Pakistan will need approximately US$ 5.2 billion to effectively implement a relief, recovery and reconstruction strategy according to a preliminary damage and needs assessment released on November 12,2005 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank. Of this US$ 3.5 billion is for physical reconstruction of housing, schools, health facilities, roads and other public infrastructure.
At the request of the Government of Pakistan,a joint team from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank began an assessment of the needs and reconstruction costs following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of Pakistan on 8th Oct. 2005. The assessment carried out in close coordination with the Government of Pakistan, sets out clear guidelines for a comprehensive recovery approach that will meet the needs of the affected population. These guidelines call for a common framework adopted by all organizations and institutions involved to ensure consistency and equity across rehabilitation efforts. It estimates the overall damage to the earthquake affected areas in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) which will require US $3.5 billion for reconstruction with a large proportion of losses concentrated in housing, public infrastructure, i.e.,schools, hospitals, courts, public buildings, police stations, physical infrastructure, i.e., roads, water supply, sanitation, irrigation, energy, power and fuel; and economic sectors like agriculture, livestock, industry and services.
According to the Government of Pakistan figures as of November 3, at least 73000 people were killed in the NWFP and AJK with 3.5 million persons displaced and an estimated 1.6 million persons without adequate food. The Government of Pakistan is
attaching highest priority to ensuring rehabilitation of vulnerable groups, especially the disabled who need extra care and attention in the aftermath of this devastation.
The preliminary needs assessment puts the total reconstruction cost for the main sectors as under :
Social Infrastructure Private Housing: US $1552 million
Health : US $303 million
Education : US $472 million
Environment : US $151 million
Public Admin. : US $72 million.
Physical Infrastructure Transport : US $416 million
Water Supply & Sanitation : US $32 million
Irrigation : US $10 million
Energy Power and Fuel : US $40 million
Economic Sectors Agriculture and livestock : US $300 million
Industry and Services : US $155 million
The assessment identified the guiding principles for reconstruction and
recovery strategy as:
-Rapid rebuilding of peoples' livelihoods.
-Accelerate the revitalization of the local economy, revival of production, trade and the creation of income and employment opportunities in support of peoples' own initiatives.
-Independence and self-sufficiency.
-Maximize use of local initiative, resources and capacities. Base planning and execution on local knowledge, skills, materials and methods, and enterprise, and ensure community participation in all aspects of the recovery process.
-Subsidiarity and decentralization. Take decisions on plans, design and implementation at the lowest level possible, to ensure community ownership and
empowerment, and to ensure solutions are locally appropriate.
-Focus on the most vulnerable and socially disadvantaged groups, such as children, women, and the disabled. Disasters increase the vulnerability of all,but especially those who are already disadvantaged. Recovery programming needs to give priority to the most vulnerable groups, including women headed households, children and orphans, and the poor, and take account of those with special needs, to avoid their being overlooked.
-Secure development gains and progress in poverty reduction. Disasters can reverse hard won gains in poverty reduction and development, risking a downward spiral of decline. Recovery planning must attempt to re-establish and secure previous development gains. The poor in areas not affected by the disaster(the vast majority in the case of Pakistan) should not lose out through excessive re-prioritization of resources.
-Restoring capacities to manage the recovery process. The capacity of local
institutions,including infrastructure, must be rebuilt.Along with local and national institutions, ensure that all levels of civil society are encouraged and empowered to participate in and manage the recovery process.
-Transparency and accountability. Achieve accountability through ensuring the
effective operation of the judicial system. Achieve transparency through open
processes and wide dissemination of all information on all aspects of the
recovery process.
-Avoid the creation of new disaster risks. While avoiding radical redesign and restructuring of neighbourhoods and towns, ensure that sensible and realistic measures are taken to achieve development progress, protect the environment, and reduce future disaster risks.
-Encourage engagement of private sector and civil society. Mobilise private investment both human and financial. Ensure that the local private sector has incentives and technology to participate fully in reconstruction, and ensure that financial and human contributions from companies and individuals, as well as wider Pakistani Diaspora beyond Pakistan, are harnessed.
-Coordinated and coherent approaches to recovery. Ensure full and effective coordination among all involved agencies based on comprehensive information
exchange, flexibility in administrative procedures, surveillance of any
rent-seeking activity during implementation, and uniformity of policies.
Pakistan needs a more systematic approach to hazard risk management. In comparison to floods and draught, earthquake risk is less recognized, hence receives less attention. In light of the devastation caused by the 2005 earthquake, it is now taking into account some of the factors that may have exacerbated the damage in affected areas.
Please donate generously to Presidents' Relief Fund or support many Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) who are actively working in Relief and Rehablitation work in Earthquake hit areas of Northern Pakistan and partcipate in this humanitarian task.
