Logistics Capacity Development Support of the National Disaster Management Authority in Pakistan

This operation expired in June 2016.

In Pakistan, natural disasters, occurring at both greater frequency and with increasing intensity, contribute to low economic growth. In 2010, heavy monsoon rains triggered devastating floods in Pakistan resulting in nearly 2,000 deaths, destruction of homes, population displacement, diminished food security, loss of livelihoods and damage to public infrastructure on an unprecedented scale. Nearly 20 million people were affected. The extent of the destruction in 2010, and in subsequent years, critically demonstrate the importance of disaster risk management at all levels - district, provincial and national – to prepare for and respond to future crises and the need to strengthen emergency disaster response capacity by introducing basic infrastructure, previously lacking, for an effective and coordinated humanitarian response.

Recognizing the scope of humanitarian and development challenges, in particular the risk and impact of natural disasters, the Government of Pakistan (GoP), informed by the 2012 Disaster Risk Management Report , the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), developed a 10-year National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP), as an official, national guideline for comprehensive disaster risk reduction and management in Pakistan.

Under the NDMP, the government identified initiatives for its effective implementation, and requested WFP’s support in the development of a strategic warehouse network in the country to enable preparedness and timely response in the disaster prone regions, aiming to help reduce the economic, social and environmental burden of disasters, and the inevitable human suffering which accompanies it.

Originally initiated in 2011 under SO 200181, the project expanded its scope and focus, at the request of NDMA, to include the design and construction of a network of strategic Humanitarian Response Facilities (HRFs), to support the Government of Pakistan’s ‘National Disaster Management Plan’ and jointly implemented with Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs).

With this new Special Operation, WFP, in partnership with the government, aims to continue the work, until completion, of this key, comprehensive and active network of facilities across Pakistan for pre-positioning of emergency response and relief supplies and ultimately, with WFP’s support, enhancing the government’s management of and response to natural disasters.