ISLAMABAD: The Project for Urban Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience (PUCCAR) celebrated its achievements at a ceremony held at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), recognising the people, partners and communities who contributed to climate adaptation efforts in Rawalpindi and Nowshera.
The event highlighted the importance of partnerships, community participation and sustained action to help communities respond to climate change.
Messages were shared by Odicea Angelo Barrios, Human Settlements Officer at UN-Habitat; Waqar Syed, Country Programme Manager at UN-Habitat; and Almas Shakoor, Executive Director of Shehersaaz. They reflected on the role of collaboration and community involvement in advancing climate resilience.
The ceremony also included the distribution of Certificates of Appreciation to Shehersaaz team members from Nowshera, Rawalpindi and Islamabad in recognition of their dedication and contributions to the project.
Implemented by Shehersaaz in partnership with UN-Habitat, with financial support from the Adaptation Fund, PUCCAR has reached communities across 15 Union Councils and Neighbourhood Councils.
Under the project, 5,060 rainwater harvesting units were installed, providing a storage capacity of 7,570,450 litres of rainwater and benefiting 97,867 people.
The project also trained 16,662 individuals, supported climate-related interventions in 60 educational institutions and facilitated 80 youth-led climate adaptation projects.
These initiatives have focused on strengthening local capacity, improving rainwater management and encouraging communities, particularly young people, to take part in climate adaptation efforts.
The ceremony served as an opportunity to recognise the collective efforts behind PUCCAR’s achievements and reaffirm the importance of continued cooperation in building more climate-resilient communities.
