MUZAFFARABAD: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Azad Kashmir government and Islamic Relief (IR), an international aid and development charity, here on Tuesday.

Under the MoU, the Islamic Relief will provide technical assistance to the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) in building resilience and synergising the preparedness among different stakeholders.

The MoU was signed by SDMA Secretary Mohammad Akram Sohail and IR’s Country Director Ateeq Rehman at a ceremony. AJK’s Senior Minister Chaudhry Mohammad Yasin was chief guest on the occasion.

The SDMA secretary pointed out that disasters had badly affected AJK for many years, killing people and damaging the infrastructure.

“Recovery begins afterwards but the dent left by the disasters can derail all humanitarian efforts,” he said and welcomed the concept of resilience building.

The IR’s country director said that in disaster-prone areas lives could be saved by investing in resilience building initiatives. He said the IR believed that there was a dire need to invest in community-centred integrated knowledge development, preparedness, resource mobilisation and mitigation measures.

“A one-dollar investment in disaster risk reduction can save 10 dollars in response,” he said, adding: “Our priority should be to reduce risks of disasters and be prepared to avoid losses at the cost of development.”

The ceremony was attended by the representatives of government departments, NGOs, civil society, academia and media.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2015

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