Pakistan: Provincial governments directed to make structural evaluation
The federal government of Pakistan has requested all four provincial governments to draft comprehensive plans to evaluate the structure of all schools and hospitals and to formulate concrete action plans regarding disaster risk reduction by 2015.
Approximately 1,800 children were trapped under the debris of hundreds of collapsed schools structures in Pakistan's 2005 earthquake and the health response mechanism became incapacitated due to collapsed hospitals. The National Disaster Management Authority NDMA stated that in order to avoid a repetition of such tragic episodes, comprehensive planning is a must.
According to the NDMA, being a signatory state to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), Pakistan is under international obligation to take practical measures to ensure the achievement of goals and targets regarding disaster risk reduction.