With good weather conditions holding for just over a week, IOM has
accelerated its relief activities in quake-hit areas of North West
Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

A community mobilization relief programme in the Federally
Administered Tribal Area (FATA) of Kala Dhaka has also been
successfully completed after an IOM-initiated and coordinated
effort to help tribal leaders work with their communities in
assessing needs. More than 1,000 shelter kits and 8,000 corrugated
galvanized iron (CGI) sheets were then handed to the tribal leaders
for distribution among the affected population.

More than 170,000 people from five tribes in Kala Dhaka which is
situated southeast of Batagram, were affected by the earthquake

"This programme was aimed at empowering the people as a
community so that they could identify their needs and assist each
other in time of need," said Mary Guidice, IOM's head of sub-office
in Mansehra.

As well as receiving shelter material, earthquake survivors in
Kala Dhaka have also been provided additional assistance to help
survive the winter. IOM has distributed 20,000 kits for children,
20,000 blankets, 2,000 winterization kits and 250 rolls of plastic
sheets provided by UNICEF. To supplement thermal requirements of
the people living above 5,000 feet in Kala Dhaka, 30,000 more
UNICEF blankets will be distributed in the area in the coming three
weeks.

Meanwhile, to identify unfulfilled needs of quake survivors in
NWFP, IOM, with the help of UN agencies and non-governmental
organizations, has completed an assessment of under-50 tent
settlements in Mansehra district. With the help of more than 100
volunteers and 20 UN vehicles, the assessment teams interviewed
104,000 people and found 10,000 under 50-tent camps in the villages
of Abbottabad and Ughi tehsil.

The final result of the survey expected shortly will help IOM
and its implementing partners to meet the needs of the people
living in these camps. The assessment, which targeted vulnerable
groups like widows and elderly people, questioned survivors about
their village of origin and on health and sanitation problems.
Similar assessments, which will be extended to other districts of
NWFP, will also help international organizations in the planning
for the recovery phase.

For further information, please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

IOM Islamabad

Tel: +92 300 856 0341

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