Action by Churches Together (ACT)
ACT Situation Report
Pakistan 11/05
November 14, 2005


Information supplied by ACT member Church World Service 
(Pakistan/Afghanistan office)

General situation

Widespread rain in the earthquake zone is severely hampering aid workers 
in providing the necessary relief and shelter kits. The meteorological 
department has also predicted snowfall in the mountains of Azad Kashmir 
and northern areas. As a result, the temperature is expected to drop, 
bringing harsh winter weather to the region.

More than 50,000 people are on their way from about 100 villages above 
the snowline to the nearest relief camps. Driven by aftershocks in their 
areas, where rains and seven to 10 feet of snow also threaten the 
population this winter, the large number of people seeking safety are 
threatening to overwhelm the makeshift arrangements down the slopes of 
Muzaffarabad, Battagram, Bisham, Batal, Bagh and other areas.

The United Nations is reporting that children are likely to make up half 
of the 86,000 people who died in the quake, confirming fears that the 
disaster has claimed a "lost generation." The quake hit at the start of 
a school day, and there were immediate fears that children could make up 
the majority of the casualties when it became clear that thousands of 
schools had collapsed.

President Pervez Musharraf is expected to unveil at a donors conference 
on November 19 a plan for reconstruction and rehabilitation of 
earthquake-ravaged areas. He said the newly created Earthquake 
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) was in the process of 
compiling data on damage at the city, district and tehsil (regional) 
levels. The prime minister's adviser on finance and revenue announced 
that the reconstruction and rehabilitation operations (including relief, 
early recovery, livelihood recovery, and short-, medium- and long-term 
reconstruction) will cost $5.2 billion, according to census figures from 
the government of Pakistan and international donor agencies. The 
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock said that around $500 
million would be needed over a five-year period for the recovery of 
agricultural sector in the earthquake-stricken areas.

The Institute of Psychiatry & World Health Organization Collaborating 
Centre for Mental Health at Rawalpindi General Hospital, in cooperation 
with the department of psychiatry at Military Hospital Rawalpindi, along 
with some national and international organizations, have registered some 
4,000 survivors who have developed mild, moderate or severe 
psychological distress as a result of the earthquake.

The U.N. children's agency and Pakistan's Health Ministry have launched 
a two-week campaign to immunize 800,000 children among quake survivors 
in Azad Kashmir following concerns that infectious diseases could thrive 
in the crowded and sometimes squalid tent camps for survivors.

Church World Service-ACT response

CWS trucks have been transporting supplies (military tents, stoves, 
blankets and woolen sweaters) sent by air from ACT members Norwegian 
Church Aid (NCA) and FinnChurchAid to Battagram, Balakot and Rawalakot. 
To date CWS has distributed 3,884 food packages (for 27,188 
individuals), 6,580 shelter kits (for 46,060 individuals), 150 hygiene 
kits, 150 housing kits and 150 kitchen sets. CWS, along with its 
partners, continues to distribute shelter kits and food packages to the 
affected people of Balakot, Battagram, Shangla and Mansehra.

The CWS-ACT tent village continues to prosper with 136 families residing 
there. Two large tents are fully operational: one for a field hospital 
and the other for a warehouse. The water system has been established, 
and daily drinking water is being delivered. Strip lights and spot 
lights have added to the facilities. There are now 32 latrines. 
Residents are adjusting well in the village, and life seems to be 
getting back to normal, but the tragedy remains hard to forget. The CWS 
psychosocial team in the village has decided to focus on women in the 
first stage of its work, although it is hoped that children's issues can 
also be addressed.

The camp management team estimates that it will take two weeks of 
intense meetings with the camp residents to instill in them a sense of 
civic duty regarding their new home space. This in turn will help to 
maintain proper hygienic conditions. The team is also looking into the 
possibility of training on proper waste disposal in the camp. The team, 
which is now planning its exit strategy from the camp, felt that a 
system of proper waste disposal was not one that they could take upon 
themselves to manage; what they could and are doing, however, is raising 
the issue at the army and UN-led water and sanitation cluster meetings.

Another issue that affects both the camp and the wider community is the 
town's water supply. The quake destroyed the 25-cubic-foot water tank 
that supplied water to the town of Balakot, and NCA is planning its 
reconstruction.

CWS is in consultation with various agencies and human-rights 
organizations to establish what rules and laws are applicable in 
Pakistan to unaccompanied and separated children.

Five hundred tents were distributed at the camp at Maira on November 11.

The 16th Pakistan Humanitarian Forum meeting was held on November 10, 
and the forum shared various experiences and learnings. One of the forum 
members said that distributions were picking up pace and they were 
distributing integrated packages of winterized tents. In Bagh, some 
members of the forum were also giving alternative forms of shelter 
structure called "Bandi" to families. Another forum member raised a 
concern that the system for registering people who were receiving aid 
was poor and that the matter should be looked into. It was also 
highlighted that the U.N. Emergency Response Center has forwarded a 
message from the Federal Relief Commission that the relief goods lying 
at Islamabad's airport would be distributed by the concerned authorities 
if not claimed before November 12.

Meetings and visitors

CWS field team attended the UN protection cluster meeting. A major 
concern that was discussed was the security of unaccompanied and 
separated children. Hina Jilani, a leading lawyer and human rights 
activist, has been invited to speak on protection laws at the next 
cluster meeting.

The Rev. John L. McCullough, director of Church World Service at its 
headquarters in New York City, made a pastoral visit to the CWS offices 
in Islamabad and Mansehra to meet and console the staff members who lost 
family members in the earthquake. He was also briefed thoroughly and 
visited affected areas in North West Frontier Province.

Arild Isaksen and Anne Angelteveit from Norwegian Church Aid visited the 
CWS-ACT tent village and observed the work underway on the school and 
the current situation of the water and sanitation program.

Mr. Hollis Summers, the U.S. Bureau of Population refugee coordinator, 
visited the CWS-NCA Mansehra office and met with the CWS associate 
director.

NOTE: For regular updates from the Pakistan office of ACT member CWS, 
visit www.cwspa.org/earthquake.

Sources: Web sites of Geo TV, AAJ TV, Dawn, Reuters Television Network, 
Daily Time and the Nation; field reports of CWS-P/A needs assessment 
team and PAK-Humanitarian Forum meeting minutes.


For further information, please contact:
  ACT Communications Officer Callie Long
    (mobile/cell phone +41 79 358 3171)
ACT Information Officer Stephen Padre
    (mobile/cell phone +41 79 681 1868)


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Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide alliance of churches and
their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency
response.  The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of 
Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.
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