The Pakistan appeal for funds has been underfunded. PDA has learned that it may be necessary to cut back on planned interventions if more funding does not come in; therefore, PDA has committed to provide an additional $200,000 during the first quarter of 2006.

General situation

Providing food and medicine to people from the villages affected by the October earthquake is being described as a 'race in all senses of the word', with some 35,000 people living at high altitudes in Bagh (one of the worst-hit districts in Azad Kashmir) at risk from the extreme cold weather as winter sets in. Many people made homeless by the earthquake are living in tents.

President General Pervez Musharraf was quoted saying that reconstruction and rehabilitation process in the quake-battered areas should move in tandem with the development process.

Response

The CWS-ACT tent village continues to grow, as new people arrive daily seeking shelter against the harsh winter weather. 177 families, comprising 1,232 people, have now sought shelter in the camp.

ACT members CWS and NCA's psychosocial team has divided the camp population in five clusters. Each cluster meets with the team weekly to discuss their problems. The team is in the process of identifying a team leader for the clusters, who will be responsible for private and individual conversations with the women. This will help the team identify the most vulnerable women who cannot speak out openly. Meanwhile psychosocial care meetings with the women of the tent village continue. Main issues discussed are: various trauma responses, literacy for the women within the camp and vocational training. Kathy Angi, Presbyterian Mission Co-worker assigned to PDA to do Psycho-social work with partners will be going to Pakistan after the first of the year to work with ACT members.

The response continues with its assessments of those most vulnerable in the affected areas and recently completed an assessment of Sooyan and Langoda villages in Union Council Chattar Plain, Mansehra district. 116 of the most vulnerable families were identified and issued coupons for food packages. A distribution team conducted an assessment visit in the village of Ziarat and gave food coupons to 195 families.

Meetings and visitors

The 18th meeting of the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum was held in the CWS office in Islamabad. The forum shared the latest developments with respect to the earthquake, which included the following: 27,288 major surgeries have so far been carried out, and approximately 531,333 tents and 3,3788,650 blankets have been distributed among survivors. For the most part, blankets are produced and/or purchased within the country. To date, 2,618 shelters have been set up, and more than 65,305 tons of food and 3,190 tons of medicines have been supplied. Forty national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are involved in the relief operations, and a 964-strong NATO force is involved in the operation. Weekly United National cluster coordination meetings are held and representatives from the various NGOs, including ACT members CWS and NCA, attend.

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