For the first time since Pakistan's worst floods on record wreaked
havoc across the country, IOM staff have met people living in
Punjab villages they had previously trained in disaster
preparedness.

According to villagers in Jhang district in the heart of Punjab,
122 local volunteers were able to rescue approximately 1,000 flood
victims during the disaster, thanks to the IOM training.

"We were a group of seven volunteers and three members of the
government rescue force and managed to rescue 155 people stuck in
their flooded village in just one day," said Shahid Abbas, who
leads one of the community-based disaster management teams.

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"One of them was an 85-year-old widow trapped in her house. The
floodwater was up to her knees and rising by the hour."

Shahid is one of the villagers who received practical training
on how to respond to different kinds of disasters as part of the
ONE UN programme in Pakistan. The programme is a joint effort by UN
and other international agencies to support selected countries in
poverty reduction, education, environmental protection and disaster
risk management.

Under the programme, IOM has been carrying out disaster risk
management activities in Pakistan since 2009, in close cooperation
with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

In July this year, IOM provided training at three locations in
flood-prone Jhang district because they are at the confluence of
the Chenab and Jhelum rivers.

Trainees included key members of the community, including school
headmasters, female health care workers and local government
workers.

IOM provided them with first-aid courses and training in how to
respond to different kinds of disasters, including the rescue of
people buried by landslides and the use of boats in floods.

In addition to the four-day training, IOM provided the
volunteers with boats, life jackets, medical kits, water
purification equipment and tools, including shovels and
ladders.

"The training could not have come at a better time because right
after it was completed, the floods started in the north and Jhang
was later among the worst hit areas of Punjab," says IOM Pakistan
Emergency Response Manager Brian Kelly.

The meeting between IOM experts and trained volunteers this week
will be followed by monthly review meetings, which will allow the
volunteers to remain up-to-date with training and build on lessons
learnt during disasters.

The floods left around half a million homes damaged or destroyed
in Punjab. Although the water has now receded and many people have
returned to their places of origin, more than 270,000 households
are still in need of emergency shelter in the province.

On a country-wide level, aid agencies of the IOM-led Shelter
Cluster have provided emergency shelter to 490,256 households since
early August. This represents over 3.4 million people. But needs
are still immense with over 7 million people who have yet to
receive emergency shelter.

For more information on IOM's activities in Pakistan, to
download the IOM Appeal or to donate to IOM's flood response,
please go to: "/jahia/Jahia/pakistan" target="" title=
"">http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/pakistan.

For information on the Emergency Shelter Cluster, please go to:
"https://sites.google.com/site/shelterpak2010/" target="_blank"
title="">https://sites.google.com/site/shelterpak2010/.

For more information please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

IOM Islamabad

Tel: +92.300 856 0341

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