IOM Rapid Response Teams (RRTs), which started disaster management
operations in earthquake-affected areas of Pakistan-administered
Kashmir (PAK) and NWFP with the onset of winter 2006-2007, will
wrap up their work at the end of May.

The teams, funded by the American International Group Disaster
Relief Fund (AIG DRF) and the US Agency for International
Development (USAID), saved a number of lives in emergencies,
trained thousands of villagers and volunteers in disaster
preparedness, provided risk assessments for 1,200 remote, high
altitude villages, and distributed relief items to vulnerable
families.

The eleven 11 RRTs, comprising emergency medics, mountain search
and rescue guides and assessment experts, were based in the Allai,
Battal, Sirin, Kaghan, Kohistan valleys and Battagram areas of
NWFP, and the Neelum and Jhelum valleys, Muzaffarabad, Haveli and
Bagh of PAK.

"The teams worked with district and sub-district institutions to
ensure disaster risk reduction and respond to affected communities.
They were the eyes, ears and muscles for the humanitarian community
and coordinated their emergency response with government
authorities and the relief community," says IOM RRT programme
manager John Sampson.

The RRTs also provided assistance to the urban winterization
programme in the Bagh and Muzaffarabad districts of PAK, providing
tents, blankets, plastic sheets, warm clothing and hygiene kits to
over 5,000 families. They also helped construct some 450 wood and
tin sheet shelters in IDP camps during the winterization
process.

The eleven RRT base camps established by the teams will be
handed over to local authorities for future disaster management
operations.

 

For more information, please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

IOM Pakistan

Tel +92 300 856 0341

E-mail: "mailto:srehmat@iom.int">srehmat@iom.int