TİKA Provided Training to Pakistani Search and Rescue Team

The 7-days-long "Search and Rescue in Nature Training Program" about disaster management and search and rescue methods and techniques, organized for Pakistani search and rescue teams by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) with the cooperation of İHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation Disaster Academy and Scouts Unions of Sindh came to an end. 

With the training program carried out by İHH and Scouts Unions of Sindh within the scope of the Emergency and Disaster Response Training Program (ADAMEP) by TİKA, theoretical and practical training on disaster management, search and rescue methods and techniques were provided to Pakistani search and rescue teams in Karachi.

Türkiye's Consul General to Karachi, Cemal Sangu; the Government of Sindh Previous Chief Secretary, Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah; TİKA's Coordinator in Karachi, Halil İbrahim Başaran and Pakistani authorities were present in the closing ceremony of the 7-days-long training program held in Sindh Scouts Training Center in Karachi.

In his speech at the ceremony, which started with the search and rescue drill carried out with the Turkish trainers and the trainees, Sangu pointed out the importance of such search and rescue training and mentioned that Türkiye is happy to share their expertise in the field with Pakistan.

The Government of Sindh Previous Chief Secretary, Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, reminded the audience of the importance of saving lives and that saving a life means saving all lives and thanked Türkiye and TİKA for their support for search and rescue training.

TİKA's Coordinator, Halil İbrahim Başaran, stated that this training was the beginning, and training in this field will continue and thanked every institution for their support, particularly Sindh Scouts. Pointing out the climate change and the disasters that occurred recently, Başaran added that he is pleased that the two friendly countries, Pakistan and Türkiye, are cooperating for disaster management. He said that the training courses as part of the Emergency and Disaster Response Training Program (ADAMEP) will continue with "Advanced Search and Rescue in Nature" and Water and Urban Search and Rescue" training.

Search and rescue volunteer Rabia, who attended the training, stated in her speech that she imagined herself rescuing people in these mountains before the training, that she learned far beyond in this training and looking forward to the next.

The closing ceremony came to an end with the certificates being presented to more than fifty search and rescue volunteers from different provinces of Sindh state. 

On the other hand, the equipment provided by TİKA to be used for training was presented to the Scouts Unions of Sindh.

Pakistan is one of the 10 countries that are most defenseless to climate change. 1739 people lost their lives due to last year's flooding disasters, and the cost of the flood disaster for Pakistan is more than 32 billion dollars.