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| November 30, 2005 | Wednesday | Shawwal 27, 1426 |
AKDN support for relief, rehabilitation
ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: The $50 million pledged by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) at the donors’ conference here on November 19 is a three-year commitment to support rehabilitation, socio-economic development and earthquake-preparedness in areas of the North-West Frontier Province and Azad Jammu and Kashmir affected by the October 8 disaster.
The AKDN says in a press release that it will provide a combination of financial and technical support and will draw on expertise and experience of its agencies gained through decades of work with urban and rural communities in mountainous and seismically sensitive areas in Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia.
The commitment includes: education in land planning, training in seismic-resistant construction, disaster preparedness and the development of civil society expertise and capacities to improve planning for urban and rural communities, all to optimise the rebuilding of the habitat and to help mitigate the impact of future earthquakes; community mobilization for rehabilitation and socio-economic development; training, including in-service training, of health and education professionals to serve remote and isolated mountain communities; technical advice and longer-term support for safer and more efficient aerial access to the affected region, including the improvement of the quality of air transport infrastructure, such as helicopter landing pads, approach guidance systems, refuelling bases and maps; and continued support for access to the affected areas from AKDN’s Pakistan-based helicopters, and others in the region as necessary, whose design specifically enables them to function effectively in high mountain zones.
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