Pakistan: Sustainable interventions for earthquake affected
Islamabad: "Provision of community
based income generation opportunities amongst the affected populace in
the earthquake region is an important developmental tool for Building Back
Better, "said General Nadeem, Deputy Chairman Earthquake Rehabilitation
& Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) on a recent visit to Muzaffarabad.
The agencies working in collaboration with ERRA in the livelihoods sector
are providing support in the form of cash for work/training; food for work/training;
agricultural/livestock assistance; repair of rural infrastructure; vocational
training; tree plantation; and establishment of community centres. Save
the Children US, International Rescue Committee (IRC), ACTED, Mercy Corps
and Oxfam are involved in credit based assistance such as cash for work,
income generation cash grants and have so far trained approximately 45,846
beneficiaries. Besides, WFP and Save the Children US provided support via
food for work trainings along with distribution of food baskets to approximately
210,067 individuals. The economy of the earthquake affected areas is mainly
agriculture based. Concern, an INGO, supported rural business rehabilitation
assistance to 357 business's. Agricultural inputs in the form of seeds
and fertilizers, agricultural tool kits, restocking of livestock, livestock
feed, assistance in livestock shelter construction, animal lifesaving interventions
through veterinary centres, backyard poultry farms for widows, livestock
extension training, farmer field days and plantation of fruit trees was
carried out by a number of organizations such as FAO, Concern, Oxfam, World
Vision, Care, ACTED, Save the Children Sweden, WFP, IFAD, Dosti Development
Foundation (DDF), National Support Programme (NRSP), Premiere Urgence and
the IRC. Approximately 500,000 individuals benefited from these interventions.
Livelihoods strategy has taken a holistic approach involving a range of
cross-cutting interventions to address problems of the poorest and people
living in the remote inaccessible areas. Agencies like ACTED, IRC, DDF,
ILO and Concern provided training courses (402) covering skills like sewing
and embroidery, masonry, construction, literacy, reproductive health and
primary health care to earthquake affected families. In support of these
training courses, small assets like sewing machines were also distributed
to 45,213 trainees by Save the Children US, and Oxfam. Besides Concern
provided 2217 families with one goat each and Save Sweden's financial assistance
to widows for starting home based poultry projects continue this quarter
Spatial interventions such as repair of 14 feeder roads/trails, 6 irrigation
channels, 12 water schemes rehabilitation, latrine construction, clearing
of debris, construction of protection walls and field terracing were undertaken
by Concern, IFAD, ACTED and WFP and 28,750 individuals benefited. Furthermore,
Concern, UNDP, IRC, Acted, Oxfam, Save the Children Sweden and Care established
13 community centres and 154 community based organizations (CBO's). In
addition to this, Concern conducted training in Disaster Preparedness and
created disaster plans. To encourage local people to preserve their surrounding
environment that is prone to landslides due to soil erosion caused by the
earthquake, IRC and Care carried out tree plantation drive planting 352,480
trees while Concern planted trees covering an area of 280 acres of land.
United Nations Resident Coordinator, Jan Vandemoortele commenting on the
livelihood interventions said, "It has been a major challenge for
the development practitioners and policy makers to find ways to assist
the earthquake affected people to have a meaningful livelihood which sustains
them and ensures they can live with dignity and hope for the future. The
livelihoods strategy has successfully commenced as many individuals have
gained practical experience of entrepreneurship."
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