Afghanistan Times
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AT-KABUL: Afghanaid donated £9.65 million for capacity building of the State Ministry of Disaster Management Affairs (SMDMA) on Sunday.
The Minister of SMDMA, Wais Barmak, said that the amount will be spent on building the capacity of the organization to deal with disasters at local levels.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, he said that the scheme will enable local shuras (community councils) to deal with natural and man-made disasters in their respective areas.
He said that project will raise public awareness about disasters and risk reduction.
The project will be implemented in Badakhshan, Ghor, Samangan, Balkh Bamiyan, Takhar, Jawzjan and Sar-e-Pul provinces within next three years.
Disaster information centers will be also established in the above mentioned provinces and Kabul.
Barmak said that he was committed to bring reforms in the SMDMA.
“Previously several donors and international organization were working with the disaster management authority individually; however, now we want to bring all the organizations under one roof,” he said.
He said that all necessary measures have been adopted to deal with disasters. “Edible and non-edible relief items have been transferred to the areas, prone to natural disasters,” he added.
Afghanaid Managing Director, Charles Davy, said that the amount was donated by Afghanaid, Actionaid, Concern, Save the Children and UNEP to build the capacity of the SMDMA to effectively deal with disasters.
He said that this project will be implemented in 25 district and through 454 community Shura will be covered.
