A weeklong program to train Pakistani scouts and rescuers in the latest techniques and ways of rescue and disaster management organized by Türkiye's state-run aid agency concluded in the southern port city of Karachi on Saturday, according to Anadolu Agency (AA) reports.
Under the program billed Emergency Rescue and Disaster Management and launched by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), in collaboration with the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) and Sindh Scouts Association, several training sessions were held across the country's commercial capital over the past week, a statement from the agency said.
The equipment used in training was also provided by TIKA and gifted to the Sindh Scouts Association.
The training sessions included search and rescue training in nature, search and rescue training on and underwater, and urban search and rescue training, in addition to emergency aid and medical training.
Speaking at the closing ceremony held at Sindh Scouts Gulshan Training Center, Turkish Consul General Cemal Sangu said that last year's floods in Pakistan and the earthquake in Türkiye this year made it necessary for both countries to come together in difficult times.
He added that they were the first countries that rushed to help each other.
Disasters in both countries and other countries increase the significance of disaster preparations and search and rescue training, the consul general observed.
"This kind of training is crucial for life-saving and we are happy to share our expertise with brother country Pakistan," he maintained.
Halil Ibrahim Başaran, TIKA's Karachi coordinator, said that due to climate change, increasing natural events in recent years are turning into disasters and are affecting residential areas.
This makes disaster-fighting preparations and search and rescue activities significant.
He said TIKA has been carrying out similar training programs in many countries, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lebanon, Bangladesh and Georgia.
Later, certificates were presented to the participants of the training session.
Pakistan is among the top 10 countries vulnerable to climate change. Unrelenting rain-triggered floods last year inundated a third of the country, aside from claiming the lives of over 1,700 people and causing losses of $32 billion, according to official statistics.