Islamabad: In a significant development, Ms. Coco Ushiyama, the Pakistan Representative and Country Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), met with Mr. Kazim Niaz, Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division, to discuss enhancements to climate resilience initiatives in Pakistan, particularly focusing on a new project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to Press Information Department, the meeting centered on the recent approval of a US$ 9.8 million project by the Green Climate Fund, aimed at building climate resilience in the flood-prone districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Secretary Niaz expressed his appreciation for the project’s alignment with national priorities and its potential expansion to other provinces. He emphasized the need for exploring co-financing options to scale up the activities within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The project is designed to enhance the technical capacity of the public sector in managing climate risks, improve flood forecasting, enable anticipatory action, and provide vulnerable, food-insecure rural households with tools to diversify their livelihoods towards greater financial sustainability. It also aims to improve climate information services, which will help communities better prepare for and adapt to extreme climate events like flash floods.
Furthermore, the initiative plans to install automated weather and hydrometeorological stations in the Buner and Shangla districts, offer crop management advisories, and involve local entrepreneurs and the private sector in reducing the adverse impacts of floods. It incorporates gender-transformative and inclusive strategies, ensuring that marginalized groups, especially women and persons with disabilities, have access to necessary climate resilience measures.
The meeting also touched on other mutual interests related to food security and nutrition, concluding with Secretary Niaz assuring Ms. Ushiyama of his full support for these initiatives.