Situation Analysis Report October 11th

On Saturday, October 8, the earth beneath northern Pakistan convulsed with such force that entire communities were leveled within seconds and shock waves were felt across much of neighboring Afghanistan and India. As the estimated death toll from this major 7.6-magnitude earthquake – the worst in Pakistan’s history – may reach 80,000 according to the Pakistani government and hundreds of thousands more children and adults are homeless and exposed to the elements, Save the Children is sustaining and quickly expanding humanitarian relief it launched within hours of the catastrophe.

With some two decades of work in Pakistan, local resources and trained staff and expertise in responding to children affected by such extraordinary events, Save the Children was among the very first agencies to respond. We now are working with members of the International Save the Children Alliance, the Pakistani government, the U.S. government, UN agencies and other aid agencies to rush urgently needed relief to the devastated North-West Frontier Province north of the capital of Islamabad.

Save the Children has established an emergency office in the province’s Mansehra District; we are targeting our initial efforts for homeless and vulnerable children and families there and in the Balakot and Battagram Districts. Staff who conducted assessments in the region reported enormous devastation in many rural areas; the three districts where we are concentrating relief are among the most severely damaged in Pakistan. We also are initiating relief for affected families in India and Kashmir.

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE FIELD: October 11, 2005

• Save the Children has made the first shipment of relief – some 900 tents and 1,000 “family packs” – to the region for distribution. Each “family pack” contains a tent, five blankets, plastic sheeting, matches, water purification tablets, five jerry cans for water and enough food for a family for one week.

• A planeload of 5,000 blankets, plastic sheeting for temporary shelter and 5,000 jerry cans from the U.S. Agency for International Development is being given to Save the Children for distribution.

• Save the Children is supporting the provision of emergency medical care at the site of the demolished district hospital in Mansehra. We have erected some 150 tents to shelter patients and have sent an emergency medial specialist there to provide care and medicines.