May 06, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1428

ISLAMABAD, May 5: The Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (Erra) has established over 100 child friendly spaces across the earthquake affected region.

This was stated by Deputy Chairman Erra Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmad while talking to a 10-member group of children which returned here on Friday night from Bangkok after attending the first ever Regional Youth Forum on National Disasters.

According to a press release, the children — from earthquake-hit areas of Battagram and Mansehra (NWFP), and Muzaffarabad and Bagh (AJK) with ages ranging between 9 to 15 years — had jointly been identified by the Erra and Unicef and were accompanied by Martin Mogwanja, Unicef representative in Pakistan.

Lt-Gen Ahmed said people of the region had confronted a series of disasters in the recent past that affected the children physically and emotionally, and there was a need to address the psychosocial fallout of the catastrophic calamities.

He hoped that the children would meet with government officials in their home districts and would not only share their experiences but also ensure that the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts include the issues and needs of children.

Erra deputy chairman appreciated the USAID, Unicef and local NGOs from the participating countries and Thailand’s ministry of public health for organizing the visit.

He assured the authority would continue to work for physical and emotional rehabilitation of quake-hit people, specially children in collaboration with its partners and all stakeholders, while at the same time ensuring better housing, healthcare, education and infrastructure facilities in the quake-hit areas.

Danish Azad, 15, from Bagh said: “During the forum, we learnt how to be prepared for a disaster and how to use an emergency kit.

There are a lot of misconceptions about earthquakes, many people think that they should remain inside their homes, and this caused a lot of deaths two years ago.’’