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| One of the
worst natural disasters of our time |
73,000
killed
128,000
injured
3.5 million
homeless |
On the morning of 8th October 2005 a powerful earthquake measuring 7.6 on
the Richter scale
hit northern
Pakistan,
Afghanistan and
India.
Muzaffarabad and
surrounding areas in
Pakistan-administered
Kashmir were the
worst-affected.
Entire towns and
villages were wiped
out and the
earthquake caused
massive landslides,
cutting communities
off from the outside
world.
Tent Camps
In mountain
villages, scattered
over huge distances
and across difficult
terrain, people
could not be reached
for many days. Those
who could escape
sought shelter and
help in larger
cities like
Muzaffarabad, which
struggled to cope
with the influx.
The displaced people
lived in makeshift
tent camps, and
urgently needed
food, clean water,
medical assistance
and sanitation
facilities.
Huge Response
Islamic Relief was
one of the first aid
agencies to respond,
providing emergency
relief to people in
Azad Jammu & Kashmir
and the North West
Frontier Province.
Our work in response
to the earthquake
was our largest
relief operation to
date and one year
on, we are still
helping communities
to rebuild their
lives
In Action
Over the past year
we have provided
more than £28
million worth of
relief and
development aid to
thousands of people.
We have constructed
transitional
shelters so that
people no longer
have to live in
tents, helped
restore lost
livelihoods, and
empowered
communities to
become self-reliant.
It will take many
years to rebuild all
that was lost in a
disaster of such an
enormous scale but
Islamic Relief
remains committed to
working with the
people of Pakistan
and Kashmir.
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Working
with the Community |
Our work
with the
local
community
prior to the
earthquake
meant we
were able to
take the
lead in the
initial
relief
operation
and
distribute
aid within
hours of the
disaster.
Islamic
Relief has
been working
with
communities
in
Pakistan-administered
Kashmir for
almost a
decade. We
have helped
set up local
groups,
known as
Community
Organisations
(COs) to
bring people
together,
discuss
their
problems and
find ways of
solving
them.
Our work has
focused on
empowering
communities
by showing
them how
they can use
their own
skills and
resources to
meet their
needs.
Before the
earthquake,
these local
groups had
managed to
build roads,
bring
running
water to
their homes,
improve
their
sanitation
facilities
and access
to health
care.
Earthquake
When the
earthquake
struck, we
mobilised
these
community
organisations
and
supported
them in
rising to
the
challenge of
rebuilding
their lives.
We provided
skills
training,
essential
resources
and where
necessary,
financial
support.
From
training
people in
how to
construct
temporary
shelters to
helping them
restart
their
businesses,
we worked
through
local COs to
help many
people get
back on
their feet
after the
disaster.
Arshad Bibi
from Segaam
village in
Neelum
Valley, said
life in her
community
was
transformed
when the COs
were set up.
“After the
COs were
established
Islamic
Relief
organised a
water scheme
in our
village. Now
we have
water at our
doorstep,
which is a
great relief
for us. We
are now
being
trained in
skills like
first aid
and
agriculture.
We also have
an emergency
medical
centre in
the middle
of our
village. Our
lives have
changed
since
Islamic
Relief
came.” |
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| Providing Shelter |
In the
first three
days after
the
disaster,
Islamic
Relief
distributed
1,000 tents
to families
who had been
made
homeless.
These
distributions
continued
over the
following
days and
weeks,
reaching
over 200,000
people.
As winter
began to
approach, we
distributed
winterised
shelters
that ensured
better
protection
from the
freezing
temperatures.
Since
December
2005, over
24,000
earthquake-resistant
shelters
have been
provided for
families in
Muzaffarabad,
Rawalakot,
Bagh,
Dhirkot,
Forward
Kahuta and
Neelum
Valley.
Working with
the Pakistan
Poverty
Alleviation
Fund, we
have also
agreed to
support the
reconstruction
of 4,500
houses in
earthquake
affected
areas.
Damage-assessment
surveys have
already been
carried out
in four
areas and
over 1,900
local
carpenters,
plumbers,
masons and
electricians
are being
trained in
how to build
earthquake-resistant
houses. Ten
mobile
training
teams, each
with a
female
community
development
officer have
been
delivering
this
reconstruction
training in
preparation
for the
start of the
house
building
process. |
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Access to
Health Care |
Over
120,000
people were
injured in
the
disaster,
many of whom
were in
desperate
need of
emergency
medical
assistance.
However with
many
hospitals
destroyed
and roads
blocked by
debris,
getting
medical care
was
extremely
difficult.
Islamic
Relief
worked with
Response
International
to fund two
mobile
health
clinics in
Bagh
District,
providing
health care
to over
23,000
people in
isolated
rural areas.
To help
hospitals
cope with
the huge
influx of
patients, we
worked with
International
Health
Partners (IHP)
UK and the
World Health
Organisation
to provide
over £8
million of
life-saving
medicines
and vaccines
to health
clinics and
hospitals.
Throughout
the past
year,
Islamic
Relief has
been
providing
health care
for
earthquake-affected
communities
in the
remote
Neelum
Valley
region.
Established
in 2001, the
Neelum
Valley
Health
Clinic
played a
critical
role after
the
earthquake
when
hundreds of
people in
need of
urgent
assistance
were treated
at IR’s
clinic. Most
of these
patients had
no other
access to
health care
as
landslides
had cut the
region off
from the
outside
world.
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Access to
clean water
facilities |
For
thousands of
families
living in
tents,
access to
clean water
and
sanitation
facilities
was very
limited. We
worked with
our partners
to ensure as
many people
as possible
had access
to these
essential
facilities
and were not
at risk from
waterborne
diseases.
Thousands of
jerry cans
and hygiene
kits were
distributed
immediately
after the
disaster.
Other
essential
items such
as soap,
washing
powder,
buckets and
dust bins
were also
provided.
To ensure
access to
clean water,
we installed
50 water
tanks, 16
water
bladders and
created 43
water and
washing
points. We
also
provided
anti-bacterial
water
filters for
37,000
families and
water
purification
sachets for
another
18,000
families.
Working in
partnership
with Concern
Worldwide
and UNICEF,
we provided
sanitation
facilities
for 120,000
people
living in
tents in
rural areas.
As well as
constructing
latrines, we
provided
health and
hygiene
training to
local
communities.
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Supporting
livelihoods |
The
earthquake
has had a
devastating
effect on
people’s
livelihoods.
Shops were
destroyed,
farmland
ruined and
offices
damaged.
For many
months after
the quake,
people were
unable to
work on
their land
or rebuild
their
businesses.
With no
source of
income, they
have
struggled to
provide for
their
families.
One year on,
Islamic
Relief has
been helping
people
return to
work by
providing
training,
cash-for-work
schemes and
materials.
Cash-for-Work
In Rawalakot
and
Muzaffarabad,
our cash-for
work schemes
have
benefited
over 2,800
people,
enabling
them to
restart
their
businesses
or earn a
living
whilst
contributing
to the
reconstruction
of their
area.
In villages
throughout
Azad Jammu &
Kashmir, we
have been
training
farmers in
agricultural
techniques,
saffron
cultivation
and olive
grafting, as
well as
distributing
maize, rice,
vegetable
and fodder
seeds to
over 65,000
people.
We have also
vaccinated
and
de-wormed
more than
30,000
animals to
improve
livestock
health and
productivity.
New
Skills
Since the
earthquake,
Islamic
Relief has
been
delivering
skills-training
to help
people
restart or
set up new
businesses.
Teacher
training,
tailoring,
construction
techniques
and
handicrafts
are some of
the skills
that have
been taught.
Many of the
training
sessions
provided by
Islamic
Relief were
exclusively
for women
and were
conducted
through
female
community
organisations. |
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| The Year
at a Glance |
October 2005 - September 2006
Within hours of the earthquake, Islamic Relief (IRW) was distributing life-saving relief items including food, water, tents and clothes. Emergency relief teams also provided medical assistance and helped clear the roads of debris.
In the weeks and months that followed, we ensured people had better shelter to protect them from the freezing temperatures.
More recently, our work with local communities has focused on getting people back to work and helping them rebuild their lives.
October - December 2005
Teams of IRW aid workers distribute food, water, bedding, warm clothes & tents to thousands of people in Bagh, Muzaffarabad, Neelum Valley and Rawalakot.
In partnership with Concern Worldwide and UNICEF, we provide clean water, sanitation facilities and hygiene education to 120,000 people in Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Dhirkot.
Hundreds of injured people are treated at IRW’s Neelum Valley Health Clinic. Also, medical supplies worth millions of US dollars donated by the LDS Church are delivered to affected communities.
IRW and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) team up to supply 145,000 people with monthly food rations for six months.
Local staff and volunteer engineers from the UK clear roads to reach remote villages cut off from aid using hired earth-moving vehicles. Working with the Frontier Works Organisation IRW re-opens 95% of all roads by November.
This project cleared one third of all the debris on the roads in AJK and NWFP, allowing aid to reach 1.7million people. That’s approximately 1400 km of road in AJK and 990km in the NWFP.
287 large tents are set up as temporary schools in Muzaffarabad and Bagh
Thousands of latrines are installed and clean water is distributed to families in tent camps in Muzaffarabad.
January - March 2006
More supplies of tents, medicine and blankets are distributed in Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot.
IRW funds 3 health clinics. Two clinics are mobile and can reach remote villages.
Transitional shelters for over 123,000 people are constructed and 6,000 more shelter kits are distributed to people whose homes have been destroyed or severely damaged.
IRW begins to shift focus from relief work towards recovery and reconstruction, including designing water and sanitation projects, social mobilisation projects, healthcare, education, disaster preparedness and livelihood support.
April - June 2006
IRW carries out damage assessment surveys of homes in four regions, Hill Surang, Swanj, Nar Sher Ali Khan and Sangal.
We provide construction skills training to 1,900 masons, carpenters, plumbers and electricians who will help rebuild the area.
Many displaced people begin moving out of tent camps back to their original towns and villages. However, some still remain so the camp water and sanitation facilities are rehabilitated for their use.
July - September 2006
IRW staff are trained in building earthquake-resistant houses and carrying out damage assessments.
IRW increases its work in Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Rawalakot and Neelum Valley to provide clean drinking water, sanitation facilities and hygiene education to thousands of people. 5,000 latrines are constructed and more work is planned.
Our work focuses on helping communities recover their livelihoods in Neelum Valley, Forward Kahuta, Dhirkot, Rawalakot, Bagh and Muzaffarabad.
Cash-for-work schemes are set up, benefiting over 2,500 people and agricultural workers and farmers receive training. Seeds, maize, fodder and tools are provided for 65,000 people and over 30,000 livestock animals are de-wormed and vaccinated.
IRW is working with the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) on a 14-month disaster-preparedness programme that will include training communities in first aid techniques.
With its partners, Islamic Relief has constructed over 24,000 transitional shelters in Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Bagh, Dhirkot, Forward Kahuta and Neelum Valley.
One year on, our focus is on getting people back to work so that they are self-sufficient once more. |
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Young
Survivors |
Many
victims of
the
earthquake
were
children.
Many died in
their
classrooms,
whilst
others lost
one or both
of their
parents.
Over the
past year,
children
have had to
adapt to a
new life in
which their
homes,
families,
friends,
schools and
almost
everything
else has
changed
forever.
Islamic
Relief has
been caring
for orphans
in
Pakistan-administered
Kashmir for
years. This
support was
extended to
many more
children who
lost one or
both of
their
parents in
the
earthquake.
Through our
one-to-one
orphan
sponsorship
programme,
individual
donors are
able to
sponsor a
child and
meet his or
her living
costs
including
school fees
and medical
care. The
child’s
mother or
guardian is
also
supported to
ensure the
child’s
welfare is
not
compromised
due to their
vulnerable
circumstances.
Islamic
Relief
donors
around the
world are
now
sponsoring
1,300
children in
earthquake
affected
areas.
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Our
Donors |
Islamic
Relief would
like to
thank all
its
donors and
partners for
their
support and
contributions
towards our
earthquake
projects
over the
last year.
Particular
thanks are
extended to
the
following
organisations
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Al Eslah
Society,
Bahrain
AmeriCares,
USA
Arab Medical
Union
British
Airways
CAFOD
Christian
Aid
Canadian
International
Development
Agency (CIDA)
Concern
Worldwide
Conrad N
Hilton
Foundation,
USA
UK
Department
for
International
Development
Disasters
Emergency
Committee
(DEC)
Emirates
Airlines
Evelyn and
Walter Haas
Jr Fund, USA
German
Agro-Action
German
Foreign
Ministry
Stiftung
Stern
Globus
Integrated
Development
and Relief
Fund
Indian
Muslim
Welfare
Society
International
Health
Partners
International
Relief Teams
International
Organisation
for
Migration
Islamic
Development
Bank
The Church
of Jesus
Christ of
Latter-day
Saints, USA
Operation
USA
Pakistan
Poverty
Alleviation
Fund
Response
International
Shakur Aid
Swedish
International
Development
Cooperation
Agency
United
Nations
Development
Programme (UNDP)
United
Nations
Children’s
Fund
(UNICEF)
United
Nations
World Food
Programme
(UN WFP) |
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