Message from Dr. Arif Alvi President Islamic Republic of Pakistan on the occasion of National Resilience Day 8th October, 2018

Pakistan observes 8th of October to express solidarity and sympathy with families who suffered natural calamities. It reminds us of the devastating earthquake of 2005 that wreaked havoc in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other parts of the country by causing immense damages to life, property and infrastructure.

The people of Pakistan have exhibited courage, selflessness, spirit of sacrifice and resilience to withstand the testing times despite being hit by multiple disasters of mega magnitude. The observance of this day as “National Resilience Day: is also an occasion for stock-taking and to reiterate our commitment to make greater efforts for preparing ourselves to face such adversities. It is also an occasion to show our resolve for disaster risk reduction.

Disasters have affected the economy and severely impacted social fabric of society. Our institutional response capacities have been tested to a great extent. We need to adopt best practices, implement desired policy actions and strategies aimed at resilience building of our nation. The Policy actions in Pakistan should address key sectors like safe development of infrastructure, Disaster Preparedness along with other areas, such as poverty alleviation, thorough land-use planning, building codes implementation, water resources management, sound agriculture practices and enhanced forestation across Pakistan including coastal areas.

It is heartening to note that our national disaster management systems led by National Disaster Management Authority is engaged in creating awareness among our people, besides building capacities at different levels.

I would urge all Federal and Provincial stakeholders to create synergies in action to ensure disaster risk reduction, preparedness, besides mounting swift and prompt response mechanisms. We must take care of vulnerable segments of our society including women, children, elderly people and people with disabilities in all our interventions.