The Health Education and Development Society (HEADS), in partnership with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), is implementing a comprehensive climate resilience and social service restoration project in the flood-affected Union Councils of Khot and Terich, Upper Chitral. The initiative aims to restore basic services and strengthen the adaptive capacity of local communities through inclusive, gender-sensitive, and participatory approaches. Targeting critical needs in health, education, water and sanitation, and livelihoods, the project focuses on enhancing disaster preparedness and building long-term climate resilience in vulnerable communities.

Project Objectives:

• Restore essential social services, including health, education, and WASH facilities in flood-affected areas.
• Rehabilitate and retrofit critical community infrastructure with a focus on climate resilience.
• Strengthen food and income security through climate-smart livelihood interventions.
• Build community-level preparedness and institutional capacity for climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
• Promote gender equality, social inclusion, and prevention of gender-based violence (GBV).

Key Activities:

• Restoration and retrofitting of health and education facilities, including provision of missing components and solarization.
• Rehabilitation of WASH infrastructure (drainage, sanitation) and water supply schemes, including installation of filtration plants.
• Provision of essential health services through outreach camps and vaccination drives.
• Construction of flood protection structures and restoration of damaged irrigation channels.
• Deployment of Climate Resilience Resource Persons (CRPs) – 5 per UC for a duration of 12 months.
• Identification and capacity building of emergency response teams.
• Conducting multi-hazard vulnerability and capacity assessments.
• Community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) training sessions (5 events per UC).
• School-based DRM and environmental education programs, including school safety tips, plantation drives, and the formation of environmental clubs (23 sessions/events per UC).
• Health center–based DRM sessions, development of disaster management committees, and local disaster plans (8 sessions/events per UC).
• Social mobilization and capacity building of Village Organizations (VOs) – support provided to 4 VOs per UC.
• GBV prevention awareness sessions for communities (10 sessions per UC).
• Women’s leadership and decision-making forums (3 events per UC).
• Human rights and women’s rights training, legal aid awareness, and linkage development (3 sessions per UC).
• Behavior change sessions to raise awareness of GBV prevention among government staff (3 sessions per UC).
• Celebration of international days at the local level (5 events per UC).
• Capacity-building trainings for Project Officers – 6 sessions for 8 staff members.