Geneva, Switzerland (BBN)– The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, arrives on a three-day visit to Pakistan on Thursday.
During the visit, she will meet with President Asif Ali Zadari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, the National Disaster Management Authority, Meteorological Department officials and aid donors, to discuss future risk reduction measures as the country tries to cope with floods which have displaced an estimated 5.4 million people.
In a statement prior to her departure, Wahlström said: “Flood risk in Pakistan can be modelled with great accuracy as UNISDR and others have demonstrated. Just as last year, this year’s flooding has been concentrated in rural areas with rapidly growing populations which lack early warning systems and preparedness measures. We now need a quantum leap in disaster risk reduction across all the country’s flood-prone provinces by all the actors.”
BBN/SSR/AD-06Oct11-11:03 am (BST)
