The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) on Monday launched three-day training in connection with the Vulnerability to Resilience (V2R) project launched in four districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
PRCS Secretary General Khalid bin Majeed and National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) General Manager Khurram Khaliq Khan were special guests at the launching ceremony held at the Grand Regency Hotel in Islamabad. Over 50 people including PRCS Joint Director Operations Abaidullah Khan, NDRMF Manager Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Mubashar Hussain, Syed Naunehal Shah, Advisor V2R Shahid Kazmi, Project Manager Zubair Khan and project staff members from all four targeted districts as well as PRCS NHQ Islamabad participated in the session.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary General Khalid bin Majeed said the PRCS is the leading humanitarian organization of the country which has always been at the forefront of serving the community in the face of any natural or man-made disasters. He said the Rs 228 million V2R project being implemented in AJK involves construction of flood protection walls, water conservation structures and landslide stabilization schemes in Bagh, Hattian, Neelum and Sudhnoti districts, which will not only protect the vulnerable population against natural disasters but also help build resilience among them to cope with such emergencies in future.
The secretary general said the PRCS is in talks with the NDRMF for Phase II of the V2R project as well as separate projects in Tribal Districts (erstwhile FATA) and southern Punjab areas. He said the PRCS envisages a long and productive partnership with the NDRMF to keep carrying out such projects in future.
He said the PRCS is committed to make the V2R project a success despite some challenges. To resolve issues being faced on the ground, he said, the PRCS NHQ is actively engaged with the AJK authorities under the leadership of newly appointed Chairman Abrar ul Haq to ensure smooth delivery of operational activities and successful and timely execution of the project.
He stressed on the participants of the training to gain maximum knowledge of technical aspects of the project during the three-day activity in order to improve productivity and ensure quality and compliance in the implementation of the project.
Addressing the participants, NDRMF General Manager Khurram Khaliq Khan appreciated the services being rendered by the PRCS to mitigate the sufferings of the vulnerable communities. He offered his NDRMF’s all-out support to the PRCS in execution of the V2R project. He said the NDRMF wants to enter into a long-term multifaceted partnership with the PRCS vis-à-vis implementation of projects in different parts of the country.
The objective of the sector-wise technical training is to provide department-wise, subject-wise, skill-wise, in-house and on-the-job knowledge to the participants in order to improve productivity and impart them skills to do specific jobs in a professional manner. Over the course of the training, different sessions have been planned wherein the participants will discuss standardised community-based disaster risk management models, monitoring, reporting, accountability and evaluation SOPs, social safeguarding, environmental implications, gender mainstreaming, etc.
