ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Two years after an earthquake devastated Azad Kashmir and vast areas of the NWFP, life for about 3,000 children orphaned on that fateful day, in 2005, continues to be grim.
According to a study conducted by an international organisation, concerted efforts are needed to improve the lot of children displaced and orphaned by the quake.
According to the Save the Children report, progress has been made for affected communities, but there is need to do more for children.
The NGO says it has reached more than 309,000 children and 80,000 affected families and worked closely with the government and communities to promote the rights of children.
It now identifies protection, nutrition and education as key areas for the well-being of the quake-affected children.
The survey says more than 3,000 children orphaned by the earthquake are still living in madressahs (11 per cent) and private orphanages (78 per cent).
Highlighting the extreme damage caused to younger children, it has demanded a ban on institutionalisation of children under three and promotion of family-based care models for all children.
Save the Children has identified nutrition as another area where children need support, particularly in rural areas.
In a recent study in Allai valley of the Batagram district, the NGO found that 80 per cent of children have visible goitres — a sign of iodine deficiency — and more than 60 per cent suffer from intestinal worms, which can cause chronic nourishment.
Save the Children is working with schools and government health facilities to address the issues which are an underlying cause of illness, school drop-out and poverty.
In Mansehra district, Save the Children surveyed 10,000 children who are not enrolled in schools and found that in 57 per cent of cases they or their parents did not feel that local schools taught children the skills they could use, or were of poor quality.
Other reasons included distance between schools and homes as well as a need for children for some income.
By working with communities to promote education, Save the Children has been able to get many of these children enrolled.
“However, more is needed to make schools relevant for children, particularly girls,” says the survey.
