Two years on after Pakistan’s worst disaster in living memory made a population half the size of London homeless and destroyed an area the size of Belgium, life is slowly returning to normal, but it will take time.

People aren’t dying, freezing or starving for lack of aid or attention. But on the other hand few are happy either. The scale of the damage resulting from the earthquake was so massive that progress remains painfully slow, and as another winter looms, the biggest problem for many is that the end seems far out of sight.

• STATS

• Geographical Area
  
  22,000 sq. Kms
• Specifics
  
  7.6 Richter scale Earthquake
• Deceased
  
  73,388 killed
• Injured
  
  69,412
• Homeless
  
  3.3 million
• Homes Destroyed
  
  600,000
• Cost of reconstruction
  
  $6 billion
• Schools
  
  6000 destroyed
• Teachers
  
  900 killed
• School children
  
  18,000 killed
• Students in tent schools
  
  800,000
• Roads affected (kms)
  
  2393 kms
• Women headed households
  
  26% (average) of total
• Current challenge
  
  Third Winter
• Current phase of ERP
  
  Reconstruction
• Recovery date
  
  Late 2009

Emergency Relief

On 08th October 2005, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale killed 73,888 people in Northern Pakistan. An almost equal number were injured and a further 3.3 million lives were wiped clean in seconds.

The extent of the damage was the uncompromising annihilation of 4000 villages, 600,000 homes and several major towns. Over 8000 schools were levelled; every health centre destroyed; every semblance of industry, workshop and mill wiped out. Millions of livestock, livelihoods and futures were lost to oblivion in an amazingly complex maze of mountain valleys.

For the first six months the Pakistan Government, aid agencies and thousands of volunteers concentrated solely on stabilising survivor’s lives. In the aftermath of a fortunately first mild winter, a huge relief effort began to move several million people out of the squalor of the relief camps and back to their villages in the short time before the next monsoons and winter began.

Overcoming 2743 kms of devastated roads massively slowed down reconstruction efforts, and the cost of transport skyrocketed. Before homes could be rebuilt, materials had to be delivered, water supplies re-established; latrines dug; water pumps bored and fields re-ploughed. Life needs a foundation on which to grow and sustain itself and given the totality of the destruction, it took time to stabilise people’s lives.

Early Recovery

In the days immediately following the quake, the Government established the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (or the unfortunately entitled ERRA) as the central authority in the rehabilitation effort. Big plans were drawn up, but in the typical nature of Pakistani rhetoric, many government promises were made and even fewer were believed.

With the emergency relief phase over in mid-06, ERRA began work on a twelve month Early Recovery Plan (ERP) in collaboration with the UN and numerous aid organisations to ensure a secure transition from relief to recovery and eventual reconstruction. The UN recognised that the enormity of the reconstruction process would take time and that people must be able to live comfortably during the interim.

Beginning in June 2006, the plan was finished earlier this year and focused on eight areas of development including education, health, housing, livelihood training and civic infrastructure. Instead of supervising the entire reconstruction, the UN advised ERRA to give home owners the responsibility and pride of rebuilding their own homes. Whilst the approach had been implemented during the Tsunami (2004), this was first time it had been attempted on such a large scale.

To ensure money was spent correctly, ERRA issued cash grants of up to a total of $3000 in four stages, dependant upon construction progress and compliance with new earthquake proof regulations. Last month, ERRA claimed that 339,048 houses or 65percent were now under construction, 200,000 at the foundation level, and 25,000 with walls erected. The Government aims to have all homes completed by end 2008.

Better than a tent

As a result of the massive effort made by countless organisations, only 7000 people today remain in tents with almost all families living in semi-permanent temporary accommodation. We’ve now moved through two winters and on the whole casualties have been minimal. Tents have been mostly replaced by wooden and corrugated iron shelters and most people have access to heaters and fuel.

With the assistance of international and local aid agencies over 300,000 people have since been trained as masons, carpenters, artisans and in seismic reconstruction techniques. According to some estimates, reconstruction is even happening around five to six times faster than during the 2004 tsunami.

Throughout the ERP, the goal was always to establish a liveable intervening period in which people could live whilst the enormous task of reconstruction got underway. For the average earthquake survivor, almost all have some form of roof over their heads, access to temporary healthcare facilities (thanks in part to the amazing efforts of the International Red Cross) and tent-schools for their kids.

Unstinting efforts by ERRA and partner organisations have ensured that over 20percent of water supply schemes have been repaired and temporary power, telephone and road access exist in many places. Perhaps most outstanding has been the drive to give meaning to people’s lives through training and opportunities, especially to women.

Thanks to these developments, the final stage of reconstruction will now begin at the end of this year and is predicted to last until the end of 2009. The sheer scale of the process is the reconstruction of an entire society from scratch at an estimated cost of $4.3 billion. Schools, health centres, villages, infrastructure, government offices, even entire cities need rebuilding.

Last month, President Musharaff laid the Foundation stone for the $200 million reconstruction of the city of Balakot, 20kms outside of the old town that was destroyed by the quake. The potential to build hope on a past of loss is undeniable and yet still, at the daily level of people’s lives results are far from rosy.

Article: A year of Earthquake Relief in Pakistan with ActionAid

http://www.r4e.org/…/earthquake_relief_in_pakistan_with_actionaid

Reconstruction begins?

The most common complaint levelled at the Government is that progress is far too slow. To put this in perspective, let’s put you in the earthquake zone for a minute and describe life for a moment.

Due to the destruction of most livestock, crops and arable land, the price of food has sky rocketed in the earthquake area, and you must eat less while your children eat more. Since the quake struck 18 months ago, you’ve received several payments from the government, the last of which was spent building a foundation for a new home and keeping your family fed.

The last time an inspector came around to assess progress was some months ago, and every time you visit the bank, the payment he promised has not been delivered.
Jobs are a pipe dream in the local area. Your husband remains unemployed and the only ray of hope in this uncertainty is the training course you are attending in embroidery and sewing skills at the local community centre for women.

Even should the payment come, you wonder how you’ll manage. The average cost of building a home is around 500,000 Rupees ($8300), and the Government is only giving 150,000 Rupees to residents. Compounding that, material costs are expensive due to short supply and even transporting them here, high up in the valley, would cost almost as much due to the terrible condition of the road.

Every day thousands of people suffer from the problems mentioned above. Slow progress, red tape and high construction costs are just some of the banes of the Government’s DIY approach to rehabilitation. More worrying is the latent level of corruption riddling the recovery. The Dawn reports that some homeowners have paid bribes of up to 10,000Rs to local officials to speed up the transfer of building funds. Other home owners have been evicted for not paying up.

Countering this, ERRA claims to have set up 139 “construction hubs;” throughout the devastated area. The authority asserts to have trained over 50 thousand master trainers, masons and carpenters in addition to giving out a livelihood grant of 18,000 Rupees ($300) to over 250,000 families – enough for at least six months. However discontent still remains.

Today, thousands of people across the Earthquake area have no land to build on and many more have had trouble receiving compensation from the Government. Such people are usually serfs, tenants and people whose land now stands in seismic zones or landslide prone areas. They are the MIA’s of the relief process; jobless and living in tents until the Government relocates them, but many feel abandoned.

ERRA say that separate compensation packages of $1250 funded by USAID have been drawn up for ‘landless’ residents, and payouts began at the end of last month. But the truth here is that given the size and complexity of the disaster, ‘build back better’ will take time and as in all natural disasters, it’s the vulnerable that are affected the most.

The Case for Women

One of the biggest challenges facing aid organisations has been how to help women affected by the quake. The north of Pakistan is a traditionally religious area of the country and the restrictions of women in normal daily life were compounded by the inevitable problems following the disaster.

Women in Pakistan face a cultural straight jacket the moment they’re born. Girls are expected to marry young, sire large families and look after the home and livestock. Most move in with their husband’s family straightaway and are not usually allowed to leave without the presence of their husband due to the Islamic concept of Purdah. Though better in urban areas, women in rural areas are often unaware they have any rights at all, and many suffer accordingly.

Since the disaster struck, an estimated 26percent of all households are now being run by single mothers, left the face the brunt of a male dominated society and the additional burden of raising a family alone. Over 40,000 women were pregnant when the Earthquake struck and today single women face a daily problems accessing clean water, food and the ability to care for their children.

Aid agencies have risen to this challenge by working with communities to encourage equality between the sexes. Gender equality is a major part of ERRA’s development policy and aid agencies are working hard to ensure females share equal access to shelter, food, education and skills training. Agencies like the Red Cross have increased the number of female birth attendants and teachers by involving men in community based discussions so that everybody sees the benefits.

What did Education do to you?

Despite all the advancements made in women’s rights and reconstruction, education has received an incredibly low priority and little or no progress in the recovery process. During the earthquake, 18,000 students were killed as they sat down to class early that Saturday morning. Over 8000 schools were levelled and approximately 900 teachers lost their lives.

Today, 800,000 children of the 1 million or so estimated, attend school in tents, two years after the earthquake. Others are still studying in damaged buildings. According to the ERP, 1500 schools should have been built from 2006-7, yet only 70 have been completed and all by sponsors, not by the Government. UNICEF report that children are dropping out of school at phenomenal rates and this will likely increase as winter closes.

It’s a sad truth that this is only a continuation of a trend in Pakistan where country-wide literacy rates stand at 63percent male and a drastic 36percent female. In some parts of the earthquake area, literacy rates can be as low 3.5percent for men and only 1percent for women.
Villages in mountainous areas like Northern Pakistan have a hard time attracting teachers (especially female), due to their remote location and hostility of religious groups. Many face closure, creating the so-called ‘ghost school’ phenomenon. The greatest problem facing enrollment of children is the lack of schools to enroll in.

The golden opportunity here lies in the concentrated offensive being waged against illiteracy by aid agencies in the region. USAID is currently training 5000 teachers in child centred learning techniques. UNICEF has launched it’s “Welcome back to School” campaign with ERRA to ensure 100percent re-enrollment of all children and today report that 9/10 are back in school alongside 21,000 children never before enrolled. The organisation has also set up hundreds of ‘Child Protection Committees’ across the affected area to keep in school once there.

ERRA’s whole philosophy of Build Back Better revolves around building better schools, educating more children (especially girls), and providing a solid foundation for future economic success. If development continues then this is a likely result, but if schools receive the low priority they get now, then this may never happen. Save the Children have already predicted that school buildings will take 5-7 years to rebuild meaning that some children will never learn in a proper school.

Conclusion: The Grand Experiment

By all accounts the Pakistan Relief Effort has become a “model relief process” to much of the world’s media. Although I wasn’t able to visit the Earthquake zone this year, even the traditionally critical Pakistani media was surprisingly upbeat about the process. There’s an undeniable feeling that the recovery might just work, but only if progress continues as it is.

In many ways, the relief process in Pakistan has become a testing ground for a slew of new techniques the UN wishes to implement in the future. For example, the new “cluster” approach to organising worldwide emergencies and the emphasis in Pakistan of owner-driven recovery and training.

By working closely with the UN from the start, Pakistan has ensured that a steady flow of funds reach where it’s needed from traditionally fickle world donors. Out of the $250 million plus needed for the Early Recovery Plan, almost all was received and ERRA’s next challenge will be to assure that the $4.3 billion needed for reconstruction builds on previous success.

With central authority cemented under the ERRA banner, aid agencies have been able to focus more on their respective areas and highlight potential problems that might arise in the future. Aid agencies have also been able to receive funds directly from donors, increasing transparency and ensuring funds arrive on time.

On the flip side, however, donors have been reluctant to hand over funds for development techniques they know nothing about, such as livelihood training and cash grants for housing. Officials have commented that obtaining funds promised on time has been hard to accomplish, and may partly explain the delays in cash handouts to earthquake survivors.

Final thought

It’s likely to be another year before we know the true extent of the relief process in Pakistan, when houses are built and reconstruction is well underway. The slogan of build back better stands an incredible chance of succeeding but at current rates of progress is unlikely to become reality by 2009. Words are easily spoken but less easily actioned in Pakistan and if the Government doesn’t begin to prioritise key areas like education and health, they stand to lose the momentum and respect they’ve built up so far.

Success today, is success tomorrow for Pakistan. A model relief effort is crucial to the future development of the economy and the Government knows this. The US and Asian Development Bank have already promised huge sums of money to invest in infrastructure and as we move into another cold winter it remains now for Pakistan to show it has the capability to pull that off.

Photo © US Department of Defense, Some Rights Reserved

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 20th, 2007 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Earthquake, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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