93476 Reconstructing Lives and Homes, and Preparing for the Next Time May 7, 2012 The Pakistan Earthquake: Addressing Challenges, Creating Opportunities Overview The International Development Association (IDA) joined with the Government of Pakistan to help it address the daunting recovery needs in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake. This included, from 2006 to 2010, the reconstruction of approximately 80,000 housing units out of a total of 430,000 reconstructed, the provision of livelihood support for approximately 280,000 households, of which 27% were headed by females, and building capacity within institutions to better manage recovery and rehabilitation activities. Challenge The 2005 Pakistan earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.6, was the most debilitating natural disaster in Pakistan’s history at the time. The quake killed approximately 73,000 people and left more than 70,000 people injured or disabled. Over 2.8 million people were left without shelter and an estimated 2.3 million people were without adequate food. Initial estimates indicated that over 600,000 housing units were either completely destroyed or partially damaged. The direct damages to public and private assets in MORE the eight most-affected districts were estimated How Pakistan Earthquake Could Help Haiti at US$2.3 billion, while indirect losses were Documentary: Hope to Reality estimated at US$576 million. Unprecedented challenges due to the sheer scale of the disaster, the overwhelming human toll, and the imminence of a severe Himalayan winter season warranted More Results immediate national, international, civil society, and private sector response. Approach The Bank played a key role in supporting the Government of 460,000 seismic-resistant homes Pakistan in dealing with the immediate consequences of the reconstructed disaster, as well as longer-term reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. The design of the Bank’s overall approach was guided by its experience with previous earthquake emergency operations in Iran, India, and Turkey. The International Development Association (IDA) provided US$400 million through the Earthquake Emergency Recovery 280,000 vulnerable families received Credit to support the government’s earthquake reconstruction cash grants program, which included, among other things housing reconstruction, livelihood support, capacity building, and import financing. MORE INFORMATION At the outset, the project adopted a flexible approach: whereas policy and strategy formulation were centralized, Project Documents implementation, monitoring, and reporting mechanisms were Earthquake Reconstruction and decentralized. The functioning of a robust and Rehabilitation Authority comprehensive reporting, monitoring and evaluation system, Pakistan Blog Entries developed jointly by the Bank and the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), ensured Country Website that substantial results were achieved, particularly in the Connect with us on Facebook critical areas of housing reconstruction, and livelihoods Talk to us on Twitter support. Furthermore, by implementing many of the recovery measures through government departments, the project helped strengthen key institutions and the building of capacities in disaster risk reduction across a number of implementing agencies. Results By the time the project was brought to a closure in 2010, the project had achieved notable successes: The Earthquake Emergency Recovery Project financed 15 percent of the government’s US$1.5-billion Rural Housing Reconstruction Programme (RHRP), which was a homeowner-driven design initiative. It also supported capacity building at the community level for seismic-resistant reconstruction. From 2006 to 2010, over 430,000 seismic-resistant houses had been reconstructed (out of which 80,000 were financed from the Project), which represented 96 percent of total housing reconstruction ; The project provided monthly cash grants to more than 280,000 vulnerable families from 2006 to 2007, of which 27% were female-headed households; It also provided US$85 million financing to the government to partially finance the imports of items required for immediate relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation activities. This component received additional financing of US$300 million following the unprecedented floods across Pakistan in 2010; Finally, the project focused on institutional capacity building as well as disaster risk management, with funds provided to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to undertake various activities of this kind. These included the establishment of a National Emergency Operations Center, piloting of Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) program in Muzaffarabad and Mansehra districts, development of a National Disaster Response Plan, and formulation of standard operating procedures. Voices I now live in a new seismic resistant home without the fear of losing my grandchildren to an earthquake. It is a dream which has come true.   — Rahmat Jan, Earthquake Victim Bank Contribution The Earthquake Emergency Recovery Project initially provided US$400 million through IDA funding, of which US$220 million was earmarked for the housing reconstruction component. The livelihoods support and import financing components were allocated US$85 million each and US$10 million was assigned to the capacity building component. Following the floods of 2010, an additional US$300 million was provided to the import financing component. Partners While there were no co-financers for this project, a number of development partners, donor organizations, non-governmental organizations, and civil society organizations were stakeholders in the government-led Rural Housing Reconstruction Program. Toward the Future The reconstruction effort helped establish a culture of seismic-resistant construction in the project beneficiary areas and the impact rippled more broadly outside these areas through training, public awareness campaigns, and social mobilization activities backed by project financing. A government impact survey conducted in 2009 found that 72 percent of housing reconstruction beyond the government’s Rural Housing Reconstruction Program followed the same seismic-resistant housing model that was developed for the project. The Bank project also supported efforts to develop a strategic approach to disaster risk management in Pakistan, based on risk identification, risk mitigation and reduction, capacity building, and preparedness.