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Islamabad, March 16, 2023 (PPI-OT): NDMA conducted First Simulation Exercise (SimEx) for floods and rain emergencies with support of Ministry of Climate Change, UNICEF and Welt Hunger Hilfe (WHH) was held from March 14-16 at Islamabad, which concluded today.
The simulation exercise at the national level is part of the NDMA’s efforts for a proactive approach to deal with disasters and emergencies. Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman, Chairman NDMA Lt. General Inam Haider Malik and UNRC/HC Mr. Julien Harneis attended the closing session of SimEx and distributed certificates among participants.
Minister Sherry Rehman appreciated the level of participation during the Simulation Exercise and lauded the efforts of NDMA for organizing the event. She underscored the need for preliminary preparedness at community level after devastating Floods 2022.
She said that it is a critical time for us to prepare ourselves for the future by learning from experience of recent floods. She also indicated that the Government would also conduct similar simulation exercises for forest fires and other hazards.
Chairman NDMA highlighted that simulation exercise was a resounding success. He appreciated the level of coordination and readiness displayed by all the participating departments and humanitarian organizations.
He expressed that this exercise has helped us to identify areas where we could improve our response and strengthen our coordination protocols for rain and flood emergencies. Over the course of three-day long exercises, coordination and response time of various agencies were tested by playing erratic rainfall situations like Floods 2022.
The exercise was overseen by the National Disaster Management Authority, which collaborated with multiple stakeholders to ensure the exercise was conducted smoothly. Emergency responders, including NDMA, PDMAs, Armed Forces, PMD, FFC, Rescue 1122, UN organizations, NGOs and Representatives of other coordinating Federal and Provincial departments participated in the scenario-based table top SimEx; the first of its kind organised by NDMA.
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