During the last 30 years, Pakistan has undergone extreme transformations with
respect to population and economic conditions. As a hazard-prone country with
more people living in high-risk areas than ever before it is increasingly important
to pro-actively address natural and man-made hazards and the cumulative risks
that they pose at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this study an assessment
has been undertaken of hazards that were selected on the basis of their frequency
and severity. Hazard potential and vulnerability factors were first derived on the
basis of expert opinion. A combination of these factors was then used to create an
integrated total risk assessment map that addresses the socio-economic,
environmental and physical dimensions of vulnerability for the districts of
Pakistan. The total integrated vulnerability map reveals the damage potential and
coping capacity of each district, providing support to decision makers and to end
users such as local authorities, non-governmental organizations and disaster
prevention officers, enabling them to (a) decide what is an acceptable level of risk,
(b) determine the level of protection and (c) decide which predefined mitigation
measure to apply.