The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Thursday marked National Resilience Day 2026 with a renewed focus on strengthening disaster preparedness, early warning and anticipatory action, while commemorating the victims of the October 8, 2005 earthquake and reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to building resilience against an increasingly complex hazard landscape.
NDMA marks Resilience Day with renewed focus on disaster preparedness
ISLAMABAD, Oct 08 (APP): The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Thursday marked National Resilience Day 2026 with a renewed focus on strengthening disaster preparedness, early warning and anticipatory action, while commemorating the victims of the October 8, 2005 earthquake and reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to building resilience against an increasingly complex hazard landscape.
Addressing the ceremony, Chairman NDMA Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik said National Resilience Day was not only about remembering the past but also about preparing for future disasters by translating lessons from previous emergencies into stronger preparedness, early warning and anticipatory action.
He said Pakistan’s disaster management system was evolving from a predominantly response-oriented approach towards anticipation, preparedness and timely action, supported by technology, data and scientific risk information.
The chairman highlighted the development of Next Generation Technology (NGT) at NDMA as an important step in this transformation, supporting advanced analytics, predictive modelling and emerging technologies to anticipate risks and provide timely, actionable information for decision-making.
Federal Minister for Water Resources Muhammad Moeen Wattoo highlighted Pakistan’s growing institutional capacity and experience in disaster risk management, observing that the country’s disaster management systems and institutional experience were increasingly serving as a source of learning for other countries.
He also underscored the close link between water security, climate resilience and disaster risk reduction, stressing the need to integrate these priorities into national development planning as Pakistan faced growing risks from floods, droughts and changing climate patterns.
The ceremony was attended by senior representatives of federal ministries and provincial departments, academia, military services, diplomatic missions, humanitarian organisations, philanthropists and the media.
On the occasion, NDMA reaffirmed that resilience was a shared national responsibility requiring collective efforts by government institutions, communities, emergency services, academia, humanitarian partners, the private sector and civil society.
The authority reiterated its commitment to moving from reaction to anticipation, from vulnerability to preparedness and from recovery to resilient development, and urged institutions, communities and citizens to contribute towards building a safer, stronger and more resilient Pakistan.
