Pakistan Six Months On from the Floods
Six months after monsoon flooding devastated Pakistan, most of
those who lost houses and livelihoods have returned to their towns
and villages and are trying to rebuild their homes and their lives.
Hundreds of national non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
supported by the international community, are on the frontline,
ready to help to rebuild communities, but remain desperately short
of funds.
The "slow tsunami" that hit Pakistan in 2010 damaged or
destroyed an estimated 1.7 million houses, leaving at least 11
million people homeless.
In Punjab province alone, twice as many people lost their homes
as in the earthquake in Haiti last year. More houses were destroyed
in Dadu district in southern Sindh than in the Aceh earthquake in
2004.
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This natural disaster, unprecedented in terms of destruction of
housing and infrastructure, has necessitated an unprecedented
response.
International donors have contributed USD 1.1 billion or 56 per
cent of the requirement to a UN appeal for USD 1.96 billion
launched in September.
Agencies in the Shelter Cluster – a network of UN
agencies, international and national non-governmental organizations
coordinated at by IOM – appealed for USD 322 million and have
received USD 126 million or 39 per cent.
With this money they have distributed emergency shelter in the
form of a tent or two plastic tarpaulins to some 864,400
households. They have also distributed are over 1.62 million
blankets, 304,300 bedding sets, 407,700 kitchen sets and 66,500
tool kits.
These essential items have protected homeless families from the
elements and allowed them to cook emergency food rations. But more
blankets, in particular, are urgently needed to combat the cold
weather.
For families who have returned home to scenes of devastation,
the Shelter Cluster's priority is to support communities' capacity
for self-help.
It recommends that cluster agencies help them to build durable
16 – 25 m2 one-room shelters made of locally available and
salvaged materials. Designs will vary in each province to account
for climatic, building practice and cultural variations.
"In most cases, beneficiaries are able to supply some materials
and labour themselves. Cluster members provide key inputs to
support this process, which can include cash transfers, doors and
windows or roofing materials," says Shelter Cluster national
coordinator Arshad Rashid.
"Technical experts provide training on safer building practices
and disaster risk reduction techniques, such as building a solid
foundation and plastering the shelter to flood height both inside
and outside," he adds.
At the heart of this strategy and the key to its success will be
a network of over 300 national NGOs supporting the recovery process
with teams of social mobilizers, engineers and other technical
experts.
The Sangtani Women Rural Development Organization is one of
them. "We plan to provide support to at least 600 families to
construct one-room shelters and model villages in the worst
affected areas of Rajanpur district. But we need funding from
agencies or individual donors to do it," says coordinator Narjis
Batool.
To date, Shelter Cluster members have constructed over 12,500
one-room and transitional shelters and are committed to supporting
the construction of over 149,000 more.
Limited funds and resources mean that cluster agencies have had
to agree common criteria to establish which families are most
vulnerable, ensuring that help reaches those who need it most.
But unless more funding is forthcoming, at least half a million
families who lost their homes and need help to rebuild either a
one-room or a transitional shelter will receive nothing.
To download a pdf copy of IOM's new booklet, IOM
Pakistan Flood Response: Six Months On, please go to:
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For more information please contact:
Arshad Rashid
Tel: +92 300 856 4794
E-mail:
"mailto:sc.pak2010.coord@gmail.com">sc.pak2010.coord@gmail.com
or
Saleem Rehmat
Tel: +92 300 856 0341
E-mail:
"mailto:srehmat@iom.int">srehmat@iom.int