DFID is to provide £1 million to UNDP in support of its Building Enabling Governance and Institutions for Earthquake Response (BEGIN-ER) Project. The agreement was signed in Islamabad by Dr. Yusaf Samiullah, Head of DFID Pakistan and Mr. Haoliang Xu, Country Director UNDP. The DFID funding is part of a total UK contribution of £128 million to earthquake emergency relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation.

The project has been operational in the earthquake-affected areas since August 2006 and has been providing support to the provincial governments for rebuilding governance institutions in the earthquake-affected areas. The aim is to enable local government institutions to function again quickly and have the capacity to plan and implement disaster response activities through a transparent, equitable and participatory process. The project is also building the capacity of local government officials, elected representatives and civil society through district-level workshops on disaster management and disaster risk reduction.

The BEGIN-ER project was funded until now mainly from UNDP's core resources, with a total available budget of US$ 4.4 million. With DFID's additional funding, the project will be able to cover the remaining earthquake affected districts and tehsils. This support has therefore arrived at the right time to support local government departments, and will assist in better service delivery in the earthquake affected region. Local government institutions at the district, tehsil and union council levels are expected to play a critical role in the reconstruction and rehabilitation process. The undeniable human and physical loss requires the development of skills as well as restoration of physical infrastructure. This project and the additional funding from DFID provide valuable resources in achieving these huge tasks.