Action by Churches Together (ACT)
ACT Situation Report
Pakistan 17/05
Geneva, December 19, 2005


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

General situation

A joint survey undertaken by UN agencies, the International Organization 
for Migration, the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and NGOs has indicated 
that approximately 75% of families below 5,000 feet in North West 
Frontier Province and Azad Kashmir live in non-winterized shelters. 
There is a need for a further 2.4 million blankets or 1.2 million 
quilts, 170,000 plastic sheets and 200,000 tarpaulins to ensure 
additional thermal protection for the people and structural support for 
the tents.

Currently there are approximately 184,000 people in 502 spontaneous and 
organized camps. In a week's time, UNCHR will have enough non-food items 
to support 180,000 people in camps and have a contingency stock for an 
additional 80,000 people. The GoP has put aside 25,000 tents should the 
need arise for more camps as a result of population movements in the 
coming weeks. UNHCR and GoP have identified and prepared sites for such 
camps.

Major issues facing women and children

Of the approximately 86,000 people killed in the quake, 19,000 were 
children. Another 10,000 lost at least one parent. Approximately 800,000 
women between the ages of 15 and 49 were also affected. Nearly 1.6 to 
2.2 million children are at a particular risk, facing cold, malnutrition 
and disease.

Disabled children: Estimates suggest that up to 50,000 children are 
seriously injured and that many of them will be permanently disabled.

Trauma conditions in children: Mid-term to long-term health concerns 
include managing emotional and physical trauma and rehabilitation of 
physically handicapped children.

Nutrition situation

- A possible rapid increase in acute malnutrition if appropriate and 
timely measures are not taken as soon as possible.

- Feeding practices for infants and young children have also been 
affected. About 20% of mothers with children under 2 years have stopped 
breastfeeding mainly due to illness of the mother and inadequate breast 
milk - and, for almost 10%, due to the absence (missing or dead) of the 
mother. Among children 3 to 5 years old, almost half changed their 
feeding practices in terms of reduction in quantity (frequency and 
amount) and quality (types) of food. The main reasons cited for these 
changes were shortage of food (55%), fear and shock, leading to loss of 
appetite (11%) and sickness (11%).


Measles: A measles campaign, along with vitamin A supplementation, is 
going on and is being accelerated to reach a targeted 800,000 children 
under age 15 in Azad Kashmir in the next two weeks. Measles poses one of 
the greatest threats to child survival in emergency situations, 
especially when immune systems have been weakened by exposure and 
malnutrition.

Pregnant women at risk of miscarriage: The UN estimates that 40,000 
pregnant women were among the 4 million people affected by the 
earthquake. Health officials say the trembler may have triggered 
miscarriages and premature labor, and could worsen Pakistan's already 
dismal statistics on infant mortality. Fifty percent of the affected 
married women are pregnant.

Church World Service (CWS)-ACT response

As winter continues to set in, CWS is making its best effort to 
stabilize the shelter situation in the Shohal Najaf tent village. The 
administration of tent village, which was previously handled by the 
military and supported by CWS-ACT, has now been handed over to the civil 
authorities.

The CWS psychosocial care program plans to assist 700 families. The team 
is currently working with 200 families (325 women) at the Shohal Najaf 
tent village. The team also plans to extend the program to another 665 
families in the Bisyan tent village in the coming days. The main aim of 
educating women is that they are able to educate the whole family in 
turn.

At the Shohal Najaf tent village, the CWS psychosocial program team met 
with Ms. Samina Khan from UNHCR. Issues and problems faced by the camp 
residents like heating, electricity in the latrines, drainage lines and 
the need for fire-safety equipment were discussed in the meeting.

The team of CWS psychosocial experts held a series of meetings with 
women in the Shohal Najaf tent village to revive their self confidence 
amid their acute post-earthquake trauma. The meeting focused on 
developing a sense of self control in these women and enabling them to 
express their feelings through emotions and cognitive processing of 
events. In light of the 6.7-magnitude earthquake on December 13, the 
women also shared their fears and uncertainties with the psychosocial 
team.

The psychosocial team met with some of the men in the tent village as 
well to discuss the new government strategy for relief camps and tent 
villages. As per the government decision, the tent villages/camps will 
remain operational until March 31, 2006. The government anticipates 
survivors returning to their own homes before then.

While working in these camps, the CWS teams are simultaneously building 
the capacities of local staff members who will be directly involved in 
psychosocial programs. Therefore, a workshop for staff is being 
finalized and will be held soon at the CWS Mansehra office.

The design and budget for communal kitchens has been finalized. 25 
kitchens for Shohal Najaf camp are in the preparation process, and each 
3x3 foot kitchen will be used by eight families.

The CWS hygiene team held separate meetings with men and women of the 
tent village. The participants were taught various participatory 
approaches for carrying out waste collection and hygiene programs in 
their respective clusters. These trained groups will also be responsible 
for the maintenance of the latrines in the tent village. The team also 
distributed locks for the women's latrines, brooms, buckets for water 
storage and towels to the women in the tent village. The remaining 
residents will be provided with these items as well in the coming days. 
The team also took the initiative of painting the latrines to promote 
their use among children.

CWS carried out distributions in Batgram and Maira camp at the request 
of Hope Organization. The CWS field team distributed 219 shelter kits, 
212 tents and 212 plastic sheets in the villages of Badal and Nika, 
union council Korori, Tehsil Oghi and district Mansehra. The field team 
carried out assessments in the following villages for further 
distributions: Nasurdi and Nika Amlok (union council Battal), Kundbala 
and Kundpanne (UC Chatter Plain), Tehsil and District Mansehra. The team 
also distributed 240 tokens to vulnerable families in Kundbala and 
Kundpanne villages (UC Chatter Plain), Tehsil and District Mansehra. 
Another team made an assessment visits to the Hassa Village, Tehsil 
Balakot.

As of December 15:

Total number of shelter kits distributed: 18,639; individuals assisted: 
130,473

Total number of food packages distributed: 9,837; individuals assisted: 
68,859


Meetings and visitors

CWS-Pakistan/Afghanistan, in collaboration with the Sphere Project, has 
arranged three half-day inter-agency workshops on Sphere Standards in 
Islamabad (December 16), Mansehra (December 20) and Muzzafarabad 
(December 22). The workshops will be attended by new staff of INGOs, 
local NGOs, government/army personnel, and local authorities and will 
focus on orienting the participants on basic Sphere principles and how 
to apply the standards, indicators and guidance notes in their program 
management/field work.

A shelter cluster meeting was held at the International Office for 
Migration Mansehra office on December 14. It was attended by various NGO 
representatives who shared the details of their interventions in the 
disaster zone.

An OCHA coordination meeting was held in Mansehra December 16 at which 
representatives from the district government and army officials made a 
presentation on camp management, water and sanitation, and health and 
education.

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 needs-assessment team 
and Pakistan Humanitarian Forum meeting minutes.


For further information, please contact:
ACT Information Officer Stephen Padre
   (mobile/cell phone +41 79 681 1868)
ACT Web Site address: http://www.act-intl.org


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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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