Caretaker Minister for Planning Muhammad Sami Saeed and Chief Minister Balochistan Ali Mardan Khan Domki on Wednesday co-chaired a Steering Committee to review progress on Integrated Flood Resilience Adaptation Project (IFRAP), funded by the World Bank for flood-affected areas of Balochistan.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary Planning Ministry, Additional Secretary, Balochistan, Members Planning Commission, Project Director, IFRA and other members of the committee.
The IFRAP worth $400 million funded by the WB aims to rebuild flood-affected communities with a focus on long-term resilience the project was conceived after Pakistan successfully managed to secure pledges of $10 billion from the donor which was committed during the International Conference on ‘Climate Resilient Pakistan’ jointly hosted by Pakistan and the UN in Geneva. The IFRAP not only reconstructs infrastructure but also strengthens local capacities to manage future climate risks.
During the meeting, Project Director, IFRAP gave a detailed briefing while highlighting the key components of the project which includes reconstruction & rehabilitation of provincial /local road, restoration flood protection, irrigation/ drainage, water supply & sanitation infrastructure, restoration of health, education, establishment of hydro-meteorological, early warning system, livestock restoring, vaccination & related livestock and aquaculture infrastructure , cash compensation horticulture support for farmers , high value climate smart agriculture and agri value chain development , youth internship program for 1,000 interns and others.
The IFRAP will provide housing reconstruction grants to approximately 35,100 homeowners to rebuild their homes following resilience standards and livelihood grants to smallholder farmers to support livestock and promote climate-smart agriculture and other productive activities. It will also help restore essential services by rehabilitating damaged community infrastructure and facilities such as water supply, irrigation, roads, and community facilities.
The project is targeted to benefit approximately 2.7 million people in selected communities in calamity-declared districts across Balochistan. It will mitigate flood risks through a combination of resilient protection infrastructure, enhancing early warning systems, while ensuring that women have access to this system and disaster risk management information. IFRAP will restore degraded watersheds and strengthen institutional capacity at both the provincial and local levels.
“Our key objective is to expedite the implementation status of the project in order to facilitate the flood-affected Balochistan who were affected in the flood,” said the minister, while directing the concerned stakeholders to expedite the implementation process.
The federal government is committed to provide full support to the provincial government of Balochistan in the implementation of the projects, said the minister, while directing the government of Balochistan to further expedite the process.
Last year, Pakistan faced an unprecedented devastation due to torrential rains and flooding in most parts of the country, affected 33 million people and economic losses worth $30 billion as a result the government prepared the 4RF framework. The 4FR document suggested effective coordination and participation arrangement among the federal and provincial governments, development partners, donors, international and national NGOs and academic and private sectors.
