A project that combines satellite images, mapping technologies and the local knowledge of villagers to help build climate-proof settlements in disaster-prone areas of Pakistan won an international award on Thursday.
According to details, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) Pakistan project won a gold prize winner at the World Habitat Awards that are organised in collaboration with the United Nations housing agency (UN-Habitat). The project has helped more than 1 million people.
AKAH has trained about 50,000 locals to protect their villages from natural disasters in the mountainous northern areas which are vulnerable to earthquakes, floods and environmental degradation and are home to some of the poorest communities.
“It’s not just responding to the effects of the climate emergency but being proactive in protecting people from its effects, using technology and the knowledge of communities,” said the chief executive of World Habitat David Ireland in a statement.
“It provides communities with the knowledge of where and how to live in safety in a changing world. The potential for this approach to be adapted and used in similar areas in Pakistan and elsewhere is absolutely huge,” he added.
According to the World Bank, more than 2 million people have been killed by natural disasters since 1980. Worsening climate change conditions threaten to push an additional 100 million people into extreme poverty within the next decade.
Pakistan is among the most disaster-prone countries in South Asia, according to the World Bank.
Launched in 2006, the AKAH project includes mapping and monitoring hazards using satellite images and drones and forming disaster risk management plans with the involvement of locals.
It enables people to build in safer areas and to prepare and respond to disasters in a better way.
By combining local knowledge, community involvement and technology, the project develops “resilient, sustainable communities capable of living in dignity” amidst the threat of climate-induced disasters, said Leilani Farha, a former UN expert on housing, and one of the judges for the award.
The main focus of AKAH Pakistan is the participation of women, who make up about half the volunteers trained for disaster response and who also contribute in weather monitoring and mapping of high risk areas.
“Women who had been conventionally viewed as vulnerable victims of disasters and emergencies, are now empowered individuals who can actively respond to disasters and serve the communities,” said Samra Siraj, a program coordinator at AKAH.
