ISLAMABAD, June 14: Lack of authentic and updated data on earthquake orphans has held back the process of policy formation for rehabilitation and protection of children who lost their parents in the wake of October 2005 earthquake.

This was observed by panelists at a discussion organised by the Rural Development Policy Institute (RDPI) and Practical Action South Asia here.

Representatives of Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (Erra), Ministry of Social Welfare and Save the Children, who were among the panelists, conceded that a final survey to collect information on orphan children had yet to be started in July and this would be used as a baseline for the implementation of social protection strategy for orphans.

Rabia Nizam, a consultant on social protection, Erra, said according to an initial survey conducted in March 2006, about 17,800 children lost their fathers, 22,000 lost their mothers and 1,700 lost both father and mother. According to a rough estimate, Ms Nizam said there were about 40,000 to 60,000 children who became orphan in the wake of October 2005 earthquake.

Contradicting the basis of these figures, Salma Jaffar of Save the Children maintained that these were quite conservative figures as this survey was done as early as in March 2006 when internally displaced persons (IDPs) were living in temporary shelters.

“While after the return of IDPs, no specific survey on orphanage was conducted and no policy was formulated to address the issues of these children at long-term basis,” she contended.

Salma Jaffar criticised the earlier official policy on “institutionalisation of orphans in orphanage for longer time”.

She highlighted the emotional and psychological distortions that were associated with the growth of children in sanctuaries and orphanages. Therefore, the re-integration of children with families should be the guiding principle of any forthcoming policy, she suggested.

Hasan Mangi, Director, National Commission for Child Welfare and Development (NCCWD), Ministry of Social Welfare, said there was a crisis of capacity among the governing institutions, which caused this confusion of figures and policy formulation on child protection issues. However, they have now come up with National Plan for Action focusing on child protection in quake-hit areas, Mr Mangi said.

“In collaboration with Unicef, we will formulate a rehabilitation strategy for the orphans till July 2007.”

It was also noted by the panelists that there was still a greater need for enhancing inter-agency cooperation to ensure an efficient service delivery in relation to earthquake recovery and rehabilitation.