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| May 17, 2006 |
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| UN Unveils Pakistan Quake Recovery Plan |
WASHINGTON - May 17, 2006. The United Nations on Tuesday outlined a 12-month recovery plan to assist the millions of Pakistanis left homeless by a devastating earthquake last
October, reports Agence France Presse.
The plan, worked out in consultations between the Pakistani government,
the UN and non-governmental organizations, offers concrete proposals to fund programs in several priority sectors. These include providing basic education, primary health care, access to safe water and skills training, rubble removal, small livestock, seeds and fertilizers and other needs to restore livelihoods. The plan aims to move away from relief and into rebuilding in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and North Western Frontier Province, the areas hardest hit by the October 8 quake, UN officials said.
The Associated Press adds that in launching the $300 million program
UN humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, Jan Vandemoortele told a news
conference that the aim is to make sure there is no gap between the end
of relief and the beginning of full-fledged reconstruction. Vandemoortele said there were about 300,000 people away from their place of origin during the winter and at least 200,000 have returned, because it is now springtime. The remaining 100,000 will probably still need some support because they either come from an urban center and have no place to live because their city or dwelling collapsed or they are people from
rural areas who are affected by land disputes, physical disability and
other problems.
Reuters writes that the world body was not seeking additional funds
from international donors but asking them only to redirect to the new
campaign some of the money they had already pledged. Donors have already
promised $6.2 billion to help rebuild the stricken area, and $200 million
of the $300 million needed for the new campaign has already been redirected, Vandemoortele said, praising Pakistan's government and the
international community for their close cooperation and coordination in
the recovery effort to date.
Dow Jones notes that in contrast to the relief effort where experts
from overseas were brought into Pakistan, Vandemoortele said the early
recovery plan is based on a light footprint that will mobilize
Pakistanis who have lots of capacity. Vandemoortele further said the
plan also includes funds for health facilities, shelter, cash for work and
food for work programs, training of masons so that buildings do not go up
in the same way they were built before the earthquake, and training
teachers to attract girl students and deal with social trauma.
Source: The World Bank |
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