UN-Habitat Pakistan is starting its third year of activities in support of the reconstruction of safer housing in the mountainous areas affected by the October 2005 earthquake.
Since October 2005, for its earthquake response, UN-Habitat Pakistan has mobilised $16 million. The main focus of the activities has been on providing basic training and technical advice to rebuild earthquake resistant houses. This has been strongly supported by the strengthening or creation of thousands of community organisations.
Housing reconstruction in post-earthquake Pakistan is internationally recognised as an unprecedented success with two-thirds of the 600,000 houses damaged or destroyed already rebuilt after two years.
With heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures reaching as low as minus 14, this winter is the most severe experienced in northern Pakistan for more than a decade. Because of the rate of reconstruction, there is no increase of mortality during this winter.The year 2008 will be the last important building season as the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) would finalise the housing reconstruction programme by the third year commemoration of the earthquake in October 2008.
One major achievement of the UN-Habitat has been to contribute to broadening building standard options and by doing so, ensuring that the maximum number of beneficiaries (often the most vulnerable) have access to financial assistance for housing reconstruction.