Camps in Pakistan Provide Security for Women and Children

South Asia: Earthquake Update #8

Source: ACT Situation Report from Pakistan  November 11, 2005, Information supplied by ACT member Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan office

Pakistan General Situation

More than 86,000 people are now believed to have been killed and over 100,000 injured by the October 8 earthquake-the majority of them in Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of people still remain homeless, and Reuters reports on Alertnet that “with many survivors in the highlands without food, shelter or medical treatment four weeks after the devastating Oct. 8 quake, under-funded relief workers speak anxiously of a “second disaster in the making.” Estimates put those affected by the earthquake at more than 3,5 million people.
Getting assistance to people in need remains a problem, but the Pakistani military is helping, with more than 300,000 tents and nearly four million blankets having been distributed. The government has committed itself to making sure that the survivors of the powerful quake will receive tents and blankets within the month.
Last Friday saw people observing Eid-ul Fitr — the Muslim celebration that commemorates the end of the month of Ramadan– with solemnity and simplicity, expressing their solidarity with those affected by the earthquake. President General Pervaiz Musharraf and several other government officials visited the Church World Service camp at Bisyan during Eid-ul-Fitr.
Early, on Sunday, a severe aftershock measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale and two mild aftershocks rattled the earthquake-battered northern region of the country, injuring seven

CWS-ACT response

With more and more children arriving at the CWS camp in Bisyan, there is clearly a need for a school and a plan to establish a camp school was discussed with UNICEF officials during a visit to the camp.
Protection is one of the key areas of focus for staff of CWS and they are attending meetings related to the issue. Plans will take into consideration the existing child protection mechanisms and laws in Pakistan. Research finding will be shared with the protection cluster group.
Since last week, 200 tents were distributed in Hassa village near the town of Balakot by road. 175 tents and food items were delivered to Kaghan, Paras, Bounja, Kawai & Naran by means of airdrops. A chartered flight carrying relief items has helped boost the CWS-ACT response to the disaster. Shelter kits and 145 food packages have also been distributed in Mansehra. 171 tents have been dispatched to Shangla for distribution, along with 510 mattresses. 25 food packages and 25 mattresses to Dadar  Hospital in Mansehra.
In total, 6,580 shelter kits (46,060 individuals assisted) with each of the shelter kits containing 4 blankets. And 3,884 food packages (27,188 individuals assisted) have been distributed in the areas of Battagram, Shangla, Mansehra and Balakot.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent have praised CWS’s tent village as one of the most organized, and they are consequently moving their most vulnerable children to the site, as the tent village has good facilities for children and offers security in terms of terms of child protection.
CWS assessments show that many people are focussing their assistance and help on children affected by the earthquake, while few are working with the women. The CWS psychosocial care program will focus on women in the affected communities. The team reports that  women are often isolated and not much is being done for them. Team members believe that if the women receive the right care and proper treatment, this will help the family as a whole.
The World Health Organisation reports that hundreds of earthquake survivors have been diagnosed with acute diarrhoea and doctors are investigating whether these are cases of cholera. Relief workers are urgently trying to improve water supplies and sanitation at the camps where the survivors are falling sick in Muzaffarabad.
The CWS team has hired two extra carpenters to speed up the construction of latrines in the tent village. Sixteen more latrines have been constructed in the CWS tent village, bringing the number of completed latrines to 36. With winter fast approaching, the field team has also decided to put up an additional 50 tents within the tent village, which will then total 200 tents. So far 136 families have moved to the tent village and 112 have registered themselves. The registration process still continues within the tent village.

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