A Refugees International team will return to Pakistan from August 8 to 30, following up on three previous missions to assess the response to the Oct. 8, 2005, earthquake. Michael McIntyre, RI’s Director of Operations, and Tim Connolly, a consultant, will focus on the progress to date of the reconstruction of earthquake affected regions and cities, with special attention to the role of civil society organizations.

Reconstructing the urban areas of Pakistan affected by the October 8 earthquake has presented an array of challenges to the Government of Pakistan and its partners. Urban recovery efforts will last many years and will result in serious and continued displacement and inequities in the lives of those from urban areas. The Government of Pakistan’s Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) is slowly recognizing this reality, but has not yet begun a comprehensive planning process to address it. Concentrating on the less challenging rural reconstruction allows ERRA to show immediate results, as opposed to the longer term efforts required to make a visible difference in urban areas. It is imperative that the Government of Pakistan commit itself to longer term efforts in order to prepare the country for potential emergencies and displacement during the upcoming winter.

While April 1 marked the end of the relief stage and the start of the reconstruction stage, RI has concluded that for many displaced and marginalized populations, relief efforts are likely to continue for several years. Based on its April 2006 mission, RI concluded that the recovery efforts were strongly impacted by the complexity of the crisis, the late start in effective planning and implementation, the lack of coordination between the government and implementers, and the limited engagement of civil society in a meaningful and productive way.

The August 2006 mission will focus on the current status of the rebuilding of the rural and urban areas as well as the plans to deal with the complex issues of urban recovery. RI will study and analyze the effectiveness of the coordination efforts by the military and ERRA versus the recovery efforts implemented by local or international NGOs. The mission also aims to identify activities that will improve the social infrastructure and determine whether appropriate relief activities are being planned for the upcoming winter.