MANSEHRA, June 7: Speakers at a workshop, including some women from the quake-affected areas of Balakot tehsil, have appreciated the international rescue and relief initiatives but have spelt out their priorities vis-a-vis the rehabilitation work.

The workshop, which was organised by the World Vision, was attended by the quake-affected people from Kaghan and Sathbani Hangrai, besides 30 other villages.

The World Vision has launched the Kaghan Area Integration Development Programme (KADP) to boost the incomes of men and women because they had lost their livelihood in the wake of Pakistan’s worst calamity.

Nazims and men and women councillors said that NGOs like the World Vision came forward to help the affected people in the wake of the earthquake and now it had launched an initiative to increase the incomes of the survivors, which was a noble thing to do.

They appreciated the constitution of the Child Protection Programme and its functions. They added that the educational and other programmes of the World Vision would bring a change for the better in the area.

They proposed that a vocational training programme should be chalked out for the womenfolk according to the environment and requirements of the area.

World Vision’s Kaghan Area Development Manager Farid Alam said: “We organised this event because we want to create a sense of responsibility and ownership of the programmes developed by the World Vision Pakistan for the Kaghan area.”

He said: “Our programme will serve about 7,000 children and their families. We need and value communities’ input in order to develop our projects in education, livelihood, and emergency response and disaster mitigation.”