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Pakistan's cities wake up to climate threats
Writing for AlertNet, Saleem Shaikh and Sughra Tunio describe the vulnerability of the sprawling port city of Karachi to a range of natural disasters, from storms to earthquakes, as well as to the threat of rising sea levels. Environmentalists are pressing city authorities to draw up an effective strategy to protect its fast-growing population from disasters, by boosting mangrove forests, improving institutional capacity and public awareness, and seeking enough funding to make the changes.
In many cases, the warnings of the torrential 2010 rains that caused flooding affecting millions were not taken seriously enough at local level, and little was done to protect people, homes, crops and animals. A recent report from DARA notes widespread awareness that Pakistan needs to be better prepared for disasters and do more to stop them happening, but action has yet to match words, largely due to under-investment. "Donors recognise the relevance of prevention, risk reduction and preparedness but in reality do not seem to accord them much priority," it said. "Disaster risk reduction (DRR) has been discussed by Pakistani authorities and the U.N. for several years but there is a gap between theory and practice."
Javed Malik, secretary of Pakistan’s Ministry of Disaster Management, said the government would continue to advance disaster authority initiatives to improve resilience, according to the guidelines of the UNISDR "Making Cities Resilient" campaign, which more than 30 Pakistani cities signed up for. "We will also increase investment to improve the preparedness of vulnerable communities, to minimise losses in case of any disaster," he said. "To achieve this, fundraising efforts are being taken for disaster management and extending the services of disaster risk insurance to vulnerable communities."
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