Centre for Disaster and Management

…is knowledgeable and healthy. It has the ability to assess, manage and monitor its risks. It can learn new skills and build on past experiences. …is organised. It has the capacity to identify problems, establish priorities and act. …has infrastructure and services. It has strong housing, transport, power, water and sanitation systems. It has the ability to maintain, repair and renovate them. … has economic opportunities. It has a diverse range of employment opportunities, income and nancial services. It is exible, resourceful and has the capacity to accept uncertainty and respond (proactively) to change. …can manage its natural assets. It recognises their value and has the ability to protect, enhance and maintain them. …is connected. It has relationships with external actors who provide a wider supportive environment, and supply goods and services when needed. A safe and resilient community… ... and is therefore better able prepare, prevent, respond to and recover from shocks and stresses.

Pakistan is located in one of the fast temperature rising zones and hence, highly vulnerable to climate change. The dynamic variations of the maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) temperatures pose potential risks to the local people. Thus, the present study assessed spatiotemporal changes in Tmax and Tmin over China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) during 1980-2016 based on the 48 meteorological stations across the CPEC. The nonparametric Mann-Kendall (MK), Sen's Slope (SS) estimator, Sequential Mann-Kendall (SQMK), and least square method tests were used to assess the long-term trends in Tmax and Tmin time series during 1980-2016. The results indicate that the trend of Tmax has significantly increased at the rates of 0.22, 0.37, 0.20, 0.23, and 0.31°C per decade in winter, spring, summer, autumn, and annual time scales, respectively. Similarly, the Tmin exhibited a significant positive trend in winter, spring, summer, autumn, and annual time series with the rates of 0.33, 0.39, 0.25, 0.27, and 0.36°C per decade, respectively. The spatial distributions of Tmax and Tmin represent a warming trend over the whole country; however, the seasonal and annual Tmax (Tmin) exhibited sharp increasing trends in the northern and southwestern mountainous (southern, southwestern and southeastern) regions of the country. According to the mutation test, most of the abrupt changes in seasonal and annual Tmax and Tmin trends have been detected during 1995-2010. The present study recommends that forthcoming studies should focus on the factors responsible for the spatial and temporal variability of Tmax and Tmin in the target region.

Purpose: The local peace actors, including poets, play an important role in promoting peace in a conflict context. In this vein, this study aims to investigate the role of local poets in promoting peace in the conflict-affected communities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Methodology: A qualitative inquiry was conducted in one of the Districts of former FATA, namely Bajaour. During fieldwork, fifty in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants, including poets, journalists, teachers, writers, and traditional peacebuilders. Findings: Thematic analysis revealed four major themes of local poets' role in promoting peace. These themes are; firstly, the poets highlighted the miseries of the conflict situation in their poetry. Secondly, they attempted to give voice to the sighs of oppressed and voiceless people. Thirdly, they resisted the increasing oppression. Finally, they preached peace and resisted violence Implications: It is concluded that poetry is an effective tool for ...