The U.S. goverrnment has been on the forefront of relief and reconstruction since the October 2005 earthquake struck Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) regions. Along with other donors, the U.S. provided medical and social relief to 2. 6 million survivors and helped them return to their communities. USAID's $200 million, five year Earthquake Reconstruction Program is rebuilding 56 schools and 19 health facilities destroyed by the earthquake; reviving and improving education and healthcare services by training teachers and medical staff; restoring livelihoods with expanded economic opportunities and helping the population return to their previous lifestyle.

To increase the sense of local ownership, USAID has called upon communities to play an important part in the long-term management and maintenance of these institutions.

Accomplishments

• Rebuilt school buildings that provide improved learning environments to approximately 20,000 schoolchildren between ages 5 and 16.
• Improved the quality of education in earthquake-affected areas by training teachers in student-centered methodologies. In three districts of AJK, USAID trained 50 percent of the total 14,644 government teachers. In the Mansehra district of NWFP, 34 percent of 9,047 government school teachers were trained, benefitting approximately 206,000 Pakistani students.
• Reconstructed five healthcare facilities in Bagh district that provide basic healthcare to approximately 200,000 people.
• Trained over 800 staff on maternal/newborn healthcare; provided immunization against childhood diseases; prevented and treated pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria; and provided medicines and care for obstetric emergencies to a target population of 2.2 million. Fourteen more health facilities are under construction in the Bagh district.
• Strengthened district education and health management systems by training the staff and updating their equipment.
• Established a community-management culture to monitor and improve reconstruction, education and healthcare services. A total of 2,140 community organizations, representing 2.2 million people, have been initiated since startup.
• Helped the affected population increase their average annual income through livestock replacement and grants for enterprise development. Through this work USAID generated over 70,000 employment opportunities, benefitting over 26,000 households. Similarly, more than 10,000 women have been trained in modern agricultural techniques and milking production.
• Provided 700 grants to promote industries and to strengthen local economic capacity in the areas of tourism; bakery, fruit, walnut, milk, meat, vegetable production and processing, and farm-related services.
• Increased access to micro-finance, re-established markets and expanded trade opportunities thereby increasing the per capita income in the earthquake-affected areas by 81 percent.

By restoring and improving healthcare, education and livelihoods, the USAID Earthquake Reconstruction Program enables people to return to normal lives. It also contributes to the Government of Pakistan's strategy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 of improved healthcare, increased education opportunities, reduction of poverty and better management.