July 25, 2007	Wednesday	Rajab 09, 1428

RAWALPINDI, July 24: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank will lead a damage and needs-assessment study to provide preliminary estimates of reconstruction costs, following the cyclone and floods that hit Sindh and Balochistan recently.

They will use the same methodology used in their joint ‘2005 Pakistan earthquake damage and needs assessment.’ The data will be compiled into a report for the Pakistan government for assessing reconstruction and rehabilitation needs.

Data-collection experts will travel to Quetta and Karachi on Wednesday to begin a two-week field assessment of the 16 most- affected districts in Balochistan and Sindh, where an estimated 371,000 people are feared to have lost their homes and 2.5 million more affected, says a joint press statement released by the ADB and the World Bank.

The teams will gather data in 14 sectors, including governance, economic assistance, housing, livelihood, water and sanitation, energy, agriculture and irrigation, health, education, social protection, environment, private sector and industries, as well as hazards management, climate change and flood management.

According to a new situation, the report compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA), the assessments, to be carried out at the request of the federal government and assessment teams, will work with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and provincial government focal points on the ground. Each of the clusters has been asked to provide one technical specialist.

A Cluster Technical Working Group has been established to develop technical guidelines and standards for design and construction of non-tent shelters. The Working Group includes UN- Habitat, Care-International, NRC, SPO, Mercy Corps, Unicef, Nespak and provincial engineering departments, says the report.

Meanwhile, in both Sindh and Balochistan, increasing cases of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) have been reported. The data show that more than 20 per cent of the cases reported daily were AWD- related. MSF-Belgium established a diarrhoea treatment centre in the Turbat district. In Sindh there were over 5,000 reported cases of diarrhoea.

Unicef’s joint rapid assessment indicates that in the Kharan district, 80 per cent schools and 100 per cent of katcha schools have been damaged. There is now a need to build at least 100 schools in the district.

In the Kech district, 150 out of 540 schools have been affected and 13 of them are being used as relief camps.

In the Khuzdar district, 60 schools for boys and 20 schools for girls have been affected out of the total 660 schools there. Some 90 per cent of schools in all affected districts require learning materials and school furniture, says the situation report.

On the other hand, the Opec Fund for International Development (OFID) has announced the approval of a grant of 300,000 dollars for essential relief supplies and support emergency operations for flood and cyclone victims in Pakistan.

The grant will be channelled through the ICRC and the Pakistan Red Crescent Society. Emergency relief operations have been ongoing, and according to the latest assessments, immediate requirements included shelter, food and medical supplies.