Interview with UN Humanitarian Coordinator six months after South Asian quake

Pakistan sustained the heaviest death toll and destruction in its 58-year history after a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake ripped through the north of the country and Pakistani-administered Kashmir on 8 October last year. More than 80,000 people were killed and over 100,000 were injured while nearly 4 million people were rendered homeless just weeks before the start of the bitter Himalayan winter. Six months on, the emergency relief phase is almost over and focus is shifting towards rebuilding the shattered region. The UN's Humanitarian Coordinator in Pakistan, Jan Vandemootele, spoke to IRIN in Islamabad about the massive national and international relief effort and the prospects for reconstruction. QUESTION: Where does the whole relief/recovery operation stand six months on? ANSWER: It is almost beyond belief that we are now getting beyond relief in this earthquake disaster. Six months ago, I would never have thought of this situation today where we could talk about strategies and plans for reconstruction and recovery. So, as we speak, six months on, I think we have had a complex operation but a successful operation. We didn’t have any second wave of death, we didn’t see a massive movement of people from the mountains into valleys and we didn’t see outbreaks of major diseases and epidemics that many had feared. Q: Overall the quake relief operation is being considered a success, what do you think was the key to success here and what is there left to do? A: I think as usual when there is success, there tend to be many people who claim partnership in that success. But in this case, I think [there are] two factors: strong national leadership provided by the FRC [Federal Relief Commission] and the army on the ground and, second, well-coordinated support from the humanitarian community. The best success story has been the managing of the fleet of helicopters. At one point, we had over 100 helicopters flying in this operation and they were managed by a joint unit. So, it didn’t matter where the helicopters came from, they were from the UN, the US, from the UK, Australia, Germany, from NATO, from the Pakistani military etc. This was symptomatic of good collaboration among the partners. But, having said all that, coordination can never be perfect, so we did have some cases of duplication and gaps. Throughout this exercise, we had rapid response teams available, so that whenever we heard a gap [in aid] existed when a village or a cluster of hamlets had been bypassed we were able to respond immediately within 24 hours very often. On the data side, we had the usual challenges of knowing what the baseline situation was, what the delivery [of assistance] had been, what the [aid] pipeline was like. This was a challenge and is still a challenge. That’s why we hear these conflicting numbers in terms of tents and iron sheets delivered. But this is natural and part of the business. Q: There has been a great deal of discussion about rebuilding. What is your overall assessment of what is taking place at the moment and how long the process will take? A: It’ll take a long time. Of course some people will see a sense of normalcy sooner than others. I think the people who live in rural areas and in the mountains are probably going to be the ones who will see a sense of normalcy first. The reconstruction has already been going on there for the last two to three months. The people who live in urban centres, I think, will not see that normalcy as quickly. As we heard, the reports on the rebuilding of major urban centres like Balakot - it has to be relocated, similarly some parts of Muzzafarabad also. This will create huge logistical, administrative and legal problems. Likewise, the cost of urban infrastructure is much more capital intensive. It will take much longer to rebuild houses, roads, bridges, hospitals, and schools. So those people will see a sense of normalcy much later, maybe in two to three years. Q: What specific efforts is your office making to address that? A: We are very much engaging now with the new authority that was established for the reconstruction and rehabilitation, the ERRA [Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority]. We are helping to build capacity, together with several other international partners, and we are providing systems in formulating strategies, in the various sectors like education, health etc. We are mostly concerned with what normally happens [when] relief comes to an end and the reconstruction phase is not yet ready. We are now hearing that almost on a daily basis various groups are leaving the quake-affected area, which is normal and which is good. But if everybody is leaving and what if nobody comes in to fill that gap for a while. It is where we are working very closely with ERRA and other partners, what we called the early recovery. This is not rebuilding as such, but this is laying the foundation for the successful reconstruction phase mainly through two means. One is by capacity building and providing training to various people in districts, such as teachers and masons. Secondly, by ensuring the successful and safe return of thousands of people who have spent winter in camps. Q: In terms of the government, what measures are in place to ensure international assistance reaches those most in need in the forthcoming recovery? A: This is again a huge undertaking. One cannot overestimate the complexity of this reconstruction phase. The relief phase, which just ended, was difficult enough but the reconstruction involves many more logistical nightmares. So measures are in place to make sure that we are going to reach those in need. In the relief phase the approach was very simple - blanket coverage for everyone. Now the relief is over we are moving into a much more targeted approach. I think the government is taking the right approach there and has started differentiating between the vulnerable and non-vulnerable. Because non-vulnerable [people] have other means to revive their livelihoods, they can use their own savings, networks, remittances, bank loans and various other things. We are looking at the most vulnerable to make sure that they are not missing out. Q: Although the donor response has been quite generous, how concerned are you that the plight of these people and their efforts to rebuild will fall off the radar screen? A: It is important to underscore that this operation so far has been well provided for and generously supported by the international donor community. You will remember that in October there was much talk about donor fatigue. We have not seen that occurring; donors have been very generous towards the UN flash appeal and also in making pledges at the reconstruction conference in November 2005. Now the challenge is to make those pledges into real contributions. The only thing that will help that is if we can sustain progress on the ground. Success breeds success. If the schools and rural hospitals are coming up and if houses are starting to be rebuilt, I think the donors will say this is good and I want to be part of this and, as I said in the beginning, success tends to have many parents.