ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: While initial response to the devastating earthquake in Azad Kashmir and NWFP focused on relief, temporary housing and emergency health care, there is now an urgent need to move beyond these activities and begin rebuilding the affected region’s economic infrastructure.

In response to this need, Washington DC based organisation - Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs (CNFA) - has been awarded a cooperative agreement from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement the Improving Livelihoods and Enterprise Development (ILED) project in the earthquake-affected areas.

This was stated by Tim K. Ekin, programme director CNFA-ILED, at a stakeholder planning meeting with private sector representatives from Bagh and Mansehra districts and companies based in Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, etc., as well as the banking, finance and credit sector including Kushhali Bank, Bank of Khyber and representatives from Erra, USAID, CNFA, Relief International and the World Bank.

The $28 million three-year programme is working alongside the government of Pakistan to assist the affected communities in rebuilding their livelihoods and enterprises.

ILED is an integral component of USAID/Pakistan’s earthquake reconstruction programme for the reconstruction and recovery of the health and education sectors along with restoration of economic livelihoods.

The ILED strategy, implemented in collaboration with Relief International (RI), is aimed at facilitating the successful transition from relief and reconstruction to broad-based economic growth and increased employment in the largely agricultural-based affected regions. Through a collaborative community-based mix of technical assistance, voucher and cash for work initiatives and strategically targeted matching enterprise grants, the ILED is focused on three components: reconstruction of existing livelihoods, value-chain development, and local economic development.

Since its inception in early August, the ILED team, with the coordination efforts of the government of Pakistan, has been fully integrating USAID’s commitment of ‘building back better’ and is well on its way to supporting economic development through restored livelihoods and enterprise opportunities.