Pakistan: UN Launches Shelter Initiative for Quake Victims at High Altitudes
New York, Nov 14 2005 5:00PM
Continuing its relief efforts for the victims of last month's devastating earthquake in Pakistan, the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) launched an initiative this week to help 30,000 families in high altitude areas to build
locally designed winterized shelters from the rubble of their homes and locally available materials.
For its part, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has deployed teams to fix water- and sanitation-related
problems in makeshift camps that have sprung up across hard-hit areas following an outbreak of diarrhoea among victims
of the quake, which killed at least 73,000 people, injured almost as many others and left 3 million more homeless.
In organized camps, the UN Children's Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF) and its partners have already set up water points, latrines and bathrooms while
other UN agencies are contributing to the relief effort in their areas of expertise.
ENDS