The Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index 2025 ranks Pakistan as the top country among the ten most affected countries by extreme weather events in 2022. Pakistan’s approach to disaster risk reduction (DRR) has mainly remained reactive, focusing on post-disaster response and recovery rather than prevention.
This approach limits the country’s ability to minimise losses and protect vulnerable communities before a disaster strikes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to shift towards a more proactive and preventive approach to build resilience and reduce the overall impact of disasters.
Anticipatory Action (AA) in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is an emerging, proactive approach gaining traction globally, including in Pakistan, to mitigate the impacts of potential disasters before they strike. Unlike traditional reactive disaster management, AA leverages predictive tools such as weather forecasts, climate models and risk data to trigger preemptive measures like cash transfers, evacuations or resource prepositioning.
Anticipatory actions are critical in Pakistan due to the recurring and devastating impact of floods, as evidenced by the catastrophic events of 2010 and 2022. The 2010 monsoon floods affected over 20 million people, destroyed more than 1.1 million homes, and caused damages costing up to $10.85 billion, while the 2022 floods impacted 33 million people, displaced nearly eight million, and resulted in over 1,700 deaths, with total damages and losses reaching $30.1 billion. These disasters severely disrupted housing, agriculture and transport sectors, with reconstruction needs alone amounting to billions, straining Pakistan’s economy and resources.
Climate change is also not gender-neutral; therefore, gender-responsive adaptation in disaster risk reduction (DRR) is essential. In Pakistan, the 2022 floods left 650,000 pregnant women without access to healthcare and millions of girls and women deprived of basic menstrual hygiene and sanitation facilities. Despite these challenges, women play a crucial role in building resilience, bringing invaluable knowledge and experience in resource management, caregiving and community organisation. Therefore, integrating gender perspectives into DRR will not only address inequalities but also enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of adaptation strategies.
Pakistan has outlined some specific objectives and initiatives in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2023 for human capital and social inclusion. Short-term (2023-2025) health initiatives include assessing climate change impacts, improving data collection on climate-sensitive diseases, and upgrading disease outbreak monitoring. Education initiatives involve constructing multipurpose educational facilities, integrating climate change into curricula and developing vocational training programmes.
Long-term goals (2030 onwards) focus on sustainable policy integration and fostering entrepreneurship in environmentally friendly sectors. For gender and social inclusion, the NAP proposes stakeholder mapping, setting quotas for women in disaster management and establishing helplines for gender-based violence and child marriage.
Institutionally, the NAP identifies barriers to effective adaptation, including policy inconsistencies, limited institutional capacity, insufficient funding, data gaps and poor stakeholder coordination. Despite these challenges, Pakistan has made progress in translating national climate policies into provincial action plans.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has developed a Framework on Anticipatory Action in Disaster, which provides a structured approach to implement early interventions based on risk forecasts, enabling timely actions that reduce disaster impacts before they occur. This framework directly supports the objectives of Pakistan’s National Action Plan (NAP) on Disaster Risk Reduction by prioritising risk-informed decision-making, strengthening early warning systems, and promoting resilience at the community level. It also aligns with the Sendai Framework by operationalising its key priorities, particularly Priority 1 (understanding disaster risk) and Priority 4 (enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response) through proactive, evidence-based measures that minimise loss of life, livelihoods, and infrastructure. By institutionalising anticipatory action in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Pakistan can significantly enhance its ability to prevent and mitigate the impacts of disasters.
It is high time for Pakistan to shift from a reactive to a proactive disaster risk reduction paradigm by institutionalising anticipatory action and integrating gender-responsive, inclusive, and data-driven strategies. With strong political will, adequate financing and collaborative implementation of national and global frameworks, Pakistan can turn vulnerabilities into resilience and build a climate-resilient Pakistan.
The writer is project assistant, Sustainability and Resilience Development Program – SDPI. The article reflects the writer’s own views. He can be reached at: aligojali2020gmail.com