Earthquake Assistance:

Camp Management

An estimated 3.2 million individuals (roughly equivalent to the population of Los Angeles) in the quake region are homeless. They are scattered among 15,000 villages over an area of 77,700 sq km. More than seventy percent of houses in the area have been destroyed, with at least 30 percent damaged.

While tent villages have been set up by various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and are being managed by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) to provide essential services and facilities, in reality, the number of organized camps has not kept up with the actual need. Spontaneous camps have sprung up throughout the region, most of which have limited sanitation, medical care, food supplies or any other necessities. Most are nothing more than a group of tents set up together by groups of relatives.

With no access to clean water, and lack of sanitation facilities, the situation is ripe for infectious disease to spread rapidly in the coming weeks.

Dosti has provided critical help to displaced people - and to UNHCR - in both organized and spontaneous camps.

• Dosti teams collected data and conducted needs assessments on the surviving population of Balakot and on internally displaced people in the area. The data was then provided to UNHCR and other International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs) to help them plan and expedite their relief efforts.
• Dosti provided water and sanitation facilities to more than 650 families. Dosti team members also assisted UNHCR with identifying need for such facilities in other area camps.
• Dosti assisted UNHCR in distributing warm bedding, stoves, and water jugs.
• Dosti is developing several community centers to serve unaccompanied women, providing skill development training and psycho-social counseling services.