with participatory on-site assessments to help communities understand, map and plan for the risks they face.

Maimunah Mohd Sharif, UN-Habitat Executive Director, said: “UN-Habitat commends “Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Technology for Safer Habitat” because of its community-based planning and risk management approach, integrating local knowledge. This is very much in line with UN-Habitat’s belief that when developing, formulating and implementing tools, policies and programmes, we should place people at the centre of our thinking and action.”

One of the judges of the award, Leilani Farha, Global Director of The Shift, former UN Special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, said: “This project, led by the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, Pakistan, is the embodiment of a human rights approach to climate change adaptation policies. This novel project manages to combine indigenous knowledge, community involvement and technological advancements to ensure resilient, sustainable communities capable of living in dignity, security and peace amidst the rising threat of climate-induced disasters.”

Ghulam Murtaz, Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Survivor, Badswat. If disaster strikes, the hazard maps also show where it is safe to evacuate and relocate displaced people. For families whose homes are damaged or lost, AKAH provides emergency winterized tents and transitional shelters and as well as support for more permanent housing.

The project combines local and scientific knowledge in order to assess hazards, map risks, determine residential and economic zones, and develop disaster management and habitat plans. AKAH geologists use remote-sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies and risk-scoring tools, combined with participatory risk assessment and community knowledge, to develop plans for safer habitats.

Nawab Ali Khan, Chief Executive Officer, of the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) in Pakistan, said that, “Winning this Gold Award is an honour for AKAH and gives us added motivation to do more for building safer communities and safer habitats. We at AKAH value the trust and engagement of the communities and volunteers we work with and the support of our local and international donors and partners who believe in our work integrating emergency planning and preparedness and habitat planning for climate change adaptation in Pakistan”.

In Pakistan, AKAH conducts HVRAs – for nearly 800 settlements that cover over one million people – with robust risk mapping and monitoring capacities and development planning. The Agency has also provided technical assistance on safer and greener home improvements to more than 20,000 households while constructing over 4,000 shelters for internally displaced people. AKAH has also trained over 50,000 local volunteers in Pakistan in community-based disaster risk management. The volunteers have responded to over 200 disaster events.

Jamal Khan, volunteer caretaker of a Flood Early Warning System in Sherquilla. AKAH installs early warning systems and community-managed weather monitoring posts in the most vulnerable areas.

Onno Rühl, General Manager of the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, “Our mission is to empower communities living on the frontlines of climate change to not only survive but thrive despite the
growing risks they face. Integrating deep community engagement with scientific data, we help
communities understand and manage disaster risk to be able to plan for a better future. We
are honoured by the recognition of the World Habitat Awards and proud to promote solutions
that help vulnerable communities adapt to climate risk.”

Notes:

The World Habitat Awards is an international charity dedicated to finding, supporting, sharing and celebrating projects related to housing that can have an “overwhelmingly positive impact on individuals, families and communities”. It posits that housing is a basic right. Its World Habitat Awards – organised in partnership with UN-Habitat – “recognise and highlight innovative, outstanding and sometimes revolutionary housing ideas, projects and programmes from across the world”.

For more information, please see: https://world-habitat.org/

The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat works to ensure that the places people live are as safe as possible from the effects of climate change and natural disasters while also helping them to be prepared to cope with and respond to disasters that do strike. Beyond safety, AKAH aims to ensure people have access to services and opportunities to improve their quality of life.

Established in 2016, AKAH combines several agencies and programs of the AKDN that had been working on housing, habitat, and disaster preparedness and relief since the 1990s in South and Central Asia, including Focus Humanitarian Assistance, the Aga Khan Planning, and Building Services, and the Disaster Risk Management Initiative.

For more information:

Trushna Torche / info@akdn.org

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Environment

AKAH Pakistan join hands with the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan to design a major water supply project in Central Hunza

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Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) Pakistan Hunza Water project

The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) Pakistan, signed a partnership agreement with Government of Gilgit-Baltistan to conduct a study for sustainable solution of drinking water supply for central Hunza sourced from Attabad lake. The feasibility will include Hazard Vulnerability and Risk Assessments of the supply line and eight settlements. The agreement was signed between the Planning and Development Department of Gilgit Baltistan, the District of Hunza and Aga Khan Agency for Habitat in Hunza.

Central Hunza faces acute water shortage as most settlements depend on two glacial melt streams (Hassanabad Nallah and Ultar Nallah) as their primary source of water. The recent glacial lake outburst floods from both glaciers have severely impacted water supply and other community infrastructure.

Growth in tourism to the area, critical for economic development, adds further pressure on the region’s water resources. Using its rich experience around the design and implementation of water supply systems in mountain areas combined with its hazard risk assessment and overall habitat planning expertise AKAH will provide technical support to the Government on this highly important study.

Mr. Nawab Ali Khan, CEO, AKAH, P and Mr. Syed Abrar Hussain Shah, Additional Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan and Mr. Fayaz Ahmed, Deputy Commissioner Hunza, are signing the partnership agreement to conduct a feasibility study to design a water project for central Hunza.
Mr. Nawab Ali Khan, CEO, AKAH, P and Mr. Syed Abrar Hussain Shah, Additional Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan and Mr. Fayaz Ahmed, Deputy Commissioner Hunza, are signing the partnership agreement to conduct a feasibility study to design a water project for central Hunza.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Syed Abrar Hussain Shah, Additional Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan, said
that “The Government of Gilgit Baltistan is grateful to Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) for realizing several development projects, reducing poverty and empowering communities. We value AKAH’s support to the government of GB on various development initiatives particularly around climate change and providing access to clean drinking water to the rural and urban areas in Gilgit Baltistan.”

Mr. Nawab Ali Khan, CEO, AKAH,P and Mr. Syed Abrar Hussain Shah, Additional Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan and Mr.  Fayaz Ahmed, Deputy Commissioner Hunza after signing the partnership agreement to conduct a feasibility study to design a water project for central Hunza.
Mr. Nawab Ali Khan, CEO, AKAH,P and Mr. Syed Abrar Hussain Shah, Additional Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan and Mr. Fayaz Ahmed, Deputy Commissioner Hunza after signing the partnership agreement to conduct a feasibility study to design a water project for central Hunza.

In his address, Mr. Fayaz Ahmed, Deputy Commissioner Hunza, shared that “This partnership with AKAH will enable us to provide sustainable access to clean drinking water to 5,500 households, commercial entities, health and education facilities from eight settlements of central Hunza including Faizabad, Altit, Karimabad, Ganish, Garelth, Haiderabad, Dorkhand and Aliabad This feasibility study will not only identify solutions for the current needs of the community but also help boost the tourism potential of the area in the years to come”

In his remarks, Mr. Nawab Ali Khan, Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, Pakistan
shared that “AKAH has the mandate of creating resilient human habitats and we will support any initiative that is aligned with our mandate.” He further said “AKAH is thankful to the government for all
its support that has enabled us to serve communities in need.”

Over the last two decades, the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, Pakistan has provided 500,000 people with water and sanitation facilities across Pakistan mainly in mountain communities. This has resulted not only in reducing waterborne diseases but also improved health and economic conditions as well as
reduced the burden on women and girls of fetching water from long distances.

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