Drought in Balochistan Earth-Quick in Balochistan

Table of Contents
Background and Rationale: ......................... 3
Addressing the Most Vulnerable ................. 3
Community Hearing: ................................... 4
Objective: ................................................... 5
Process/Methodology: ................................ 5
Partners: ..................................................... 6
Scope and Process: ..................................... 6
Focus Group Discussions: ............................ 7
District Ziarat: ............................................. 7
District Loralai: ............................................ 8
District Jafferabad: .................................... 10
District Suhbatpur: .................................... 12
Testifyers list ............................................. 13
Community Hearing Event: ....................... 14
The Followings are the testimonies from different districts: 16
Testimony of Raz BiBi ................................ 16
Testimony of Najma .................................. 17
Testimony of Tahira BiBi ........................... 19
Testimony of Abdul Rasheed .................... 20
Testimony of Hazrat BiBi ........................... 22
Title 1
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Testimony of Zahoora ............................... 23
Testimony of Niaz Mohammad ................. 25
Testimony of Sakina Bibi ........................... 26
Testimony of Zohra Bibi: ........................... 27
Testimony of Bibi Bakhtawer .................... 28
Expert testimony by Dr. Irfan Baig: University of Balochistan 29
Respondents Panel Recommendations; .... 32
Title 2
Mr. Tahir Munir Minhans Director General PDMA: 32
Mr. Zahoor Bazai “Director Quality” Directorate University of Balochistan
.................................................................. 33
Mr. Arif Tabassum Representative of Danish Embassy: 34
Mr. Abdul Wahid Deputy Commissioner Killa Saifullah: 34
Ms. Salma Additional Secretory Women Development Department: 35
Dr. Maqsood –“Representative from BUITEMS”: 35
Mr. Aziz Ahmad Jamali “Additional Secretary Education Department”: 36
Ms. Rehana Bibi Head of Provincial Office UN-WOMEN: 36
Ms. Sara Technical Support Officer GCC PDMA: 39
Challenges: ............................................... 37
Recommendations: ................................... 37
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Background and Rationale:
Title
Balochistan is one of the least developed areas in Pakistan, limited women representation in decision making processes, high literacy among women
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(26% with 2% in rural areas) and limited health care facilities (highest maternal mortality rate in Pakistan) are complemented with regular occurrence of acid crimes, honor crimes and the overall precarious political situation. Balochistan has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters due to its unique geo-climatic conditions. Earthquakes, floods, droughts, cyclones, and landslides have been recurrent phenomena.
Cyclone Yemyen, the Ziarat Earthquake and the 2010 Floods show among others Balochistan’s vulnerability to sea based cyclones, earthquakes, flash
& riverine floods caused by heavy precipitation.
3-4years consecutive floods have caused severe damages to communities and their livelihoods in Balochistan. In August 2011, heavy monsoon rains triggered flooding in Balochistan and Sindh provinces, including some areas that were already affected by the floods of 2010. Again in September 2012, floods hit Pakistan which affected more than 5 million people. Balochistan,
Punjab and Sindh are affected most, with districts (in particular Jafarabad,
Nasirabad, Suhbartpur) inundated with floodwaters for the third consecutive year. The floods affected more than 1 million acres of crops, damaged over 460,000 houses and ruined basic infrastructure. Balochistan has 11 ecological zones and we have both floods and draught in the province. Since it is a huge province area wise, southwest and some northern Balochistan districts are in mild to moderate drought while districts like Loralai, jafarabad, Suhbatpur, Nasirabad, Awaran, etc are in flood range.
Balochistan has a long history of droughts; the (1997-2002) droughts were the longest dry spells in many years. Balochistan is an arid region with occasional rain events. The districts of Kalat, Chaghi, Naukundi and
Loralai/Zhob have been severely affected by drought at many occasions
Addressing the Most Vulnerable
Generally women and girls are the most vulnerable to natural disasters the
United Nations and many other actors try to involve them in disaster risk
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Title management initiatives. At the one hand, these initiatives increase
4 women’s role in society, and empower them economically and politically.
For example, they work in the disaster management committee or as volunteers. On the other hand these tasks have the potential to become a burden, as women are traditionally also responsible for domestic work and child care. Women are often taking care of disaster risk response whilst taken care of their family but their contribution is rarely recognized.
There are some learning’s/ experience from last floods 2010-12 in
Balochistan that violence against women increases in the wake of natural disasters and that the increased risk is associated with gender inequality and the limited representation of women in disaster responses.
Yet facts and figures are lacking when it comes to the effects of natural disasters and complex emergencies on the lives of women and girls. In past, one of the Gender Task Force member NGO HOPE PK (Humanitarina
Organization for Poverty Eradication) had held two community hearings in
Balochistan, on the impact of climate change on the lives of women and vulnerable communities for GCAP (Global call to Action Agist Poverty).
Though we can extract some information from the findings of those hearings PLUS we can use the process of those hearings as the first pilot experience in the province, yet there is a lack of concrete evidence in PDMA regarding assessing the impact of disasters and emergencies on the lives of women and vulnerable communities of the province. To strengthen this evidence base one cost effective and relatively fast way to gather qualitative data is the technique of community hearings.
Community Hearing:
Community hearing is a method that has been applied in South Asia and
Latin America for highlighting issues related to gender, poverty, climate change and DRR etc. Within this project community hearing will be used to give a platform to the communities to discuss and highlight the gender &
DRR issues to the community tribunals/hearings. Through carefully selected
Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) a narrative is created on disasters in terms of its impact on the lives of women girls and vulnerable populations, inline
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title with the NDMA vulnerability guidelines. Within the FGDs the situation of disaster before and after is assessed. Questions including but not limited to;
5 i.
How this impact did changed women and girls’ situation and position? ii.
What was the impact of the disaster on an individual’s economic and political situation? iii.
Which measures could be taken to avoid disasters or decrease their impact? iv.
Do women have access to save spaces after a disaster? v.
Are girls more likely to drop out of school due to increased responsibilities at home after a disaster?
Objective:
To assess the impact of disasters and emergencies on the lives of women, girls and vulnerable community of Balochistan for better preparedness and response
Process/Methodology:
10 focus group discussions around Natural Disasters and their impacts on
Women, girls and vulnerable communities, with community members of three divisions in Balochistan Province, Loralai, QillaSaifullah, Ziarat,
Jafarabad and Suhbatpur, are held. These districts, in the North and South of Balochistan; are identified in consultation and with recommendation of the Women Development Department and Provincial Disaster
Management Authority (PDMA). The field team was led by Technical
Support Officer, Gender & Child Cell PDMA, assisted by Programme
Assistant UN Women. Field team was oriented by Programme Officer UN
Women on the process and methodology of Focus Group Discussions,
Testimony drafting, testifier orientation and community hearing process, based on her previous experience of community hearings held in
Balochistan in 2009 and 2011. The field team was also provided with field guidance notes and required formats for testimony drafting, expert testimony, TOR of respondent panel/jurists.
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Partners:
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This activity was closely coordinated with PDMA, Women Development
Department, Divisional Commissioners, District Management, Gender Task
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Force (GTF), and local CBOs& NGOs from the districts.
The Respondents were identified from PDMA, District Management/DDMA,
University of Balochistan, Balochistan University of Information Technology,
Women Development Department and Embassy of Denmark.
Scope and Process:
Series of meetings were held with the local authorities including divisional commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, assistant commissioners, Tehsildars and social welfare officers of their respective districts (Naseerabad,
Jafferabad, Suhbatpur, Loralai,Killah Saifullah and Ziarat). The aim of these meetings were to orient them about the role of GCC at PDMA, the objective of FGDs and community hearing and to build the strong coordination between the PDMA and local authorities for better planning and future interventions. Local authorities helped the team in the selection of villages for FGDS and to mobilize the testifiers to present their testimonies in community hearing event which was held in Quetta district.
70 women and 50 men participate in the FDGs on gender & natural disasters, prior to the hearing. 130 women and men participated on the day of the hearing, this included representatives from Government
Departments, CSOs and local communities. A total of 11 testimonies were developed and 10 were presented in the hearing. Expert testimony was presented by Mr. Irfan baig from media. One testimony was presented in the form of interactive theatre.
The testifiers were facilitated to travel to Quetta and present their testimonies (introduction, background/area, what the situation was before disaster, what is the situation now, how did it change and what are its implications on their life and the lives of their family members, how the impact can be mitigated and what steps can be taken in future to prevent this from happening). Testifiers were free to choose the language of their own choice in which they would like to present their case and translation service was provided.
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Title 7
Focus Group Discussions:
District Ziarat:
The 28 October 2008 earthquake in Baluchistan caused massive destruction in Ziarat districts. The report shows that a total of 130,000 people affected from this earthquake. 14 villages in two union councils of Kawas and Kach with the population of 35000 are badly affected. This earthquake caused the displacement of 12000 from the area. Recurring aftershocks have prompted some people to move to safer places. The remaining population was living in tents or partially damaged houses. However, there were not enough tents to accommodate all of them, and the population was living in exposed to harsh cold weather and risk of respiratory diseases. In Ziarat district, the Frontiers Corps (FC) also had established one camp in Wham, hosting 300 people in 30 tents, and another in Warchum, accommodating
280 people in 50 tents. FC also distributed 1000 tents among the affected people.
The following two earthquake affected villages of Ziarat district have been visited by the team:
The Wham village was famous for its beautiful Apple orchard and was also the main source of income. The earthquake of 2008 destroyed the Apple orchard and this terrible disaster had inerasable horrible impact on villagers physically, financially and psychologically. 55 death were reported in this village. The Earthquake also changed the routes of previous aquafers and all water sources got dried that left paucity of irrigation water. This scarcity of water consequently reduced the agriculture productivity and created financial crises. Many people migrated from this village to other villages for search of work and many of them are working on daily wages in market and as a farmer on others land. This situation directly impacted the lives of women as in the result there were many families in which the head of the family passed away and women had to take up this role, for which they were not ready as they never had such exposure and experience. Now they
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title had to contribute to the income of the family as well as to their routine
8 household chores, at the same time.
In village Warchum , The earthquake of 2008 demolished the home, horticulture and lost their all livestock’s. The community said that this sudden and negative affect was kind of trauma that can never be forgotten.
They lost all of their assets in few minutes. They lost their beloveds in this unfortunate destruction and many were ruined under the houses. The key source of income was depending on Apple Orchard and livestock’s. Owing this was covering their everyday expenditures, marriages expenses, school fee and medical etc. Due to earthquake the underground water went down and tube wells got dried which severely affected the sources of income. In this village 42 deaths were reported. Women had livestock and poultry in their homes and they could easily process and use milk and eggs for their and their families’ use. After the earthquake they suffer from malnutrition.
Women headed households face several issues related to livelihoods as women are not educated and they do not have any decent work facilities available, so the only choice is that they send their children to work.
Another big issue is the lack of heating facility so many communities are dependent on forest wood, hence deforestation is again adding up to the issue of climate change.
District Loralai:
Balochistan has a history of droughts but the recent drought was the longest dry spells in many years. Balochistan is an arid region with occasional rainfall. Drought is an intimidating hazard of nature, although it has scores of definitions. Drought originates from a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time, usually a season or more.
This deficiency results in a water shortage for some livelihood activity to a community group, or environmental sector. The division of Zhob was severely affected by drought at many occasions. The district loralai is the one of them that effected enormously. For last five years there is no adequate rainfall in entire district.
The following two villages of Loralai district have been visited by the team:
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title
Village Sultan Mohammad Karez was prominent for its fabulous Karez,
9 tube wells, the almond and Apple orchard. These were the main source of income of the inhabitants. Unluckily the gradual cycle of worst drought took this village in its circle. The people of the village lost their main source of income and the livelihood pattern changed from prosperous to miserable. The drought has affected orchard and agriculture almost dried.
It also had finished livestock and left them with nothing. The students are now working in coal mines and their education is sacrificed. Many of the houses and migrated to other district for search of work as environmental refugees and it exposes them to variety of social issues. Women do embroidery at home but they get a very little cost for it as they are not familiar with outside world and market prices. There is no such facility nearby where they can learn new designs and make their products on market demand.
Village Lori Daman had its own beauty of cultivated land and orchard of
Almond and Apple. Many poor persons were working in orchards and in the cultivation of lands. These were the main source of income and supporting their family’s expenses including education and health etc, but unfortunately these people faced two types of disasters that are Drought and Flood. They already were trying to reduce the effects of drought but suddenly they tackled the other destruction of flood. From both types of disasters they lost their home and remaining assets, and they spent 6 months of their lives in very miserable circumstance. After 6 months spending lives in tents; they came back to their home and tried to start the lives from zero. Most of the people were migrated to other districts for income generation. The students of these families who are still living in this village they left school and started working in Cole-mines in Duki (the other neighboring Tehsil of Loralai). The chances of these children to get expose to social evils and harassment is enhanced . They are also exposed to health hazards and their education is sacrificed. Women suffer from poor nutrition and there is no health care facility near by. Similarly there is no livelihood opportunity for women.
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

District Killah Saifullah:
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Qila Saifullah is famous for its fertile soil producing fruits and vegetables.
There are numerous apple and apricot orchards exporting fruits to other
10 provinces. The export of vegetables like tomato, carrot and chilies is done commercially on roads and adding enormous share in the agriculture produce of the country. The livestock breeders in Killa Saifullah produce much livestock share for meat and milk purpose for Balochistan province especially Quetta and Zhob divisions. But unfortunately the Killah saifullah was severely affected by drought. For last five years there is no adequate rainfall in entire district.
Village Mirsanzai Mostly people of this village are farmers. The main source of income is agriculture and before flood they were spending a normal life; but there were no education and health facilities.
Unfortunately, this year the flood came in to mirsanzai village as a result of monsoon rainfall. The flood was so massive that it not only destroyed their house but even all livestock. Monsoon is regular phenomena, but the root cause of the flood was miss management of government development approach. This flash flood was due to a bridge constructed by the
Government for development purpose. When high rainfall occurs in mountains, the flood water came towards downstream from this channel.
Excess water cannot pass beneath this bridge due to narrow outlet, therefore the deluge the diverted towards their village and resulted huge damage.
For about 3 months they were settled in camps in plight. Tent life was very miserable, with multiple issues like Lack of food, no health/Hygiene and no toilet facility. They are still having no enough income to build their houses again. Even their children left school and madrasas for searching income sources. The woman has totally dependent on male incomes. It is not an appreciable for women to go outside their homes alone for work, even for a medical check-up. She is considered protected only when a male family member, even a male child, is with her. It is a male dominated society, this domination of male results in discrimination of female in education, health, nutrition and affection. Women shared that this man made disaster has
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Title caused the loss of their family income, loss of privacy and loss of their
11 children’s education.
District Jafferabad:
Districts Jaffarabad was wrostly affected from flood. About 80 per cent of
Jaffarabad district has been badly affected by the floods. Thousands of mud houses were washed away, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless.
A large number people had started migrating to Quetta, especially those who had relatives in the provincial capital. Road link of a vast area of
Jaffarabad and Nasirabad with other parts of the country were suspended for almost 10 days. Rail service was also suspended because the track was under the flooded water for five to six feet between Shikarpur and Dera
Allah Yar.
Team has visited the following badly effected villages of Jafferabad.
Village Muria Khan Raza Mohammad Rahooja was well-known for its large scale of cultivated golden wheat and rice. Most of the people of this village were working as farmer and some of them were having livestock. They used to sell out milk, yogurt and batter to market for bearing the expenses of their families. Unfortunately they faced twice flood and huge destruction in their village. They lost their houses and basic source of income (land and livestock’s). After floods they didn’t have any other option than to shift to the camp. Camp and tent life was very miserable, the food assistance from different humanitarian organization and Government departments were not on time. They sometime had food and some time they were out of food which compelled many of them to beg. Now they are trying to get rid from this situation but they do not have enough sources to resettle themselves.
Malnutrition and lack of livelihood facility is major issues of women and young girls and boys.
Village Sardar Khan Lashari: This community was depending on agriculture and work on daily wages, but due to huge flood they lost their routine source of income. The community has lost their houses and assets, and they started spending life in camps, where they had no sufficient food,
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Title water and basic facilities of life. After many months of difficulty and loss of
12 resources they returned back to their village, but still had fear of probability for arrival of another flood. They have no strategy that how to protect themselves from the flood if again accurse in future. Some of the villagers migrated to other district to search of work and some of them started working in Jafferabad market on daily wages. Women who used to work in cotton picking have mostly lost their source of income in this district. Lack of maternal health facilities during the disaster was a major issue as some deliveries took place in very unhealthy conditions and without trained attendents.
District Suhbatpur:
Sohbatpur is situated at the distance of 40 KM in north from Dera Allah Yar that is the Headquarter of Jaffarabad district. In Sohbatpur around three thousands Gohts (villages) comprising of ten to fifteen houses each are completely submerged in the water and the population had moved toward the canal banks and main roads. Situation of Suhbatpur was observed the worst due to high magnitude of flood water. None of the villages were accessible by any means of transport and the affected villigers told that during flood they left their all assets in villages and lived under open sky without any assistance. They were in need of shelter, food, safe drinking water and medicine.
The population of City Suhbatpur has evacuated after hill torrents submerged the city followed by heavy local rains. Residents left the city and took shelter on higher ground, as their homes were overtaken by surging floodwaters. They said that the government did nothing to divert the floodwaters from the city towards the river. They spent 2 months in tents.
During tent life dozens of people were suffering from water-borne diseases. The hospital in Sohbatpur tehsil was also inundated. Pregnant women suffered the most due to the lack of maternal health and child health facilities. Pregnant and lactating women are malnourished. After this a medical camp was set up outside the city where according to sources hundreds of affected people were treated. When they come back to the city it was unpleasant for them to notice that they have lost all their
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title belongings. Due to flood the Government buildings were also severely
13 destroyed. The Inhabitant of this village are now trying to settle themselves for a normal life.
Village Sakhi Dur Mohammad Khosa drowned in water as a result of flood.
Due to the heavy flood, they had to leave homes overnight; they spent two nights on a roadside and after they ride to a safer location. They were completely dependent on the camp’s services because they lost all assets of home in flood. After many months of trouble and loss of resources, they returned back to their village. The inhabitants told that this tragic incident taught lessened them for saving small amount of money for encountering future disasters. Some of them started farming and cloth stitching for others to save amount as a precaution for unwanted disasters and its consequences.
Village Dargai: Dozens of mud-walled houses have collapsed in Dargai, while many people lost their lives in flood. They lost their main source of income that was irrigated fields, Shops and daily routine earnings. They shifted their families in camps. During tent life, their women were feeling unsecure; no proper toilet facility were available, and due to lack of basic facilities they could not save them from different diseases. After spending 6 months in camps, they come back to their village and started working on land to prepare for cultivation, for this job they borrowed some amount from their land owner which indulges them in debt and they still are working for land owner to pay the debt. People mostly earn their living by working in the agriculture fields as tenants , this include men and women both, the impact of disaster is several fold due to the poverty situation. The loss of income source has led to malnutrition, migration and growing poverty.
Testifyers list
Follong testifyers were identified from the above mentioned FGDs in the villages and districts as mentioned bellow;
1. Raz Bibi (Waam District Ziarat)
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

2. Najma Bibi (WarchumDistrict Ziarat)
3. Abdul Rasheed (Sultan Mohammad Mahloole District Loralai)
4. Hazrat Bibi (Lori Daman District Loralai)
5. Tahira Bibi (Misanzai District Killah Saifullah)
6. Zahoora Bibi (Sakhi Dur Mohammad Kohsa District Suhbatpur)
7. Niaz Mohammad (Dargai District Suhbatpur)
8. Bibi Bkhtawar (City District Suhbatpur)
Title 14
9. Sakina Bibi (Muria Khan Raza Mohammad Rahooja District Jafferabad)
10. Zohra Bibi (Sardar Khan Lashari District Jafferabad)
Expert Testifier: Dr. Irfan Baig (University of Balochistan)
Community Hearing Event:
The community hearing event was hosted by the PDMA, with technical and financial support of UN-
WOMEN. The venue of this event was Killa Saifullah Hall of Quetta
Serena Hotel on 23 November
2015. The aim of community
Hearing was to present the testimonies at provincial level by testifiers.
About 120 relevant entities from different departments of
Government of Balochistan, UN
Agencies, Academia, Theater
Group, Media and INGO/NGOs have participated.
PDMA has systematized a panelist, who came from different backgrounds and departments and responded to the testifier with diverse practical
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title experiences and the way-forward to overcome the issues raised by
15 testifiers. This exercise gave a good understanding for implementing protection policies and planning.
The Event was started with the recitation from the Holy Quran. The Event was opened by Mr. Tahir Munir Minhas, Director General of the Provincial
Disaster Management Authority Balochistan, who gave a brief introduction and overview of PDMA and Gender and Child Cell. He said that
Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Balochistan has established under Sub-Section (i) of Section 15 of the National Disaster Management Ordinance 2007 with the clear following vision and mission.
The vision is to prepare communities and institutions to act and be equipped with knowledge and capacities for effective disaster risk management at times of disaster in order to reduce losses and damage to lives and property.
The mission is to provide basis for the establishment of policies and procedures which will assure maximum and efficient utilization of all resources in Balochistan
Province to minimize the loss of life and/or injury to the population, and protect and conserve resources, facilities and property of the people of
Balochistan from any potential hazard threats.
He told that Balochistan is affected with a long list of natural and human induced hazards that threaten to affect the lives and livelihoods of its citizen. PDMA is planning with the help of relevant Government
Department to minimize the bed effects of the natural disaster on the human lives, and planning to start the early warning system in district level.
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He further mentioned that Gender and Child Cell was established in PDMA
16 in May 2012 with the financial support of UN-WOMEN. He appreciated the efforts of UN-WOEN towards PDMA and said that Community hearing event is the first step of PDMA to empower the women and give opportunity to raise voices for their rights and minimize the bed effects of the natural disaster on their lives.
After the opening remarks the testifiers came on stage and presented their testimonies.
The Followings are the testimonies from different districts:
Testimony of Raz BiBi
Village Name: - Waam
Union council: - Kach
Tensile: - Ziarat
District: - Ziarat
My Name is Raz BiBi, 23 years old and qualified up to matric. I had been succumbed by a major earthquake in 2008. My mother passed away when I was 15 and my siblings consists of 5 sisters and 2 brothers. Due to some domestic issues, my elder brother lives separately. After my three sisters were married my younger brother who was very young forced by father to marry.
We were once having our own irrigated lands and my father and younger brother were working on our agriculture land and apple
Orchard. We were financially in good position and were spending a very happy life.
I cannot find words to express the tragic story of losses of my family and my community. My younger brother who was playing an important role in our livelihood and also a big support of my father in agriculture land, lost in
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Title massive earthquake. One of my sisters and her husband lost their lives due
17 to that earthquake. This was an intolerable trauma for us.
The tragic disaster had inerasable horrible impact on us both financially and psychologically. My father was mentally and physically disturbed. He could not tolerate the death of my brother and died from a heart-attack.
The Earthquake also changed the routes of previous aquafers and all our water sources got dried that left paucity of irrigation water. This scarcity of water consequently reduced our agriculture productivity and created financial crises.
Nowadays, I and my sister in law are working to earn our livings. I work in a
Local NGO and my sister in law is working as Lady Health Worker (LHV).
The terrifying event of earthquake has a probability of its reoccurrence and since we are living in disaster prone areas. Therefore, it is requested by
Government to assist our community financially as we are vulnerable and construct earthquake proof houses for us.
In addition, the water table is rapidly falling down, The Government is requested to construct dams like check dams and delay action dams. Dams will help increasing the ground water level for the rehabilitation of our agriculture lands as it is the major source of livelihood. I also request
Government to provide me a permanent job for bearing the household expenses as NGO is not a permanent source of income. I am the only person working and taking care of my family and there are many who are more in plight and have no source of income.
Testimony of Najma
Village Name: - Warchum
Union Council: - Kach
Tehsil: - Ziarat
District: - Ziarat
My name is Najma, 25 years old, graduated, married and living with huge joint family of my husband. My husband’s sibling consists of
8 brothers and 4 sisters with 16 nephews and nieces. Prior to earthquake of 2008, our
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Title family was one of the richest families of our area. We had an Apple orchard
18 and very productive agriculture lands. Our kids were studying in best private schools of Ziarat and we were living happily.
The earthquake of 2008 destroyed our home, horticulture and loss our all livestock. We were fortunate enough that we all got out of room the moment earthquake started and tremors jolted our rooms and ultimately everything dilapidated. A major portion of our house collapsed and remaining building was cracked which was unsafe to live in. Some of our relatives died in this earthquake.
This sudden and negative affect was kind of trauma that we can never forget. We lost all of our assets in few minutes. Our neighbors who lost their family members were more unfortunate than us. Many were under ruined under the houses and every one was busy for search and rescuing and taking out the bodies from debris.
We spent 6 months in our kin’s house before our home renovated and reconstructed. It was very difficult time having no house and living in house of relatives.
We used to fulfill our milk and yogurt diet requirement from our own livestock; also we provided milk to our neighbors for free and, remaining milk were selling to market.
The key source of our income was depending on our Apple Orchard. Owing this we were covering our everyday expenditures, marriages expenses, school fee and medical etc. Due to earthquake the underground water went down and our tube wells got dried which severely affected our orchard.
The assistance from Government of Baluchistan was appreciable and gave the hope for living. Though we have rebuilt our houses but they are still earthquake prone. We need to design our houses in a way so it can minimize damage. We need to build the schools safe so that our children study in a place that is safe against such disasters. There should be women friendly spaces for women and vulnerable communities in the disaster. The government health department should ensure that there are mobile
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Title maternity care centers during disasters to handle pregnant mothers cases
19 safely.
Government and humanitarian organizations should raise awareness regarding earthquake safety measures, train and equipped the communities in first response, search & rescue and first aid for life saving in such disasters. There should be an early warning system .
I request the Government to help farmers with construction of water channels, dames and promoting of drip and trickle irrigation systems. Our forest need to be saved and for this we demand that gas supply is ensured to far flung areas.
Testimony of Tahira BiBi
Village Name: - Mirsanzai New Killi
Thesil: - Ali Khail
District: - Killah Saifullah
My name is Tahira BiBi, 57 years old, widow and have 4 sons and 6 daughters. All my children are married and they have 12 kids. My 2 sons are
Mullah in mosque, teaching Islamic education free of cost in Madrassa’s.
They are getting nothing to tend their family accept anything in kind by community. My other two sons are working on daily wages as a labor. We don’t have regular and sufficient source of income and living very poor life.
Once we were owner of own house and large number of livestock and that was a big asset of us.
Unfortunately, this year the flood came in to our district as a result of monsoon rainfall. The flood was so massive that it not only destroyed our house but all our livestock. Monsoon is regular phenomena, but the root cause of the flood was miss management of government development approach. This flash flood was due to a bridge constructed by the
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Title
Government for development purpose. When high rainfall occurs in
20 mountains, the flood water comes towards downstream from this channel.
Excess water cannot pass beneath this bridge due to narrow outlet, therefore the deluge the diverted towards our village and resulted huge damage.
For about 3 months we were settled in camps in plight. Tent life was very miserable, with multiple issues like Lack of food, no health/Hygiene , no privacy, and no toilet facility. Camp life resulted my few grandchildren badly sick due to many diseases. We had no money to get them treated properly from city, as no basic health facility was available in the village. I couldn’t see my sick grandchildren suffering from diseases so I barrowed money from my neighbor (that I still have to pay) and took them to nearby city Killa Saifullah for treatment.
All our affected community received no assistance from government or else. Than we shifted to Madrassa where of my one son is teaching Islamic education. My life is very despondent, am very poor and need help to reconstruct my house, because my sons’ incomes are not sufficient for rehabilitation of my family and reconstruction of the house. I request authorities for help not only for my family but entire community effected by flood, as we know that natural disasters have its impact on all but for women this impact doubles as she has to compromise her privacy and in some cases she takes up the role of head of the family for which she is not ready under normal circumstances. The schooling of our children is sacrificed but for girls it makes them quit due to unsafe conditions. Some girls even faces the consequences of early marriages.
Testimony of Abdul Rasheed
Village Name: - Sultan Mohammad Mahloole
Union Council: - Ponga
Thesil: - Bori
District: - Loralai
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title
My name is Abdul Rasheed, 35 years old and graduated. I have siblings of 9
21 brothers and 5 sisters out of them 4 brothers and 5 sisters are married. I have 4 kids and we all living in a joint family with my parents. I am graduated from degree college Loralai, my other brothers were also getting education from Lolarai School and college.
Our district Loralai was famous due to Almond horticulture and used to be one of the major income source of many people so was for us. We had our own orchard of Almond and Apple with sufficient water to irrigate fruit trees. This was the only source of income for my family and we were living prosperous life.
Nature taught us that if human will use the natural resources unplanned and pressure the available resources by overexploitation, it ultimately will create a disaster for human. Drought is natural phenomena and it comes once or twice in a decade but over extraction of groundwater through tube wells during drought season dried aquafers. For last five years there is no adequate rainfall in entire district. We are facing a drought like condition and due to decreasing in water table, we lost our source of water for agriculture. Since decades our livelihood depending on agriculture and we do not have alternate source to save our orchard and agriculture from drought.
My father and his brothers are now working on daily wages although he is very old now. Many of our community members migrated towards district
Zhob to find jobs and altered livelihood. My brothers are not studying in schools/colleges now because we can’t afford it. The Government should construct Dams to recharge well as we all dependent on water and water is scares in our area. We have one Kareze (Indigenous irrigation system) but its dried and we government for its rehabilitation. Girls education is not provided in our area as we don’t have girls school and it is requested from government to provide us girls school.
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Testimony of Hazrat BiBi
Village Name: - Lori Daman
Union Council: - Chinalizai
Thesil: - Bori
District: - Loralai
My name is Hazrat BiBi, 40 years old and mother of 5 sons and 3 daughters. Prior to succumb of double faced disasters
(Flood & Drought) we were living prosperously with no financial issue. My kids were studying in Private School of
Loralai city and we were owner of Almond
& Apple Orchards and large number of livestock.
We regrettably faced two types of
Title disasters that are Drought and Flood. For the last many years rainfall is very sporadic in the district. There is a drought like situation and has affected our orchard and agriculture almost dried. It also had finished our livestock and we are left with nothing.
There was a sudden rainfall once with high intensity and created flood like situation. This resulted the destruction of my house. We were living in camps for half a year in plight condition. It was very difficult life; we
22 received the tent for shelter after spending 3 days roads under open sky. I am speechless to explain how helpless we were as we belong to tribal setup. The basic needs of life were missing, the sense of insecurity was at its peak for us, no health facility, and no toilet were available. Although we were being provided food stamp from different sources but it was not enough for us. Sometime we had to spend our nights without eating proper food.
After 6 months spending life in tent; we came back to our home and tried to start the life from zero.
The post disaster situation changed our livelihood pattern from prosperous to miserable. Our kids once used to study in private schools are now
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title working in coal mines. Many of our relatives and communal people
23 migrated to other district for search of work as environmental refugees. I started kitchen gardening of some vegetable on a small piece of land to fulfil our daily food requirement.
We need assistance in rehabilitation and construction; we need to have at least part of our assets that we lost due to natural disasters. This all happens when we have enough water for livestock and agriculture production. We request from Government to plan for construction of Dams in our area for recharging underground water by rain water. We also do not have any health facility in our village. We need a BHU for our village. Our daughters are not going to school because there is no school in our village.
Testimony of Zahoora
Village Name: - Sakhi Dur Mohammad Khosa
Union Council: - Noozband
Tehsil: - Suhbatpur
District: - Suhbatpur
My name is Zahoora, 25 years old and a mother of
3 children (2 sons and 1 daughter) and also a victim of early marriage as married when I was just
14. A land lord gave us a small piece of land on lease, where my husband and children are working as tenants. Prior to flood the family source of earning was farming as tenants and thus receiving a smart amount of wheat. We were living a satisfactory and happy life without any problems or any health issues.
Our village like many other villages drowned in water as a result of flood.
Due to the heavy deluge, we had to leave our homes overnight, we spent two nights on a roadside and after that begged several people for a ride to a safer location. No one helped us as all were trying to save their lives. We were unable to move to the camps as we had no money for transportation.
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title
We eventually reached the camp District Jaffarabad, Balochistan and then
24 we were completely dependent on the camp’s services. We were insecure about our future and extremely worried about the well-being kids.
I had to takecare of family alone as my husband moved to Quetta district in search of work. Being a head of the family, I felt extremely vulnerable and helpless. We remained in the camp for more than two months. The people who were managing the camps encouraged us to move back to our villages, but our village was yet drowned by flood water. Health facilities, food and livestock, roads and bridges and other infrastructure were partially or completely ruined.
After many months of plight and loss of resources we returned back to our village, but still had fear of probability for arrival of another flood. This tragic incident taught us lessons that now we started saving small amount of money for future in case encounter any disaster. Now, my husband started farming and cloth stitching for others for saving money as a precaution for unwanted disaster.
I appeal from higher authorities, for a protection wall for my village and most importantly the lining of main canals must be rehabilitated and strengthen to get protected from flood. We need support to rehabilitate our livelihoods. We demand the government to install an effective early warning system and capacitate us to build resilience , using, the local knowledge and techniques, coupled up with technical knowledge. Women who earn their income from working in the field need to be supported , especially the widows and the ones who are in the role of head of the family now. Due to disaster many more girls may have been pushed to early marriages, the Government need to take data properly to compare before and post disaster situation. For this women need to be part of data collection and response plus prevention activities.
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Testimony of Niaz Mohammad
Village: -
U/C: - Dargai
Tehsil: - Suhbatpur
District: - Suhbatpur
I am Niaz Mohammad, 38 years old, and I am a bread earner of my big family. My depended include my wife, 3 sons, 3 brothers, 4 sisters and my mother. I am an educated person with a master degree in
International Relations. Prior to the floods I had a shop and my earning was good. One of my brothers is also working as an Army
Soldier (Sipahi). We had all the resources for spending a happy life.
Title
I unfortunately faced disaster twice in the shape of flood within 2 and half years. These floods were washed all our resources i.e., home, livestock as well shop with its all goods. We came beside road and spent 2 weeks in camp and waited for others to help us. Thereafter my brother that was in Pak Army shifted us to Quetta. After spending two months in Quetta we came back with the family to village for normalizing our pre disaster routine and to run the shop.
25
I failed to functionalize my shop because of less amount of money, no accessibility to market and due to flood purchasing power of people which was badly affected. It was the worst days of my life when my family was in need of basic needs and I was not able to provide them. Now my family was malnourished, the schooling o children got affected. During tent life, our women were feeling unsecure; no proper toilet facility were available, and due to lack of basic facilities they could not safe them from different diseases.
The sparkle of hope rose, when I built my connection with few humanitarian organization and Government departments those were working in the area. One of the organizations that was undertaking
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title humanitarian activities, offered me to work with them as a social organizer.
26
I am financially stable now and I re-opened my shop. This happened just because of my education otherwise it was not possible to get a job and assist my community.
I request from Government to support the community members by providing information and capacity building support of disaster risk reduction and support us to make the communities more resilient. We need to strengthen the local communities in a way that they are active citizens and do not promote dependence in them. Community has the will for rehabilitation but government need to have sound policies in place for early recovery and reconstruction. For women and vulnerable sections of the community we need to have a gender responsive planning and response. Protection and safety and an environment free of harassment should be ensures for them.
Testimony of Sakina Bibi
Village Name: - Muria Khan Raza Mohammad Rahooja
Union Council: - Band Manak
Tehsil: - Jaht Pat
District: - Jaffer Abad
My name is Sakina, I am 40 years old, and mother of 5 sons and 5 daughters. My husband is working as tenant; before flood he was also working as a farmer but owned his own agriculture land. We have some cows and buffalo, and used to sell their milk for our daily expenditures, we were living a satisfactory life.
My family twice suffered from huge destructions form devastated floods. The flood destroyed my house and also I lost my livestock that was the basic source of my livelihood. After floods we didn’t have any other option than to shift to the camp, my sister in law was also shifted
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title to the camp with us who had a 3 months baby. As we all did not have
27 proper shelter, clothing and blankets to fight against extreme cold and hot weather, her baby got sick, and thus he died. It was an immense shock for my sister in law which mentally affected her, and she is still in trauma.
Due to uncertainty of weather condition in those days, I and my kids also suffered from extreme hot and cold weather and my kids were also got ill.
Due to non-availability of health facility I took my kids to district headquarters hospital. I had no money and for this purpose, I begged money from others for expenses and medicines.
Due to absence of health facility and gynecology physician in the camp, there were many pregnant women faced serious problem and got gynecological diseases. They were also out of money and could not go to district head quarter hospital to consult and treatment.
Camp and tent life was very miserable, the food assistance from different humanitarian organization and Government departments were not on time. We some time had food and some time we were out of food which compelled us to beg.
To fulfill the basic needs of my family we borrowed money from the land owner and now we are completely indulge in the debt, we are working for land owner to pay the debt. This is not only my case; I speak on the behalf of many such families. The Government needs to support us in rehabilitating our livelihoods. We need some kind of social security measures in place that can save the families from falling below poverty line.
Though the entire community suffers but women suffer the most due to variety of reasons from the effects of disasters, we need to be capacitated, informed and strengthened as we are the brave survivors.
Testimony of Zohra Bibi:
Village Name: - Sardar Khan Lashari
Union Council: - Band Manak
Tehsil: - Jaht Pat
District: - Jaffer Abad
I am Zohra bibi, 41 years’ old, married and working as a house keeper. I have 4 sons and 4 daughters. My husband is working as a daily wager in
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title market and we have no permanent source of income. My daughter and
28 sons are also working because our income is not enough for bearing our daily expenses.
Unfortunately flood has destroyed my house and I lost my livestock. Before disaster I was spending a depriving lifestyle and after the flood it became more deteriorated.
We used to fulfill our milk and yogurt diet requirement from our livestock, but unfortunately we rarely purchase milk, as we cannot afford to buy, as our purchasing power does not consent us.
I spent 2 months in camp in a tent, I along with my community faced shortage of food and safe drinking water, There was also no Toilet facility for female especially, and it was very difficult and unsecured to go out for open defecation. This situation caused various health problems.
Although, we return back from camp but we are still spending life worsen, than life in the camp.
My husband tried a lot to come out from this depressed situation but failed. Even though many affected community received shelter and construction of rooms for them from humanitarian organizations but we are still spending life in a tent because my family did not receive any shelter and their families like us out there.
My request to Government is to facilitate us in rehabilitating our shelter and livelihoods. In future government should make policies and take measure to minimize the impact of disasters on poor communities, and especially women, children and people with disability. We need help for our livelihood rehabilitation and introducing skill development initiatives for women.
Testimony of Bibi Bakhtawer
Village Name: - City Suhbat Pur
Union council: - City Suhbat Pur
Tehsil: - Suhbat Pur
District: - Suhbat Pur
My name is Bibi Bakhtawar; I am 15 years old and studying at school in class10th. We are 4 sisters and 3 brothers. My father is working as a chef in
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title a restaurant and my elder brother is also working as a waiter in same
29 restaurant. My other two brothers are student in a college, my 3 sisters are married and spending a very happy life.
When the flood was accruing and besieging the entire area, we evacuated from the village. As we did not have any alternate place to live, my father with family decided and moved to Karachi for living in my aunties’ house.
We spent three months with them.
I was always very concerned and worried about my education. After three months when we returned to our village, we found our all household stuffs destroyed from flood, and some of belongings were stolen.
It was unpleasant for us to notice that we have lost all our belongings.
Due to flood the school building and assets were severely destroyed, therefore the school was not functional and we had to wait until the school gets repaired and re functional.
After six months when the school was partially repaired, we continued our education; our teachers gave their maximum time and worked very hard for completing the regular curriculum. The students were also committed and Alhamdulillah the majority was promoted in next class.
My request from Government is to maintain the walls of canals for ensuring that breaches do not occur. Protection walls to be built around the high risk flood villages. Life saving measures should be taught to school children, both boys and girls, and general public.
Expert testimony by Dr. Irfan Baig: from Media & Academia
Baluchistan has faced different type of natural and manmade disaster in their history and I have seen some of them in my life those are: i.
Quetta city suffered the worst earthquake of its history in 1935.
The city that was originally designed for 50 thousand people now has a population of nearly .8
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title million. Once called mini Switzerland is now overpopulated and is
30 one of the most polluted cities in the world. Build codes, though exist but are not implemented-this can cause a human tragedy if earthquake struck Quetta. The refuges influx and the migration from villages due to law and order situation as well as due to impact of climate change has added up to the poor conditions of
Quetta further. ii.
The disease of Measles which was spread in Quetta city in 1964 that was a long term disaster for community because people were unaware about their treatment. iii.
The second one which affected Balochistan was 2008 earth quake of Ziarat, I have participated in the relief activities of that disaster, the condition of the area and community was very miserable. iv.
I have seen many disasters i-e drought, 2008 earth quake in which the situation was very miserable. I have seen many of the unexpected act form the notable persons as well as government/non-government representative during the relief phase as I personally participated in the relief activities. The vulnerable community has not been received the relief item according to their desire need and they faced many issues. v.
I want to share with you my real experiences when I and some of my volunteer team members were travelling in a track which was full of food supply items for the affected communities, a group of the people those were belonging from the notable person of
Ziarat have stopped us and they wanted to hijack the truck in their custody. We argued with them and asked them that we would not handover the truck to them. When they knew that I am from media, then they withdraw and left us to move our truck. This was one of the cases which I have faced, and there are several kind of such cases occurred during relief activities in 2009 and 2011 flood of Nasirabad division. vi.
In my point of view the severe type of disaster in the history of
Balochistan is drought as it can result in desertification that has long term affect on our future generation.
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Title 31
My recommendations are that ;

Government of Balochistan has to learn from lessons of previous disasters and upon that prepare sustainable and productive plan for disaster mitigation.

Conduct populations cense/ survey for better planning.

Need to update the district profiles and encourage community based DRM

Implement building codes strictly

Train and encourage pool of community volunteers (including women) in rescue and response.

Bridge the coordination gap at various levels-both vertical and horizontal
Theater Performance on Impact of Disaster and emergencies on the lives of women and girls.
The concept of interactive theatre is very recently adopted in Pakistan. The
Interactive theatre is an emerging tool of mobilization, advocacy and awareness raising on socioeconomic –political and cultural issues. It provides an opportunity to the audience to participate in the soacil development and transformation dialogue through an action oriented approach and contribute to collective analysis of shared problems. Such theatres are helpful to disseminate effective messages on variety of issues,
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title in particular human right, social justice, climate change , gender, DRR and
32 poverty related issues. It also enables the participants and communities to disseminate the transformative messages at local level in cost effective manner. In Balochistan interactive theatre was extensively used as a tool for community awareness and mobilization on impact of climate change, by this group.
The theatre group developed a story based on the readings from the 10 testimonies and some additional information shared by UN Women and
GCC PDMA. The script was written in a testimony style for an over all picture of the province with regard to impact of disasters and emergencies on the lives of women and vulnerable communities.
The Theater Group played a vital role in this event; they presented dramatically the situation of a village which was affected from a flood .
“The theme of this theater play was to “Show the real situation when flood occurs in a village and feelings of affected communities and their circumstances”, and the second theme was “lack of preparedness and planning and its impact on women and vulnerable population”.
Respondents Panel Recommendations;
Subsequently, the panelist responded to the testimonies. The followings are the panelist comments.
Mr. Tahir Munir Minhans Director
General (DG) PDMA:
DG PDMA appreciated the role of GCC and UN Women in organizing the field study in the form of community hearing. He shared that the aim behind the presentation of all testimonies was to raise the gender issues in front of different line departments for more responsive preparedness and response
.
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Title
We invited almost all of the relevant departments and the reason behind
33 calling the different Government departments was to listen to the testifiers and their issues for future appropriate steps and for upcoming contingency planning. We thank the once who are present and wish if the other departments had taken it seriously as well. We will, however share the report of this event with all. For livelihood restoration of local communities
, for example, the serious consideration of Planning and Development
Department is important.
The climate change is a big issue in the world. Pakistan is also one of those countries which is facing the worst effect of climate change, and the real example is the floods of last three years in Nasirabad Division, because the type of these floods were different from the routine local floods. As a preparedness step, Government of Balochistan has started a project of protection wall in the area for saving lives and assets of local population.
PDMA will share the issues of testifiers and the recommendations of expert panelist with relevant Government line departments and take follow-ups for incorporating them in their strategic planning. These issues that are highlighted here will also be considered in our policies and programmes.
Mr. Zahoor Bazai “Director Quality” Directorate University of Balochistan
Mr. Zahoor shared that University of Balochistan has introduced a new department of DRR, and this department will support PDMA on the research side. The DRR department will also be an asset for us in planning and implementation phase for future disasters
He said that in my point of view this is our practice that we never plan for hazard preparedness however, hazard needs prior preparation because this is the time we work better since it’s more potential than disaster occurs. He shared that if we prepare for the hazard like developed countries, than there wouldn’t be the need to get foreign aid for response in any kind of
Disaster. Disaster has a response cycle and in this cycle we have a practice that we were reactive but we will need to be proactive in the preparedness process. He referred to Sadia framework and emphasized on the need of provincial DRM policy to be in place with gender perspective. He also recommended that government should do its best to conserve Juniper
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Title forest as national heritage, while promoting agro-eco tourism industry in
34
Ziarat so that the livelihood of the local communities is restored.
He also recommended that for livelihood support and resilience women need to be trained in small businesses and their linkages should be make to the market for the promotion of local as well as modern crafts.
Planning and Development Department should make it compulsory that all projects are screens properly for gender, environment and DRR and a focal point in P&DD should be assigned this work.
PDMA should ensure the resources for sustainability of GCC and implementation of GCC strategic plan
Mr. Arif Tabassum Representative of Danish Embassy in Pakistan:
Mr. Arif Tabassum shared that whatever is being shared by the testifiers here from different communities, we have been witness to it. I myself have seen the devastating impact of disasters on the lives of people in various parts of the province. He further shared that all these cases and stories are our very own stories as disaster affected everybody’s livelihood. Drought has affected Balochistan since early nineties and still we are facing its consequences. The relevant department needs to take initiative to overcome these issues from policy and planning and resource allocation perspectives.
He appreciated the Gender & Child Cell PDMA’s initiative, with support of
UN Women, under the Women Leadership in Social Reconstruction
Programme, for organizing this community hearing. He shared that in this hearing activity the vulnerable communities of Baluchistan have came up with their real issues , but we need to bring more awareness among the community regarding prevention and response and government departments , along with relevant stakeholders need to play its role in effective DRM planning and implementation.
Mr. Abdul Wahid Deputy Commissioner Killa Saifullah:
Deputy Commissioner also appreciated the PDMA efforts and testifiers who came and are participating in the event. He committed that he will try personally take up the Killa Saifullah’s issue and will take it up with relevant authorizes at the provincial level. He shared that is a live example of the
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title fact that how sometimes the schemes implemented without proper
35 environmental assessment, make more harm then good to the communities.
Ms. Salma Additional Secretory Women Development Department:
She said that “we have to increase the awareness among the community specially females about disaster preparedness as well as response. She said while she appreciates the role of GCC in PDMA, we shall take spacil measures to appoint women in rescue teams. She shared that our planning shall ensure a response that is conscious to the safety, privacy and security of women and vulnerable segments of the community. Further she said that we are the member of Gender Task force (GTF) of PDMA and now we will fully contribute with PDMA in making GTF and GCC more effective so that the needs and rights of women are taken into consideration, through their active participation, in planning and response phases. Sje shared that collaboration will also be enhanced for referring GBV cases in emergencies to the women crisis centers. She also emphasized on the need to strengthening such referral capacities and legal and psychosocial support, through GTF and Gender Focal Points at district level. She also shared the implementation plan of Domestic Violence Act at district level. She shared that WDD is also initiating their three women crisis centers in further three division of Balochistan (Zhob, Makran & Naserabad).
Dr. Maqsood –“Representative from BUITEMS”:
He congratulated the PDMA for organizing this successful event and further shared that there is also a need to focus the existing legislations regarding building code of Balochistan for ensuring the disaster prevention as well.
He further stated that, government need to play its role in a more coordinated manner in Disaster Risk Management in line with international and national commitments. Coordination with DDMAs need to be strengthen and resource allocation to DDMAs should also be enhanced .
For increased accountability local communities needs to be involved in preparedness and response. Academia will play its role on the research side as it has already played with drought study Balochistan.
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Title
Being an environmental specialist, He shared that Balochistan’s
36 underground water table is very low and we already have utilized the water of upcoming three generation’s. The subsidy on tube wells have further aggravated to this issue. People of Quetta are totally dependent on tanker mafia. City Government need to play its role to handle this issue.
In my point of view population growth is also one of the issues, as the specific area’s environment supports limited population; and due to a huge population we are over cropping. Unavailability of data is also a problem, government needs to be focused on authenticity of data, as well as gender segregated data, this will be the helpful tool for future.
Mr. Aziz Ahmad Jamali “Additional Secretary Education Department”:
He said that according to my experience the effect of disaster on every individual is different. I am very happy to see the efforts of PDMA because the trend is now improving from the government side.
He further said that we have to realize the fact that, the role of government in any circumstances is to provide assistance to the community. As the
Government and private sector have limited resources for limited time frame, so it is our own responsibility to take some initiative in our area although they are on small level. He shared that as a DC Awaran District I was engaged in the rehabilitation process after earthquake 2013.
Government has constructed 11000 household but Government still could not catered the needs of maximum community. He recommended skill development centers for women to restore their livelihoods, with small scale livelihood projects.
I appreciate this event, but my suggestion is take this kind of community hearings should also be organized at district level.
Ms. Rehana Bibi Head of Provincial Office
UN-WOMEN:
Ms. Rehana in her concluding remarks said that this is the 3rd time that community hearing is organized in the
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Title province. Similar community hearings were held in 2009 and 2011 for
37 preparing for COP 15 and 17 United Nations Framework for Climate
Change.
She further appreciated the efforts of PDMA, for organizing this Community
Hearing activity in the perspective of gender & natural disasters. She appreciated the role of Danish Embassy for funding the women Leadership in Social Reconstruction Programme of Un Women. She appreciated the role of GCC PDMA , the leadership of PDMA and the participation of Mr.
Arif Tabasum from Danish Embassy. She thanked the testifiers and the panelists and shared following overall issues and recommendations of the community hearing;
Issues;

Rural-urban migration

During preparedness and response women are subject to discrimination, as early warning system and response activities is more male centric.

Women being illiterate are totally dependent on men

Being tenants the community members, specially women suffer the most in terms of loosing the source of livelihoods- adding up to worsening their general social conditions

There is lack of platform at village level for women that could help to empower them.

Lack of mutual planning coordination among PDMA and DDMAs

Less Fund with Provincial and local authorities for women in disaster

Lack of Coordination among all relevant departments and stakeholders
Recommendations :

For empowering women there is need that PDMA GCC, with WDD , promote awareness of male and women both on human rights.
Women should be mobilized into community groups so that they have their own platform from where they can raise their voices and
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan

Title plan for their better future, including CBDRM, community level early
38 warning system , maternal and child health issues, literacy etc.

For livelihood support and resilience women need to be trained in small businesses and their linkages should be make to the market for the promotion of local as well as modern crafts. Small scale income generation alternates should be available to youth within their district to avoid migration to bigger cities.

Planning and Development Department should make it compulsory that all projects are screens properly for gender, environment and
DRR and a focal point in P&DD should be assigned this work.

Government of Balochistan has to learn from lessons of previous disasters and upon that prepare sustainable , gender responsive and productive plan for disaster mitigation.

Conduct populations cense/ survey for better planning. Promote gender desegregated data systems

Need to update the district profiles that are outdated at the moment

City government should implement building codes strictly

Train and encourage pool of community volunteers (including women) in rescue and response.

Bridge the coordination gap at various levels-both vertical and horizontal

PDMA should ensure the resources for sustainability of GCC and implementation of GCC strategic plan

Outreach of dar ul aman and women crisis centers should be assured at divisional level and targets of gender Policy Balochistan should be met accordingly.

Research should be recommended for PDMA to undertake a study on pre-disaster in collaboration with academia and relevant government departments.

DDMAs to be made operational and effective in all districts, especially in high risk districts. Resources should be allocated accordingly.
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Title

Disaster literacy to be institutionalized in academic institutions
39 through curriculum development and visiting lectures and demonstration.

Advocacy and demand for small scale check and delay action dams, maintenance of canal system, promotion of social forestry , ecotourism and indigenous water systems and optimal ground water use.

Ensuring outreach of GCC to district level and strengthening the role of GTF as advisory body to GCC

PDMA GCC need to develop an advocacy strategy with relevant government departments , based on these recommendations , for active follow on and concrete and coordinated planning and actions.
Ms. Sara Technical Support Officer GCC
PDMA:
In her vote of thanks she told that the findings of this community hearing activity will be integrated in strategic and contingency plans. I am very thankful to the entire panelist, testifiers and participants who contributed in this event and made it successful.
Gender and Child Cell PDMA Balochistan