January 21, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 20, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 20: The international donors must recognize the urgent need for more permanent shelters for quake victims, says Save the Children, an NGO. More than three months after the worst calamity in the country’s history, funding for shelter needs is far from adequate with only 18 per cent of the money needed having been committed.

“This lack of funding has left earthquake-affected families unable to upgrade their current shelters (mostly tents) or to rebuild their homes in time for the winter. There were widespread reports of tents collapsing under the weight of snow, and a move to provide more adequate shelter is now imperative,” said documentation and communication coordinator of the NGO Munazza Siddiqui.

Chief Executive of Save the Children, Jasmine Whitbread, said: “Tents should only be a very temporary solution. Children should not be living in tents in these temperatures for long periods of time. We have learnt lessons from tsunami and if one year on from the earthquake in South Asia children are spending another winter in a tent then the international community will have failed them. Semi-permanent shelter needs to be properly funded as a matter of urgency.”

Jasmine Whitbread will be visiting the earthquake-affected areas of Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Batagram on Sunday to see Save the Children’s response to the emergency, Ms Siddiqui told Dawn. “Save the Children has responded to earthquakes across the world and experience has shown it takes up to three years to reconstruct permanent homes.