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PAKISTAN: Shelter specialists call for further cooperation in flood areas

01 Aug 2007 13:47:41 GMT
Source: IRIN

Background

• Pakistan violence

• S. Asia monsoon

ISLAMABAD, 1 August 2007 (IRIN) - International shelter specialists in Pakistan's flood-affected south are looking forward to working more closely with the government and other partners to meet the needs of thousands of victims left homeless by cyclone Yemyin at the end of June.

"Let's work in partnership to meet the outstanding shelter needs of those affected," James Shepherd-Baron, Shelter Cluster convener for the international community in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, told IRIN.

An estimated 2.5 million people were affected by flooding after four days of heavy rain in Balochistan and neighbouring Sindh Province, leaving 324 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 6,500 villages were affected and 80,000 houses destroyed - and 35,340 people are currently living in camps.

Rapid response teams from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) working in four priority areas of Balochistan, including Jhal Magsi, Jaffarabad, Bolan and Nasirabad, reported that the majority of the population were still living in the open air along roadsides, requiring various relief items, including tents.

Beyond tents

"We have provided tents… but placing people in tents in these temperatures is like placing them in ovens," Zubair Murshed, national disaster reduction adviser for Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Islamabad, said.

"No one can do this on their own," Shephard-Baron maintained, a sentiment echoed by the UN Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT).

"We really need to work together in this," Jean-Christophe Adrian, the head of UN-HABITAT Pakistan in Islamabad, said.

As the rebuilding of homes will take months, UN-HABITAT believes people will need to be provided with transitional solutions to replace tents - adequate shelters offering protection against the harsh weather and a space for the family to live.

"We are working with the Shelter Cluster on options for transitional shelters based on materials such as bamboo and mats that can be reused for housing reconstruction," Christophe Adrian said.

Relief to recovery

Despite media reports that the relief effort was now over, NDMA maintains those efforts would continue on the provincial level, while their offices in Islamabad work on an early recovery strategy.

As relief slowly moves to early recovery, questions remain as to how that will proceed, requiring an even stronger commitment by both the government and international community, as well as donors.

A UN flash appeal of US$38 million launched on 18 July covering humanitarian needs in the affected areas for the next three months, submitted by national and international non-governmental organisations, the IOM, and UN agencies, has yet to receive the funding it needs.

UN-HABITAT is taking part in a joint damage and needs assessment by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank now under way, which will provide an accurate picture of the number of people rendered homeless.

In this exercise UN-HABITAT is focusing on qualitative analysis that will provide essential information when the government decides on its reconstruction policy.

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Last updated:Wed Aug 1 13:50:48 2007