The earthquake that struck Pakistan on
October 8, 2005, measuring 7.6 on the
Richter scale, was the most devastating
natural disaster in Pakistan’s history.
Faced with damage and destruction on an
unprecedented scale, and that too in a very
difficult geographical terrain, Government
of Pakistan established Federal Relief
Commission (FRC) to undertake relief
operations.Subsequently, the Earthquake
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority
(ERRA) rising to the challenge, launched a
very effective and comprehensive response to
address the imperatives of early recovery
and medium to long-term reconstruction and
rehabilitation in the affected areas. The
national and international reviews and
validations have rated relief and recovery
operations as very effective. Such progress
was made possible only through an exemplary
civil, military and international
collaboration in handling a natural disaster
of this proportion. Support from countries
and many national and international
organisations proved to be pivotal in this
endeavour.
ERRA, with a total of over 13000 projects in
its reconstruction portfolio, spread over
30,000 sq. km, is now well into the
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation phase of
its operations. Over 4,000 of these projects
have been completed, already. Moreover the
Owner Driven Rural Housing Programme has
been completed with the assistance of donors
and implementing partners. The
reconstruction of over 430,000 houses within
a period of mere 3 years warrants due
recognition, besides sharing this experience
with the world. ERRA believes that its
successes and the experiences gained and the
lessons learned during the implementation of
the housing programme and the reconstruction
of destroyed infrastructure in education,
health and water & sanitation sectors ought
to be shared with the organisations, both at national and
international level, working for Post
Earthquake Recovery, Reconstruction and
Rehabilitation. These lessons have great
value as they can prove helpful in designing
reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes
in similar post disaster situations. There
is, at the same time, a continuing need to
obtain the valuable feedback from academics
and practitioners from around the world, on ERRA’s programmes and projects in the light of
principles evolved, approaches designed and
implemented in other disaster contexts to
enrich our experiences. An International
Conference structured around the theme;
“Converting Adversity into Opportunity:
Learning from Experiences in Reconstruction
and Rehabilitation for Rebuilding Lives and
Communities after Disasters” has been
planned in April 2010.
To share ERRA’s experiences in post
earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation
with and to learn from the national,
regional and global
community. These experiences encompass a
wide spectrum i.e. the Rural Housing Programme,
reconstruction of destroyed/damaged
infrastructure in
Education,
Health
and
Water and Sanitation
sectors,
interalia,participatory models and
activities relating to community programme,
Livelihoods,
Gender Equality,
Environmental
Protection / Safeguards and
Disaster Risk
Reduction.
To reaffirm commitment of the Government
of Pakistan and ERRA to ensure speedy
completion of reconstruction and
rehabilitation programmes with the fullest
involvement of the stakeholders and affected
population.
To bring together the policy makers and
practitioners to help find how far
the conceived policy gets translated into
practice.
To interact/network with regional and
international disaster management
institutions.
National/International experts in various
fields of post disaster reconstruction and
rehabilitation: engineers, administrators,
policymakers, amongst others.
Representatives of UN system, bilateral
agencies, international multilateral
financial institutions, from within and
outside Pakistan.
International experts from countries with
experiences of a comprehensive post disaster
reconstruction and rehabilitation effort.
Representatives of international networks
on disaster management.
Representatives of Pakistan Federal and
Provincial Government agencies with mandate
in disaster management and post
disaster
reconstruction and rehabilitation.
National/international academic/research
institutions/universities with interest and
activities in post disaster reconstruction
and rehabilitation.
Representatives of Pakistani NGOs/CBOs and
international NGOs involved in post
disaster/earthquake reconstruction
and rehabilitation.
Private sector organizations, consultants
involved in issues related to earthquake
reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Others with an interest in thematic areas
of the conference.
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