Asia Earthquake Emergency Appeal Update
One month after the devastating earthquake, Y Care International’s partner, the global alliance ACT International, has renewed an urgent call to help 20,000 families in the North West Frontier Province and Azad Kashmir regions of Pakistan.
More shelter, food kits, health services, emergency water, sanitation and house reconstruction are needed to help the survivors of the disaster. Winterised tents are also desperately required.
The death toll now stands at 76,000 but despite adverse conditions, ACT workers continue to distribute aid packages to quake survivors as effectively as possible before the harsh winter arrives.
Y Care International is also receiving some good news from the region. Almost 30,000 people in the Battagram, Shangla and Balakot areas have been provided with shelter kits and ACT is working with UNICEF to repair a main pipeline to help provide clean water and sanitation.
A tent village of around 800 people has recently acquired its own supply of clean drinking water and cooking facilities are being installed.
Echoing concerns of the UN, ACT members fear that aid operations could be disrupted due to a shortfall in international contributions. As a result helicopters ferrying food and supplies are at risk of being grounded in just days.
Working in the North West Frontier Province and Azad Kashmir in Pakistan, and also affected regions in India, ACT has reported that helicopters play a crucial part in the delivery of aid by providing the most effective and quickest way to reach remote areas. For example, 100 tents were airdropped into one of the villages in Balakot (Pakistan) last week in which ACT is working.
ACT is also in India working with local partners to provide 1,000 families with blankets, woollen clothing material, tarpaulins and utensils. With the winter due very soon, it is essential that people have strong temporary shelters – tin sheets and stoves are also being distributed.
You can help now
Donate to Y Care International’s Asia Earthquake Emergency Appeal via our website with a credit or debit card, or over the counter at high street building societies and some banks.
Read appeal updates and donate online at www.ycare.org.uk
