Action by Churches Together (ACT)
ACT Situation Report
Pakistan 01/06
Geneva, January 2, 2006


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

General situation

Reuters was reporting yesterday (January 1) that snow and rain across 
northern Pakistan had grounded relief flights. But aid workers were 
optimistic that the relief operations since the quake would sustain most 
of the quake survivors through the winter. While the air relief flights 
were grounded for only the second time this winter, some deliveries were 
still being made by road.

Pakistan's Federal Relief Commissioner reported that more than 9,000 
people are still missing from the earthquake, with the majority of them 
in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

According to Pakistan's prime minister, US$300 million has been approved 
for restoration of infrastructure in quake-hit areas of Azad Jammu and 
Kashmir (AJK) and NWFP. The government is documenting a detailed 
reconstruction plan and giving priority to housing, health, education, 
public works, construction of government buildings, power, transport, 
water supply and sanitation, communication, livestock and dairy, 
furniture, value-added services and creating employment opportunities in 
quake-hit areas.

Shortly after the October 8 earthquake, the Pakistani government made a 
decision to pay cash to the earthquake survivors. The quick infusion of 
cash is enabling people to start rebuilding their houses and their 
lives. Payments are being made for loss of shelter (Rs. 175,000 - 
approx. US$3,100); death of a family member (Rs. 100,000 - approx. 
US$1,760 per family); and injuries (Rs. 15,000 to 50,000, with maximum 
payments going to amputees).

Pakistan's military has provided 150,000 shelters, while civilian 
organizations and NGOs have provided 70,000 shelters for use at 5,000 
feet and below. Pakistani army engineers have cleared almost 95 percent 
of the roads in all affected areas, while 75 percent of the water-supply 
schemes and 70 percent of the electricity have also been restored.

More than 112,000 people have been immunized so far as part of the 
additional immunization campaign aimed at fortifying the defense of 
earthquake survivors against various diseases. This focused campaign is 
in addition to the immunizations that covered more than 850,000 
survivors immediately after the earthquake.

The Ministry of Health has assembled special teams to look at the 
general hygiene, sanitation and quality of water used in camps and to 
assess the risk of communicable diseases. The teams are working around 
the clock in the affected areas, and more than 15 camps are being 
covered every week in AJK, NWFP, Islamabad Capital Territory, Chakwal 
and Fateh Jang.

Church World Service (CWS)-ACT response

Summary of CWS's distributions:

- 19,000 tents and 6,130 sheets distributed in Battagram, Kohistan,
   Mansehra, Rawlakot and Shangla
- 8,630 food packages
- 33,849 blankets and quilts
- 1,000 tin sheets


The CWS field team distributed 150 tents, 600 blankets, 600 shawls and 
50 sheets to 150 vulnerable families in the villages of Gul Maira and 
Lundai, Mansehra Tehsil and District. The team also identified 206 
vulnerable families in the villages of Dhulla Maira and Dharmang, union 
council Dhudayal, Tehsil and Mansehra District, who are currently living 
without any appropriate shelter. Based on the needs identification, 
shelter kits were given to these 206 families.

CWS's senior program advisor met with some of the male residents of the 
Shohal Najaf tent village to discuss initial recovery and reconstruction 
plans. Some at the meeting shared their concern about the tents not 
being able to withstand snow and rain in the coming weeks, whereas 
others expressed concern at not receiving the tin sheets for housing 
being distributed in the villages while they are residing in camps. The 
CWS staff assured them that when CWS provides recovery services, it 
tries to cover all beneficiaries on an equal basis. Discussing the 
long-term rehabilitation plans, he said that CWS teams will conduct 
assessments at the village level to find out what skills people need to 
acquire to facilitate the recovery phase. He added that community groups 
will be formed to work on reconstruction and recovery. Camp residents 
expressed their willingness to participate in activities like removing 
debris and transporting materials from the main road to the villages. At 
the meeting, the tent village residents also expressed their 
appreciation of the services being provided by the CWS psychosocial 
team, as well as their confidence and trust in CWS.

The CWS hygiene team met with the tent village's residents individually 
about the challenges they are facing. The team provided bars of soap to 
the village's management for distribution. The team distributed spades 
and plastic bags to residents for placing in garbage buckets around the 
village and conducted a follow-up visit to washing and water points.

The CWS team also met with the tent village's manager and discussed the 
preparation of the budget for the next quarter. The team reports that 
the planning of the community kitchen has been completed and that 
construction will begin shortly. The CWS psychosocial team met with 
women residents and discussed the construction of the community kitchen. 
They shared their interest in getting involved in the design and 
implementation process of the kitchen.

The CWS hygiene team met with residents of the Maira, Battagram tent 
village December 19 to 22 to introduce a hygiene program like the one at 
the Shohal Najaf tent village. The team identified water points, marked 
the latrines, and examined the tube well. Meetings on the subject of 
hygiene were held separately with the men and women of the camp. 
Volunteers for distribution of brooms in latrines were also selected.

To enhance the outreach of the CWS psychosocial program, an eight-member 
female team has joined the CWS office in Manshera. A brief training 
workshop was organized for these new staff members. The facilitators of 
the workshop explained the concepts and tools for relationship-building, 
listing and questioning skills. Guidelines for group formation during 
training and mobilization were also shared with them.

Meetings and visitors

The UN camp management cluster meeting was held on December 26 in 
Islamabad. It was shared that UNHCR's distribution of blankets and 
plastic sheeting began on December 18 in AJK and NWFP. UNHCR is also 
distributing non-food items to both planned and spontaneous camps. A 
handout on fire safety and winterization, which has been translated into 
Urdu, is available on the HIC Web site and is being distributed to 
camps. The World Food Program (WFP) has so far covered 65 percent of the 
planned 90,787.

A combined UN cluster meeting for camp management and emergency shelter 
was held on December 29 in Islamabad. It was announced that during 
January, each camp, whether planned or spontaneous, should have a health 
facility. Currently 43 percent of the population is benefiting from the 
available water-purification facilities.

A shelter cluster meeting was held on December 28 at the International 
Organization for Migration office in Mansehra. The cluster members 
shared their plans and stressed the importance of cooperation in order 
to ensure effective and timely recovery for survivors. The cluster 
members are planning to launch a needs-based assessment survey in the 
remote affected areas. A ten-member team from the cluster will be formed 
to carry out the assessment.

Another general cluster meeting was held on December 29 in Mansehra. 
Participants discussed their recovery and reconstruction plans in 
detail. It was highlighted that there is an urgent need to disseminate 
information about fire safety to quake survivors. The emergency shelter 
cluster reported that UNHCR will also translate the fire-safety 
guidelines into Pashto and stressed that NGOs should make fire safety 
part of their existing programs. Discussions are underway about an early 
recovery framework and intercultural approaches. A handout about 
construction of transitional shelters is available to inform NGOs and 
share best practices.

The UN food and nutrition cluster reported that WFP plans to do blanket 
supplementary feeding in WFP-demarcated areas for 150,000 children from 
January to April. Food for three months has also been pre-positioned for 
about 40 percent of the residents living at higher altitudes.

A workshop titled "Grief and Losses" was conducted in Mansehra. It was 
organized by International Medical Core (IMC) and provided an 
opportunity to several representatives from various organizations to 
present their activities. CWS briefed the participants of the workshop 
about its psychosocial care program currently being conducted in the 
earthquake-affected areas. This forum served as an excellent opportunity 
for exchange of information.

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 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 
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