Refugees International is conducting a humanitarian assessment mission to the earthquake damaged areas in Pakistan from Dec. 9-15. Farooq Kathwari, the chairman of RI’s board, is leading the assessment. Kathwari, the president, CEO and chairman of Ethan Allen Inc., is a refugee from Kashmir.

The RI team is focusing on the best strategies for dealing with the extensive internal displacement caused by the October earthquake. In meetings with government leaders, officials from UN and relief organizations and victims of the earthquake, RI is focusing on these major issues:

• Preparations for population movements to lower altitudes as winter sets in.
• The level of coordination among national, local, UN and humanitarian agencies, particularly in terms of resource allocation.
• The transition from emergency relief to rehabilitation and development so that people can rebuild and return to their homes and villages as soon as possible. School reconstruction is a particularly important to rebuilding communities.