UNDP, KP govt sign MoU to mitigate impact of GLOFs

PESHAWAR: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday signed an agreement to continue efforts to mitigate the impacts of the glacial lake outburst floods in the northern areas of the province.

Under the agreement, specific set of interventions for each site selected will also be carried out in the form of building small scale infrastructure, promotion of such irrigation techniques, which require minimum water for irrigating crops, innovative forming techniques helping in mitigating climate change induce disaster and documentation of indigenous best practices to demonstrate nature-bases solutions, according to a statement issued here.

The agreement was signed by resident representative of UNDP Knut Ostby and Special Secretary Planning and Development Department KP Abid Wazir. The National Project Manager Misbah Zafar and National Project Director Joudat Ayaz were also present on the occasion.

Both, the UNDP and provincial government would also focus greatly on community mobilisation activities for mass sensitization awareness, disaster risk-reduction training and outreach through media.

The agreement was signed for the year 2021 under the flagship project titled Scaling up of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF-II) risk reduction in Northern Pakistan in a ceremony here. Glacial melt has resulted in the formation of over 3,044 lakes in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, putting some 7.1 million people at risk from potential GLOFs. Led by the Ministry of Climate Change, with the support from UNDP and funding support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the project targets the most vulnerable rural communities in the high-altitude regions of the country.

The project will also install scaled-up early warning systems and automated weather stations to mitigate the impact of GLOFs. Amongst the target project beneficiaries, more than half will be women, propelling Pakistan’s efforts to reduce inequalities and ensure gender equality by 2030.