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CWS Appeal Update: Southern Asia Earthquake

A trainee at the CWS-supported Bissian Construction Trade Training Center, Pakistan. Photo: Chris Herlinger/CWS

May 3, 2006

It has been more than six months since the devastating earthquake that killed some 80,000 people, injured more than 70,000 and incurred severe financial and personal losses in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, the Pakistani-controlled Azad Kashmir region and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

The miseries of some 3.3 million displaced people have not ended. Though the past winter was not as severe as predicted, recurring aftershocks continue to cause landslides, blocking roads and constraining relief operations.

(On Tuesday, May 2, Pakistani authorities announced that thousands who survived last year's earthquake may have to be evacuated again because of risks their mountain villages face due to expected rains during the coming monsoon season.)

On a recent visit to the region, a group of CWS staff from the United States saw that many lingering and hidden disasters remain: while thousands have begun returning from relief camps to their villages, they do so knowing their villages are destroyed and that it will take years for their communities to recover.

Thousands of survivors face the future without spouses, parents or children; thousands of families lost their sole "bread winner." The devastation -- near total in many cases -- presents a huge ongoing challenge.

One of the challenges, of course, is that the earthquake affected communities were already enduring extreme difficulties: nearly all of those affected by the disaster lived in disaster-prone mountainous rural settlements with fragile economies. They lived without such basic services and facilities such as clean drinking water and safe waste disposal systems. The disaster increased the vulnerability of these communities.

SUMMARY OF EMERGENCY PHASE

Church World Service was one of the first organizations in Pakistan to provide disaster relief support to many affected areas. The fact that CWS had maintained an office in the city of Mansehra for more than twenty-five years created a foundation from which to launch shelter, food and non-food item distribution efforts.

CWS, in partnership with others from the Action by Churches Together (ACT) network, including Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and local partners, such as DOSTI, contributed a range of human resources and distributed material resources, including over 25,000 tents, to the relief effort in four Tehsils of Mansehra District, in Battagram, in Kohistan and in Shangla Districts. More than 30,000 families were supported through the CWS efforts.

RESPONSE

CWS now turns its attention to the recovery phase of this disaster, and in this appeal, Church World Service is requesting support to develop basic rehabilitation activities needed for the resettlement of the population affected by the earthquake. The proposed program intends to assist the survivors of the earthquake in reconstruction of houses, restoring livelihoods, recovery of livestock, water and sanitation, health assistance, and psychosocial support activities. The program will be implemented in some of the most affected and remote areas of NWFP and Azad Kashmir.

One point needs to be made clear: given the enormous logistical difficulties within Pakistan -- roads are still barely passable in some areas, for example -- as well as the complex social and political challenges within the country, flexibility will have to be something of a watchword as CWS continues its response.

As just one example, the number of direct beneficiaries of this recovery program can be estimated with some degree of accuracy but the number of indirect beneficiaries is more difficult to estimate with precision. As well, there are current plans for the construction of permanent homes for 4,000 families and transitional housing for 2,000. At later stages, it may be determined, however, that due to realities on the ground, the focus of CWS efforts may have to be on transitional housing for a larger number of recipients, rather than permanent housing.

Likely beneficiaries will include:

More than 4,000 families may directly benefit from the construction of disaster resistant homes.

Approximately 2,000 families will benefit from the provision of transitional shelters.

1,000 laborers will benefit from employment opportunities in a housing construction program that trains laborers for construction trades work and involves them in the construction of houses or other structures, such as schools or community centers.

500 families who will receive livelihood support through the livestock project.

More than 1,000 individuals and their families will receive psychosocial support services.

16,000 people will benefit from the community intervention component of psychosocial support.

Around 40 people will increase their capacity through training in psychosocial care.

Approximately 24 villages will benefit from renovated or repaired water systems.

In addition, the total number of families who will directly benefit from the implementation of a health and hygiene program is over 10,000. Given that the average family in the area comprises seven persons, the approximate number of beneficiaries is over 70,000. In addition, approximately 4,800 students in 24 village schools will improve their health and hygiene practices. This brings the total to 75,000. Many others will indirectly benefit from the program. These include extended family members, private sector merchants, and both private and public sector service providers and their families.

Objectives of this recovery program include five components: Housing Construction; Psychosocial Care and Protection; Capacity Building, Sustainable Livelihoods; Water and Sanitation, Health and Hygiene. The objectives of each component are stated below:

Construction

Facilitate the transition of families from their current state of displacement to living in permanent, earthquake resistant homes.

Ensure availability of make-shift shelters for families in transition phase.

Promote eco-friendly construction of houses.

Promote earthquake-resistant construction designs.

Link construction trades training to sustainable livelihoods and infrastructure rehabilitation.

Psychosocial Care and Protection

Strengthen the capacity of communities in identification, management and prevention of psychosocial problems.

Mobilize and strengthen community-based support.

Ensure access for women and children to essential services including: education, health care, and birth registration.

Raise awareness at all levels through advocacy and social mobilization to create a supportive environment for families affected by the earthquake.

Capacity Building

Restore and strengthen the capacities of local institutions, organizations and civil society to facilitate planning, management and implementation of recovery processes

Reduce future vulnerability to crises and natural disasters through technical assistance and capacity building support.

Sustainable Livelihoods

Target single female headed households and widows with livelihood development support.

Facilitate the recovery of local, livestock based livelihoods.

Water and Sanitation, Health and Hygiene

Provide clean water to earthquake damaged communities, hopefully preventing outbreaks of water-borne diseases.

Assist families of affected villages to rehabilitate sanitation facilities.

Promote preventive health by improving hygiene awareness.

BUDGET

Recovery Housing Capacity Building and Construction Program (RHCBCP)
Housing and Construction: $16,317,793
Protection and Psycho-social Program: $497,395
Capacity Building Program for trades/laborers: $2,650,108
Capacity Building Program CWS Staff / Partners / Local officials / communities: $2,828,765
Livelihoods Program: $713,395
Water, Sanitation and Health Education Program: $1,860,487
Project Staff: $1,046,655
Total Direct Assistance: $23,264,490

Capital Items: $423,445
Personnel, Administration, Operations and Support: $1,416,941
Staff travel: $512,941
Administration & Support: $701,008
Partners' (2) Cost for Reconstruction Project: $410,622
Documentation, Coordination &Visibility: $110,924
Audit and Evaluation: $16,807
Total Operational Costs: $3,169,244

TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE: $26,857,179

Contributions to support these efforts may be sent to your denomination or directly to:

Church World Service
Southern Asia Earthquake -- #6979
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515

Contributions may also be made by credit card online, by calling: (800) 297-1516, ext. 222.

Given the enormity of the next phase and the specifics of this appeal and response, CWS Emergency Response will provide complete details about the response if requested.

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;

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