The political instability has reached at its peak in Pakistan resulting in unreliable security situation in all parts of the country. The judicial crisis has been settled down but followed by the country's worst law and order issue i.e. the event of Red Mosque which was followed by a series of suicide bomb attacks in NWFP and Islamabad. Moreover Balochistan is under emergency due to heavy floods and monsoon rain.
The summer heat is at its peak these days with temperature escalating to 45 degree centigrade coupled with the high humidity due to monsoon. Hot weather has increased problems for common people living in prefabricated shelters. In this regard 247 fans were provided to the prefab owners in UC Bani Pasari and Malkot in Bagh. Similarly assessment of twenty new shelters and improvement of 370 shelters have been completed. Similarly assessment of 300 families has been completed for shelters and cash grants in all four UCs in Battagram. Most of these families are those who had migrated after the earthquake and now, returned to their villages.
The extension of two community centers in Panyali and Makhdoom kot has been completed while the construction of remaining three community centers in Bagh is under process. In Battagram, community center Hill has been completed while improvement of Chanjal CC is underway.
Furthermore, in Muzafarabad, socio-technical feasibility for the improvement of all community centers has been finalized. Due to heavy storm last month, the roof of Mervania center was demolished and maintenance work is being done through contingency budget.
Water supply remained the key area of focus during the last month. In Bagh, work on water supply scheme in village Sudan Gala was started with the help of community. In Battagram, a water supply scheme (WSS) in Goryar was completed which will benefit its four villages while procurement of material is in process for WSS Kandar Pokal and Hunri Pokal. Furthermore, 20 hand pumps have been installed in villages of Battamori, Rajmera, Jasole and Rabat.
As house hold sanitation remains a huge problem in the earthquake affected areas, ERP is also assessing the need of the community and providing latrines according to the requirement. In this regard assessment of 187 families has been completed. Similarly construction of 32 latrines is underway in Mansehra.
All the health centers are operating effectively and the field staff has started their efforts to mainstream these centers with the help of government authorities. In this regard the health department in Battagram and Muzafarabad showed interest to take over ActionAid health centers .These health centers will be handed over after necessary documentation. Respiratory tract infection, anemia, gastroenteritis, gastritis /peptic-ulcer, diabetes, UTI,Hypertension and scabies are the common diseases among the patients.
In Bagh, with the coordination of the child protection unit of social welfare department, child festival was organized in which four hundred children from different schools and children from ActionAid project area participated. In Battagram, construction of shelter for community model school Jesol and Rajmera is in progress. Two fair price shops in government primary school Battamori and Shumlai have been established while eight schools have been provided sports materials in Battagram.
In terms of livelihood restoration and provision, livestock de-warming campaign was arranged in village Makhdoom kot while assessment of fifty families for the poultry distribution in both union councils has been done. A technical training on plumbing was arranged in Muzafarabad. Apart from that, two mixture machines were provided to communities due to which the cost of cement block production reduced by rupees 22. In Mansehra assessment and identification for kitchen gardening and vocational training for disables has been completed.
All field staff regularly meets on weekly basis to reflect and plain jointly. Similarly the health staff also meets regularly on weekly basis to discuss issues pertaining in the health sector. Field office Mansehra has been regularly participating in the DRR coordination meetings. Similarly three trainings were organized for the community volunteers and the fourth training is planned for the coming month. All staff also participated in the refresher on Paulo Friere Approach.
The Earthquake Victims Rights Movement (EVRM) has focused the Economic Literacy and Budget Accountability for Governance (ELBAG) activities this month and formed a Monitoring Forum to track the government budget and progress of the development projects. Moreover five women from each field office have been facilitated to participate in the Women Convention in Islamabad. In Muzafarabad two gender forums were organized to sensitize community members about their roles and responsibilities.
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