SOS Emergency Relief Programme-EQ - 1st April 2006 - 30th June 2006

SOS Emergency Relief Programme-EQ
1st April 2006 - 30th June 2006

Unaccompanied Children in the care of SOS Children's Villages

At the end of June there were 187 children in the care of SOS Children's Villages. Eleven children were reunited with their families.

Many more children requiring assistance have been identified but, unfortunately, due to the temporary suspension of our 'Search and Rescue' activities we have been unable to bring them to our shelters.

A Memorandum of Understanding with the Government authorities is being finalized and it is expected that our rescue operations will soon be resumed.

- 03 have been integrated into the SOS Children's Village in Lahore. Two were reunited with their families.

- 30 are at the SOS Emergency Shelter in Lahore established on the premises of the SOS National Training Centre. Six children were reunited with their families.

- 02 have been integrated into the SOS Children's Village in Rawalpindi.

- 55 are at the new SOS Emergency Shelter in Rawalpindi.

- 21 are at the SOS Youth Facility in Rawalpindi, the previous SOS Emergency Shelter.

- 39 are at the new SOS Children's Village in Sialkot, some 100 km north of Lahore, which was opened on 5th March 2006. This is the eighth SOS Children's Village in Pakistan.

- 03 are at Life Care, Lahore - an institution for mentally and physically handicapped children.

- 31 have been integrated into the SOS Children's Village, Dhodial.

- 03 have been integrated into the SOS Children's Village, Faisalabad.

Distribution of Relief Goods

SOS Pakistan continues to provide relief goods for the earthquake affectees. Baby food, high energy food bars, tents and other items were distributed in NWFP and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. SOS will distribute the remaining tents as they will be required during the monsoon season.

Demolition Plan for Unsafe Buildings at SOS Muzaffarabad

Planning of the salvage work for the unsafe buildings is underway. Work will commence in August 2006 and is dependent on the weather conditions.

After all valuable construction items are salvaged, the actual demolition work will take place. No explosives can be used and bringing down the concrete constructions will be done manually. It is expected that this project will be completed within four months; however, the weather conditions (monsoon rains) and road accessibility will play an important part in meeting the timelines.

New soil tests will be conducted to re-evaluate future construction on the site. Boring for the soil tests will be done after the structures have been removed.

Identification of Suitable Sites for the New Proposed SOS Children's Villages

The seismic report bas been completed by the concerned agency.

However, the master plans for the reconstruction have yet not been finalized and, until the new city plans are completed and approved, locating available land is not possible. The government bas decided to relocate the District Headquarters from Muzaffarabad to Garhi Doputta.

Once this is done, land will be freed as the existing buildings for the Administration have to be demolished.The government's building demolition work has not commenced, and new building construction has not been initiated in Garhi Doputta.

However, the Government of Pakistan has pledged complete cooperation to SOS in this regard. The President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister have directed the provincial governments to assist SOS Children's Villages of Pakistan.