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We are taking part in the Partnership Walk & Run  which takes place on Sunday 10th July 2011 in Hyde Park, London. The 10 km Walk & Run is a fundraising initiative of the Aga Khan Foundation (United Kingdom). 

This year AKF (UK) will invest every penny raised to help communities in Pakistan affected by the devastating floods of 2010.  AKF and its affiliates in the AKDN have over 40 years’ experience of working in Pakistan.  The money raised from the 2011 Walk & Run will support an AKDN programme that will help families in Pakistan to rebuild their homes.

In the summer of 2010, Pakistan was hit by devastating floods which engulfed one-fifth of the country (nearly 62,000 square miles or an area larger than England). Despair affected over 18 million people, with widespread loss of lives, crops and livestock.  Just about every physical strand that knit the country together–roads, bridges, schools, clinics, electricity supplies and communications networks–was damaged.

AKDN agencies have over 40 years' presence in Pakistan, and were therefore able to respond quickly to the immediate needs of affected communities.  AKDN and its affiliate agencies have already mobilised widespread relief and recovery efforts across Pakistan. This has included distribution of food, tents and blankets, and provision of medical aid and water and sanitation services.

See http://www.akdn.org/Content/1009 for more information about AKDN agencies' response to the floods.

The flood damage goes beyond immediate physical devastation. The effects have been compounded by high inflation, loss of livelihoods and decline in public sector services. Inability to restore services in the near future will leave communities without access to communications, road transport, energy, healthcare and other critical social services. AKDN’s established network of agencies in Pakistan are now working together to help people rebuild their lives and communities for the long term.

Often people in the most remote parts of a disaster-struck region suffer the most from loss of infrastructure and services. Therefore as part of the next step in the recovery process, AKDN is focusing on helping the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral (GBC), a northern and remote part of Pakistan, to rebuild their lives.

Approximately 5,000 family homes in GBC were either damaged or completely destroyed by the floods, and thousands of people are currently living in temporary shelters or with friends or relatives.

AKDN is committed to the reconstruction of permanent housing. Across 104 villages in GBC, over 1,800 homes need to be built. The estimated cost of constructing a house is US$9,000 + community contribution. AKDN will support families by providing a subsidy to ensure that the new homes they build are seismically resistant and have thermal insulation.  Each house can accommodate a family of nine and will have water, sanitation services and electricity connections. This will ensure that new homes provide adequate long-term shelter, and that homes are better able to withstand future tremors.

Enabling communities to rebuild their homes is an essential step to reconstructing the infrastructure of GBC as well as renewing peoples’ confidence and hope for the future.

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