Living in a badly damaged cricket stadium under canvas during a harsh Pakistan winter may not be everyone's idea of fun, but for Carly Hawkins, a Dunedin nurse, it's a fantastic opportunity.

Carly joined the staffing contingent at the ICRC hospital in Muzafarrabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, in late December and will at the hospital for six months. After a long day, Carly shares a well deserved coffee with us in the camp's basic albeit comfortable and heated cafeteria tent.

It's a new experience but despite a few

Today, the NATO mission to help the people of Pakistan, after last October's terrible earthquake, has come to an end. Our personnel have left the affected zone around Bagh, on schedule.
Since the Pakistani Government requested NATO's help, over 160 flights from Europe have brought almost 3,500 tons of relief supplies, including tents, blankets and stoves, to Pakistan . NATO helicopters lifted over 1,700 tons of relief in-country, and moved over 7,600 people. NATO medical units treated more than 8,000 patients. NATO engineers have cleared roads, and built schools and shelters.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - NATO Ambassador Maurits Jochems opened the final NATO press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, Jan 31, by announcing the completion of the three-month NATO disaster relief mission in Pakistan, saying it had completed its goal of providing relief and helping survivors endure the harsh winter in Kashmir.

The relief mission also represented the first deployment of the NATO Response Force beyond NATO territory. The government of Pakistan asked NATO to join the operation two days after the October eighth quake struck a broad area of northern Pakistan, including

The earthquake that struck northwest Pakistan and Kashmir on 8 October 2005 had a devastating effect on most people living in the region. 87,000 people died and an estimated 3 million were displaced. Daily updates from the media and the many appeals by charities for people to make a contribution to the relief effort, have led many people to imagine how those who have been affected are coping and how best to offer them assistance.

Those who were displaced are in remote locations that are difficult to access. The basics that are required to

by Moussadiq Ali - World Vision Pakistan Communications Officer

World Vision Pakistan resumed the distribution of relief supplies, including tarpaulins in the high altitude area of Manda Gucha in the Seron valley, as soon as link roads joining the villages were cleared from landslides and avalanches after receiving four feet of snow in recent days.

The distribution team had been on standby since the snowfall in Manda Gucha at 7,000 feet, north-east of Mansehra in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), to take advantage of the break

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - NATO Ambassador Maurits Jochems opened the final NATO press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, Jan 31, by announcing the completion of the three-month NATO disaster relief mission in Pakistan, saying it had completed its goal of providing relief and helping survivors endure the harsh winter in Kashmir.

The relief mission also represented the first deployment of the NATO Response Force beyond NATO territory. The government of Pakistan asked NATO to join the operation two days after the October eighth quake struck a broad area of northern Pakistan, including

The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 183 countries.0068E/08.03.04
In Brief

Appeal No. 05EA022; Operations Update no. 22; Period covered: 5-26 January 2006; Appeal coverage:78.9%.

Appeal history:

- Preliminary Emergency Appeal (launched as South Asia: Earthquake) on 9 October 2005 for CHF 10.8 million (USD 8.4 million or EUR 7 million) for four months to assist 30,000 families (some 120,000 beneficiaries).

KABUL, Jan 31 (UNHCR) - The numbers are impressive, but it is the individual hopes and fears of the refugees who have chosen to return that lie at the heart of Afghanistan's story.
Since the UN Refugee Agency began its voluntary repatriation programme for Afghanistan in 2002, it has assisted more than 3.5 million Afghans to make the journey home - more than 2.7 million from Pakistan and 800,000 from Iran.

This vast movement of people represents the single largest return operation in the agency's history. For the fourth