Six months after the devastating earthquake
that struck South Asia on October 8, 2005, the emergency
‘Winter Race" to save lives in Northwest Frontier Province
(NWFP) and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir (PAK) is officially over.
But the challenge of rebuilding the area, where some 80,000 people
died and 3.5 million were made homeless remains.

As the agency coordinating the IASC Emergency
Shelter Cluster (ESC) in the immediate aftermath of the disaster,
IOM played a key role in successfully bringing together the
international community and the government of Pakistan to ensure
that the freezing Himalayan winter did not claim more lives.

ESC agencies and the government delivered
520,100 tents, 5 million CGI tin roofing sheets, 6.4 million
blankets and 2.2 million tarpaulins/plastic sheets to often remote
mountain communities. They also built 549,872 temporary
transitional shelters.

But as the survivors begin to return home from
camps in the valleys to their shattered towns and villages in the
mountains, a huge amount of work clearly remains to be done.

With its funds nearly exhausted, IOM is
appealing to international and private donors for support through
the IASC ‘Action Plan for Relief to Recovery.'

IOM plans to help some 40,000 people displaced
by the quake to make informed decisions to voluntarily return home
between April 1st and October 31st. Since March 20, it has already
helped 2,500 families to return, providing medical screening and
transport in rented trucks, buses and jeeps.

While return is the first step on the road to
construction, other obstacles remain. "We are in final negotiations
for a comprehensive rubble removal program which is essential
before people can start building their houses," says IOM Pakistan
Head of Emergency Operations and Programs Brian Kelly.

"The idea is not only to assist people
voluntarily returning to their villages and towns, but also to
improve their standard of living by initiating development projects
which will make them self-reliant in the long run," he
observes.

Projects which IOM is planning to undertake
with donor support include rebuilding infrastructure,
reconstruction of health centres, providing mental health and
psychosocial care for quake survivors, and livelihood
assistance.

Livelihood/income generation projects
employing women and local labour will initially focus on rubble
removal and the production of gabions – wire baskets filled
with rocks - to support river embankments and roads prone to
mudslides. Others will provide support for farmers to cultivate
their land and improve livestock production.

IOM also plans to continue working with
vulnerable groups at risk from human trafficking in quake-affected
areas, raising their awareness, ensuring their protection and
providing support.

For more information, please contact:

Darren Boisvert

Tel. +92.300.856.0341

Email: "mailto:dboisvert@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">dboisvert@iom.int

Saleem Rehmat

Tel. +92.300.8565967

Email: "mailto:srehmet@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">srehmet@iom.int