Q1 2012 Progress Report: Common Operating Picture to Strengthen the Disaster Management System in Pakistan

Foreign Disaster Assistance. The primary objective of this project is to strengthen the Information Management capacity of Pakistan's Disaster Management Authorities and provide humanitarian responders with effective methods for capturing, reporting, sharing, and analyzing information concerning the humanitarian situation. Implementation focused on several key components, including the establishment of Information Management Units at the National Disaster Management Authority, Provincial Disaster Management Authorities, and the FATA Disaster Management Authority. By the end of the first quarter of 2012, IM Units were established at the Azad Jammu and Kashmir - SDMA, Gilgit Baltistan - GBDMA, and the FATA - FDMA. The project also aimed to implement information management structures and systems in the Disaster Management Authorities at national, provincial, and identified district levels. By the end of the first quarter of 2012, IM Units were fully equipped and functioning at their full capacity in all target areas, including the NDMA, PDMA Sindh, PDMA Punjab, PDMA Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PDMA Balochistan, FDMA (FATA), SDMA, and GBDMA. In addition, the project conducted IM Needs Assessments at the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities and the FATA Disaster Management Authority. By the end of the first quarter of 2012, draft reports were produced for PDMA Sindh, PDMA Punjab, PDMA Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FDMA (FATA), and SDMA, while the IM Needs Assessment for PDMA Balochistan was in progress. The project also aimed to standardize information management tools and decision support systems. By the end of the first quarter of 2012, key master trainers were training in newly established IM Units, and newly recruited federal-level staff had been oriented to SRF. Two additional SRF/OASIS trainers were introduced from the existing staff, and a help desk was set up to provide level-1 and level-2 support while rolling out SRF/OASIS to the target community in PDMAs. The project's progress was monitored and evaluated through the Project Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (PMEP), which established indicators and targets for each component. The baseline figures illustrated the status of progress against indicators since the transition of the project to USAID Mission Pakistan on April 15, 2011. The cumulative achievements against the approved targets and baseline were also tracked and reported. The project's geographic focus was on Pakistan, with a specific emphasis on the National Disaster Management Authority, Provincial Disaster Management Authorities, and the FATA Disaster Management Authority. The project's timeframes were from October 1, 2011, to December 31, 2011, and the revised grant completion date was January 15, 2012.