Pakistan: UN quake appeal only 40 per cent funded, 2.4 million blankets needed by Reuters / UN News 12:04pm 4th Dec, 2005   13 December 2005    Pakistan: UN quake appeal only 40 per cent funded, 2.4 million blankets needed    More than nine weeks after a devastating earthquake in Pakistan killed more than 70,000 people, injured 70,000 more and left up to 3 million people homeless, the United Nations relief appeal faces a shortfall of some 60 per cent, with a new survey showing an urgent need for 2.4 million blankets as the harsh winter sets in.    Funds for the $550 million appeal have reached $209.2 million, or 38 per cent, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson Elizabeth Byrs told a news briefing in Geneva today. With $22.7 million in pledges included, the funding stands at 42 per cent.    A recent rapid assessment conducted by the UN and non-government organizations (NGOs) among 3,000 affected households below the 5,000-feet snowline concluded that 75 per cent are in need of additional support in terms of structural and/or thermal protection, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told the briefing.    “More blankets, quilts, plastic sheets and tarpaulins are urgently required to help quake survivors stay warm in the winter,” she said. “With more than 20 mobile teams active, we are working hard to meet these needs.”    As part of its winterization campaign, UNHCR has so far distributed 322,904 blankets, 60,875 plastic sheets, 3,751 stoves and 1,209 sleeping bags. An additional 250,025 blankets, 77,281 plastic sheets and 28,993 stoves are on their way.    12 December 2005    Pakistan: UN agency braced for health crisis in quake region as winter hits    As the temperature drops in the mountainous regions affected by the 8 October earthquake, the head of the United Nations health agency has arrived in Pakistan, warning that the cold and the cramped living conditions is leading to an increase in the risk of hypothermia and respiratory infections.    “Last night, people living high in the mountains affected by the earthquake survived another night at well below zero in the snow,” said the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook after visiting Balakot and Muzzafarabad. “These people face several months of freezing, winter conditions. And so the UN pledge is to help ensure they survive – with shelter, food, and basic health care,” he added.    The earthquake killed 73, 000 people, seriously injured 70,000 more and left 3 million homeless. Today, hundreds of thousands still lack the shelter they need to survive the winter weather that is now closing further in each day, WHO said.    Basic health units and field hospitals have been established and 300,000 children have been vaccinated, the agency said. One hundred prefabricated basic health care units are under construction in the affected areas. A disease surveillance system is up and running.    As WHO helps the Ministry of Health carry out its “winter plan,” getting health care to people above the snow line is a major challenge. Another difficulty is lack of funding. Of the $ 27 million it requested to fund a health response to the quake, just over half has been received and resources will run out in January.    Many survivors still need shelter from the elements, and WHO warned that the cold weather will bring more pneumonia and other deadly respiratory infections. In addition, it said the threat of water-borne disease is ever-present. Diarrhoea and dysentery pose a major risk.    Dr. Lee highlighted the need to train more women in health. “This month, 13,000 women in the earthquake area will deliver a baby. And 2,000 of those women and 1,500 of those babies will need urgent health care. But there simply are not enough women health workers to help them,” he said.    December 4, 2005. (Reuters)    The UN World Food Program (WFP) is appealing for more than $90 million in urgent assistance for millions of people in earthquake affected north-eastern Pakistan.    The WFP says the funds are desperately needed to maintain air lifts of food through the harsh Himalayan winter.    Many relief workers are convinced that without a constant supply of food and warm clothes to hundreds of thousands of homeless people in the remote mountainous region, the sub-zero temperatures could result in a second cycle of deaths.    WFP executive director James Morris has now added his voice to the earlier appeals for more emergency funds. "We need help, we need some additional food help," he said. "We need money for helicopters, this is a big logistic transport challenge."    1 December 2005    Pakistan: threat of additional deaths among quake victims more acute, UN reports.    The threat of a wave of additional deaths among earthquake survivors in northern Pakistan is becoming more acute with each passing day as families continue to arrive in relief shelters, fleeing the sudden advance of winter, according to the latest report from the United Nations Children"s Fund (UNICEF).    The danger arises from the cold, poor sanitary conditions and inadequate nutrition, yet UNICEF"s $93-million emergency appeal is only 64 per cent funded.    The ingredients for life-threatening illnesses are all to be found in the camps, the agency reported from Muzaffarabad, one of the areas worst hit by the quake which killed some 80,000 people, injured as many others and left up to 3 million homeless.    Makeshift, unsanitary cooking pots lie in the dirt in front of each tent. Poor diets and a lack of clean water have left many weak and vulnerable.    "The hygienic situation is fairly deplorable, so I would have to say that water and sanitation is our main priority right now," UNICEF Health Officer Tamur Mueenuddin said.    "Children are malnourished, viral infections are rampant. They begin often with acute upper respiratory syndrome and sometimes the viral infections will include diarrhoea infections as well," he added.    The struggle against disease takes place on several fronts. A vital part of the effort is providing clean water. When the 8 October quake destroyed the water system around Muzaffarabad, UNICEF immediately began installing makeshift water tanks in the camps and digging pit latrines.    Education is also essential. Displaced families who had never seen a latrine before are educated about their use. Children are taught to wash their hands with soap and water regularly. These simple things are crucial for maintaining health and preventing more deaths.    Training the Pakistan Army in camp management has also become a UNICEF priority. Now, local military officials regularly survey the camps, with an eye for the water, sanitation, and nutrition needs of the population.    But as the number of displaced people in the camps continues to grow, so do their needs for shelter, water, sanitation, nutrition, and health care. More resources are needed to sustain and expand the relief effort.    29 November 2005    Pakistan: UN refugee agency reports first deaths due to cold among quake victims.    The first cold-related deaths have been reported among Pakistani earthquake survivors – two children who died of pneumonia and a man of hypothermia – and many more can be expected as temperatures drop below freezing point, especially at higher elevations, the United Nations refugee agency warned today.    For weeks UN agencies have predicted a second wave of deaths from the 8 October quake, which killed some 80,000 people, injured as many others and left up to 3 million homeless, if shelter, medicines and other vital supplies were not rushed into hundreds of thousands of victims in remote areas ahead of the harsh Himalayan winter.    So far, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has airlifted over 80,000 blankets and tens of thousands of plastic sheets to survivors in high-altitude villages in the Allai and Leepa valleys. But bad weather is hampering aid delivery. Helicopters were grounded on Sunday although the airlifts have resumed yesterday.    “Some roads in the Neelum and Allai valleys have been blocked by snow or landslides. Aid convoys are now driving on slippery roads that could be hit by further mudslides,” UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told a news briefing in Geneva.    “On lower elevations, we"re preparing the ground for more people forced to leave their homes in the upper valleys because of the bitter cold. In the last two days, the army has reported 100 families per day moving down from the Kaghan valley,” she added.    “The recent camp arrivals have come in bad shape, many of them already weakened by pneumonia. We have been winterizing the camps by providing two plastic sheets per tent and three blankets per person.”    Overall UNHCR has flown in more than 20 thousand family tents and hundreds of thousands of blankets and other vital supplies.    Water and sanitation needs will become even more urgent as more people come down to live in planned and spontaneous camps. To prevent congestion and the outbreak of diseases in camps, UNHCR now has 16 mobile teams on the ground to fix technical problems related to latrines and waste management, and to sensitize camp populations on hygiene and sanitation issues.    At an international donors conference in Pakistan on earlier this month, $5.4 billion were pledged, but UN relief officials have warned the vast majority of these pledges are earmarked for long-term recovery even though operations remain in the critical rescue and assistance phase.    “In order to save lives today, these pledges must be fulfilled immediately. Moreover, donors must allow flexibility in use of the funds,” five UN human rights experts said in a joint statement last week.
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item