A workshop titled “Bridging the Collaboration Gap between Academia and PDMA/DDMA Sindh through Curriculum Development and Advancing Research on Disaster Preparedness/DRR/Climate Change Adaptation” was held, organized by the Fast Rural Development Program (FRDP). The event was in collaboration with Welt Hunger Hilfe (WHH) and consortium partner CESVI, funded by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO).
It received technical support from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh and the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD). The workshop aimed to foster collaboration between academic institutions and disaster management authorities to enhance curriculum and research on disaster preparedness, disaster risk reduction (DRR), and climate change adaptation.
In opening of the event Mubashir Hassan, Expert for DP – DRR WHH Pakistan emphasized the critical need for collaboration between academia, disaster management authorities, and the NGOs. He stated that while significant efforts are underway, a distinct gap remains, which WHH is striving to bridge with the support of DG ECHO and PDMA. In this effort, a disaster management course has been developed for university-level education, for course design technical support from DevRes consultants is available.
The proposed course was shared with participants from various universities of Sindh, including Sindh Madarsatul Islam, University of Peshawar, Federal Urdu University, NED University, University of Sufism, University of Karachi, Center for Excellence in Women Studies, Dawood University, Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University, Sir Syed University, Indus University, LUMHS, Renowned experts provided their input to improve the course outlines and pledged their cooperation in offering the course as an elective subject in ongoing degree programs.
Chief guest ImdadHussainSiddiqui, Director of Operations at PDMA Sindh, highlighted the importance of Disaster Risk Management education at all levels and offered his support for its smooth implementation through collaboration with the HEC, academia, and the NGOs.
Mr. Siddiqui further shared that He will personally follow up with the vice chancellors of respective universities and HEC about the progress after this initiative. At the end He also discussed the challenges faced during the 2022 disaster and shared his experiences along with PDMA’s contributions to successfully managing past events by presenting Atlas of hazard profiling of Sindh province. Ms. Fozia Rajput, Executive Director of FRDP, expressed her appreciation and gratitude to PDMA for their crucial role in guiding all humanitarian partners toward building a more resilient society.
