To promote disaster resilience in the development and rehabilitation of Afghanistan, Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) and the State Ministry of Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs of Afghanistan organized a two-day conference on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into the Development Planning Process in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 5 to 6 April. ADPC provided technical support facilitating the event.

“Afghanistan is prone to multiple disasters. This conference has helped us to understand the benefits of the tool of mainstreaming and to create a roadmap for implementing mainstreaming approaches into key Afghan government ministries to achieve the goal of disaster resilient development,” said Mr. Mohammad Qaseem Haidari, Deputy Minister of the State Ministry of Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs.


Mr. Irfan Maqbool, Head of Safer Development Planning and Implementation at ADPC, facilitates a discussion on disaster risk
reduction mainstreaming in Afghanistan.

Facilitated by FOCUS and ADPC, the conference brought together senior Afghan government officials who are responsible for fostering development in the country and producing a three-year resilient development program, in partnership with the Ministry of Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs and the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development. The conference was supported financially by the German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau - KfW, through the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF).

Over the two days, officials from the National Disaster Management Committee, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Refugees and Returnees, and the Ministry of Women Affairs discussed successful models of disaster resilient development in Afghanistan. The participants identified ways to adopt the approach of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in order to ensure disaster risk reduction is fully incorporated into development policy and practices in Afghanistan.

“It is universally acknowledged that mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into the development planning process is the most effective tool to safeguard development investments and ensure development is resilient to disasters,” Mr. Haidari continued.

“Disasters have an enormous impact on development. It is through the consolidated and concerted efforts of all stakeholders that safer and more sustainable communities are to be attainted,” stated Mr. Rahim Balsara, interim Executive Officer of FOCUS Afghanistan. “Integrating disaster risk reduction into development activities requires the consensus and active participation of the decision makers and planners at the national level and all related ministries, with equal support from the donor, development community, technical agencies and the local community, to create an enabling environment to facilitate resilient development.”

This conference marked the beginning of a new chapter in the area of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in Afghanistan. Participants discussed the application of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into key development sectors in Afghanistan and agreed upon disaster risk reduction mainstreaming action points for Afghanistan for the next three years.

The conference concluded with the commitment to share these instruments with a wider audience in Afghanistan, to ensure endorsement from key decision makers, and to develop a practical implementation mechanism for mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into development in the country.