Disaster And Response

Pakistan is vulnerable to disaster risks from a range of natural hazards including earthquakes, droughts, floods, landslides, avalanches, cyclones and storms, tsunami, glacial lake outbursts, river erosion, epidemics and pest attacks. The human induced hazards that threaten the country include transport, industrial and nuclear accidents, oil spills, urban fires, civil conflicts and internal displacements of communities due to multiple factors. The high priority hazards in terms of the scale and frequency of occurrence and the impact include earthquakes, droughts, flooding and transport accidents that can cause widespread damage and losses.

The vulnerabilities of Pakistan and its people are aggravated by a number of factors and conditions that act as dynamic pressures. They include the size and growth of human population, the size and growth of animal population in the arid zones, urbanization and the resultant environmental degradation, and climate change and variability. An analysis of the hazards, vulnerabilities, and dynamic pressures indicate that frequency and severity of certain hydro-meteorological and geological hazards may increase in the coming years and decades. This would lead to greater social, economic and environmental losses.

Humanitarian Response is one of the important facet of Voice of People’s thematic programmes. In case of emergencies Voice of People gets involved in all the three stages of response, early recovery and rehabilitation. The important sub-sectors Voice of People works in are as follows:

Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Promotion:

During emergency as well as stages beyond water, sanitation and hygiene promotion are the most important and urgent needs of the affected communities, be what the nature of natural disaster. Voice of People through a team of dedicated Engineers, hygiene promoters and social mobilizers organizes the communities and provide humanitarian response to them within stipulated timeframe.

Emergency Food Security and Livelihoods:

As during the emergencies the affected communities generally loose their important assets and livelihood resources; therefore they require immediate assistance. The objective of Voice of People’s emergency food security and livelihood response is to assist people that are prone to, or affected by, humanitarian crisis to prevent acute malnutrition by helping them to meet their immediate, minimum food needs and to protect and recover their livelihoods.

Shelter and Housing:

One of the first things that people need after being forced to flee their homes in case of disaster is some kind of a roof over their head. Providing shelter is a priority for Voice of People during emergency response, early recovery and rehabilitation periods. Apart from emergency/transitional shelters Voice of People also works to provide housing solutions during early recovery and rehabilitation phases which includes energy efficient housing, semi permanent low cost housing etc.