Pakistan

Newsline

Mother and Child Health Week brings health services to children and mothers in Pakistan
UMERKOT, Pakistan, 16 December 2009 – Pneumonia is one of the main causes of death in children under five-years-old in Pakistan. Sidori Churon is one mother that wanted to prevent such a death from happening to her child. She and her four-month-old baby, Isar, attended a health session designed to teach mothers how to spot the signs of pneumonia in their small children.

Education provides a future for children in earthquake-affected Pakistan
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 5 November 2009 – The earthquake that devastated this region in 2005 was a catastrophe for schoolchildren in Pakistan. An estimated 17,000 students were killed in their classrooms, and 6,000 schools damaged or destroyed.

Polio vaccination effort reaches children in Pakistan
GADAP TOWN, Pakistan, 29 October 2009 – As part of a national immunization campaign, Ruksana Bilqis has been working for the past two months as a polio community mobilizer in Gadap Town, a community of conservative Pashtu speakers from North-West Frontier Province and the tribal areas near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

Conflict intensifies as winter closes in on displaced families in Pakistan
NEW YORK, USA, 26 October 2009 – Women and children in north-western Pakistan are once again on the move because of conflict in the region.

Rebuilding lives of families conflict-affected in Swat
MINGORA, Pakistan, 13 August 2009 – Taj Meena, a mother of ten, hails from a small village in the beautiful Marguzar Valley, once a popular tourist haven in the Swat District of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. When conflict began in April, her family, unlike thousands of others, chose to stay.

Children who stayed behind in conflict-affected areas need support
MINGORA, Pakistan, 10 August 2009 – At the newly reopened Mingora Central Hospital, 12-year-old Maryam huddles close to her elderly grandmother Musakhel.

Polio immunization drive reaches children on the move in Pakistan
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, 31 July 2009 – Dr. Mohammed Salem walks alongside volunteers carrying small coolers filled with oral polio vaccine around the streets of Fauji Colony in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province.

In north-west Pakistan, some families displaced by conflict begin the journey home
NEW YORK, 17 July 2009 – As UNICEF turns its attention to ensuring that children affected by the conflict in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province get back to school on time, the first of some 2 million displaced people have started to return home.

Children from conflict hit areas in Pakistan urgently need life-saving health services
TAKKAR, Mardan District, Pakistan, 16 July 2009 – It is sweltering and overcrowded in the Government Higher Secondary School in Takkar, which is now home to 106 displaced families from conflict-hit areas of Swat and Buner districts in north-west Pakistan.

In north-west Pakistan, host families welcome the displaced but struggle to cope
TAKHTBAI, Pakistan, 8 July 2009 – “Aeroplanes would come and drop bombs,” recalls Ajmal, 8. “There were mortar shells hitting our house. We children would cry. On the way it was very difficult and we could not walk – especially the little children, and we had to carry them on our backs.”

Executive Board closes Annual Session, mourning the loss of a colleague
NEW YORK, USA, 11 June 2009 – The last day of the Annual Session of UNICEF’s Executive Board began on a sombre note yesterday morning. Executive Director Ann M. Veneman eulogized Perseveranda So, Chief of Education in UNICEF’s Islamabad office, who was killed in a hotel bombing in Peshawar, Pakistan on 9 June. The Executive Board followed with a moment of silence in Ms. So’s memory.

UNICEF Pakistan Chief of Education Perseveranda So killed in Peshawar bombing
NEW YORK, USA, 10 June 2009 – The continuing violence in northwest Pakistan claimed yet more lives yesterday, when a vehicle forced its way into the car park of the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar and exploded. Among those killed in the attack was Perseveranda So, 52, who served as Chief of Education in UNICEF’s Islamabad office.

In memoriam: Perseveranda So, 1956-2009
NEW YORK, USA, 10 June 2009 – The UNICEF family today mourns the tragic loss of Perseveranda So in the bombing of a hotel in northwest Pakistan last night. We miss her already. She personified UNICEF at its best, and we will honour her by carrying on her work – our work – with her memory in our hearts.

Health services for mothers and pregnant women displaced by conflict in Pakistan
MARDAN, Pakistan, 5 June 2009 – “I have nothing for my unborn child. I had made so many clothes for my baby but I couldn’t bring them with me,” says Azra who is nine-months pregnant with her third child and has come for a pre-natal check-up at the UNICEF-supported Comprehensive Healthcare Unit in Sheikh Yasin Camp in Mardan.

Reaching out to families torn apart by fighting in Pakistan
NOWSHERA, Pakistan, 5 June 2009 – Three weeks ago, Hanifa and her four children fled their home in Mingora, in the Swat valley in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, where fighting has intensified heavily over the past month.

Bringing stability to the lives of displaced children in Pakistan
SWABI, Pakistan, 3 June 2009 – “Over there we couldn’t go to school. Here there is no bombing. Here we aren’t scared,” says Ikram Ullah, 10, sitting in the dusty grounds of Chota Lahore Camp primary school with his two younger sisters, Hinaz and Naseema. “But I miss my school and my school friends.”

Reaching conflict-affected orphans in Swat Valley
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, 1 June 2009 – “Muzammil misses our mother and he wants to go back to our home in Mingora,” says Anas, age 10. He and his brother lost their father in a bomb blast last year and their mother could no longer afford to take care of them. Young Muzammil stays as close as he can to his big brother and refuses to participate in the conversation.

Pakistan reels as global financial crises hits poor families hard
KARACHI, Pakistan, 29 May 2009 – As she places a chronically malnourished child on a weighing scale in the hospital ward she runs, Dr. Noreen Anwar has no doubt that the economic crisis that started in far-off lands is now having a direct and devastating effect on her most fragile patients.

‘We were scared’: As supplies arrive, children try to cope with conflict in Pakistan
NORTH-WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE, Pakistan, 29 May 2009 – The girls in the tent hosting first-grade students at the Yar Hussain displacement camp were reciting the day’s lessons. Amidst the group of six- and seven-year-olds sat Habiba Rojan, who looks much older than the others but does not know her age because she was not registered at birth. She thinks she is 12.

UNICEF Regional Director meets children and families displaced by conflict in Pakistan
JALALA CAMP, Pakistan, 26 May 2009 – The hot summer sun beat down as UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia Dan Toole walked around Jalala camp. Mr Toole was here last week to see how UNICEF is supporting those affected by the biggest population displacement in Pakistan's history.

Ongoing conflict triggers massive displacement of families in north-west Pakistan
JALALA CAMP, Pakistan, 22 May 2009 – Since the end of April, a new army offensive against militants in north-west Pakistan has caused the displacement of more than 1.5 million people. They’ve joined the 555,000 people already displaced since October of last year and still unable to go home.

Displaced families face humanitarian crisis in north-western Pakistan camps
NEW YORK, USA, 15 May 2009 – Less than two weeks into a military incursion that has caused massive displacement in north-western Pakistan’s Swat Valley, even more children and families are struggling to find safe shelter in camps.

Aid for children and families displaced by fighting in Pakistan’s Swat Valley
JALALA CAMP, Pakistan, 11 May 2009 – Kiyanet, a 10-year-old girl, walked with determination among groups of men waiting for aid distribution. Nearby, newly arrived families, sweaty and covered in dust, tried to register at this camp for the displaced in north-west Pakistan’s Mardan district.

Inauguration of the Banaw Langla School in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
BANAW LANGLA, Pakistan, 13 March 2009 – A catastrophic earthquake struck the northern areas of Pakistan on 5 October 2005, killing 73,000 and leaving 3 million homeless. Nearly 6,000 schools – the bulk of the region’s educational infrastructure – were destroyed, affecting approximately 450,000 primary school-aged children.

Help for displaced and malnourished children in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, 10 March 2009 – Ataullah cries as the nutritionist measures his upper arm. He weighs only 7.7 kilos, well under the recommended weight for a two-year-old boy. The nutritionist concludes that he is severely malnourished. His brother Matiullah, less than a year older, is moderately malnourished.

Networks of care for mothers and children in Pakistan
KHANPUR, Pakistan, 28 January 2009 – A row of women sit in a brightly decorated waiting room at the Khanpur Basic Health Unit. The women have either come for their monthly antenatal checkups or postnatal visits, healthy babies in tow.

With UNICEF Support, Pakistan launches a National Campaign against Child Abuse
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 10 December 2008 – Last month, on Universal Children's Day, Pakistan launched its National Campaign against Child Abuse. The event brought together children, policymakers, social and development workers, diplomats, representatives of UN agencies, civil society organisations and the media.

Deputy Executive Director Hilde F. Johnson visits Pakistan and requests aid for the conflict-affected
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 3 December 2008 – UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Hilde F. Johnson, visited Pakistan this week where she discussed UNICEF programmes with government ministers and held discussions with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), donors and the beneficiaries of the agencies' programmes in the country.

Sabnan’s story: Support for the most vulnerable in Pakistan quake aftermath
BALOCHISTAN, Pakistan, 31 October 2008 – Sabnan Guldin, 3, is trying to bite an apple but suddenly looks up in fear as strangers enter the family compound. He is sitting on a mat in an area cleared of rubble where his family's home collapsed in the earthquake that struck Balochistan province, south-western Pakistan, on 29 October.

In Balochistan province, Pakistan, quake leaves children vulnerable
BALOCHISTAN, Pakistan, 5 November 2008 – The death toll from a 6.4-magnitude earthquake that struck the south-western province of Balochistan, Pakistan, on 29 October stands at more 200. The quake has affected about 108,000 people; 50 per cent of them are children, and some 19,000 are under five years of age.

'Building back better' for students in earthquake-affected Pakistan
SHATAY VILLAGE, Pakistan, 17 October 2008 – On the first day of school, dozens of children in blue uniforms rush excitedly towards their brand-new building. Finally, the the girls of Shatay Village will be able to attend their lessons in real school made of bricks and mortar.

Centre in Pakistan provides alternatives for children at risk of sexual exploitation
LAHORE, Pakistan, 27 June 2008 – About 20,000 children are estimated to be vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city. These include about 9,000 children already involved in sex work, in addition to children from families of sex workers and from marginalised and poverty-stricken families who are often excluded

Community Action Process empowers localities to tackle development
MANGOCHER, Balochistan Province, Pakistan, 17 June 2008 – When Sumaya Bibi first started coming to community meetings, she would crouch in a corner by the door, timidly covering her face with her scarf. She felt ignorant and unimportant – a girl in her mid-teens in a tribal society where women rarely assumed leadership roles.

Child Health and Sanitation Week in Pakistan promotes hygiene to save young lives
TAKHTBAI, Pakistan, 5 May 2008 – In the remote town of Takhtbai in the North West Frontier Province, people took to the streets recently in a march to raise awareness during Pakistan's biannual Child Health and Sanitation Week.

Campaign on track to protect 63 million children against measles in Pakistan
PUNJAB, Pakistan, 25 March 2008 – In a small, cool classroom in the ancient city of Multan in Punjab Province, Samana Khan smiled reassuringly at a little girl named Mahnoor, just before giving her a life-saving inoculation against measles – one of the leading causes of death amongst children worldwide.

Trainee midwives bring expert care to rural women in Pakistan
NANKANA SAHIB, Punjab Province, Pakistan, 12 March 2008 – A high mortality rate for newborns plagues Punjab Province in Pakistan. But steps are being taken to prevent these deaths by training skilled midwives who can attend births and can give much needed advice to new parents.

Children and women lead the way to ‘total sanitation’ in Pakistan earthquake zone
PAKISTAN-ADMINISTERED KASHMIR, 29 February 2008 – Said Alam remembers the day when his granddaughter came back from school with a smile and a request that was about to change the whole family’s mindset and habits.

Safe spaces for women and children after Cyclone Yemyin
SINDH PROVINCE, Pakistan, 10 January 2008 – After Cyclone Yemyin struck southwest Pakistan six months ago, an estimated 17,000 women were left vulnerable to neglect, abuse and violence. Floodwaters destroyed homes and fields but women did not have national identity cards that would allow them access to compensation.

Community midwives in Pakistan help mothers and babies survive
SHAHDADPUR, Pakistan, 24 September 2007 – Inside a small, mud-walled clinic, a group of expectant mothers converse while a community midwife performs her check-ups. She takes one of the young women’s blood pressure, notes the details in the patient’s book and with a smile and reassures the mother-to-be that everything will be fine.

Protection centres aim to end the cycle of child labour in Pakistan quake zone
NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE, Pakistan, 9 October 2007 – For over seven months, eight-year-old Khairuddin and his brothers have been roaming the streets of Abbotabad, collecting empty bottles from garbage heaps to make a little money to bring home to their family.

A model school for girls and boys is building back after Pakistan floods
BALOCHISTAN, Pakistan, 1 October 2007 – It is early morning in the village of Dat and students are still making their way to school, blue satchels slung over their shoulders.

Vaccinations and safe water provided in the aftermath of southwest Pakistan floods
BALOCHISTAN, Pakistan, 1 August, 2007 – The village of Khurmastan is an oasis for farmers surrounded by a vast, arid swathe of land. The community normally sees very little rain, so the torrential rains caused by Cyclone Yemyin, which struck in late June, caught most of the population off guard and took a heavy toll on their livelihoods.

Rebuilding from the ground up in the aftermath of Cyclone Yemyin
BALOCHISTAN, Pakistan, 23 July, 2007 – When Cyclone Yemyin tore into Northern Balochistan one month ago, it took only a short period of time before the village of Kuch Valari was completely submerged under raging torrents of muddy waters.

After the southwest Pakistan floods, life will not be the same for Imtiaz
NASIR ABAD CAMP, Balochistan, 16 July 2007 – “It was night time. It rained so much. I was all wet and I was scared.” This is all Imtiaz, 7, remembers from the night he and his mother and two sisters fled their home to escape the torrential rains that came in the wake of Cyclone Yemyin.

Najma’s ordeal: Surviving the floods in southwest Pakistan
SINDH PROVINCE, Pakistan, 10 July 2007 – The first thing that Najma remembers from the night of the floods was a voice shouting in panic: “Water, water!” It was midnight when the 14-year-old and her five siblings stumbled through the darkness and finally managed to reach the main road.

Relief efforts begin to reach flood-affected children and families in Pakistan
NEW YORK, USA, 5 July 2007 – Hampered by flash floods and blocked roads, relief efforts have started reaching the most vulnerable since Cyclone Yemyin struck Pakistan last week.

Cyclone floods in Pakistan leave thousands displaced and desperate
NEW YORK, USA, 3 July 2007 – Wading through waist-high water, families in Pakistan’s Sindh and Balochistan Provinces are looking for remnants of their homes and belongings – and sometimes for their lost loved ones.

Supplementary feeding centres boost nutrition in Pakistan quake zone
NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE, Pakistan, 12 June 2007 – At the brand new supplementary feeding centre in Attarshesha, Salma, 22, checks Usman’s weight and height. The four-year-old boy stares at the ‘Lady Health Visitor’, his eyes wide open.

Transitional schools keep children learning in earthquake-affected areas of Pakistan
PAKISTAN-ADMINISTERED KASHMIR, 15 May 2007 – At 1 p.m., 54 students are actively participating in a mathematics class at Sarikala Government Girls’ Primary School in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. They frown and concentrate on the blackboard but smile mischievously from time to time.

Lahore’s street children find alternatives at UNICEF-supported centre
LAHORE, Pakistan, 8 November 2006 – “Nobody, not even the police, dares to touch me,” says Rehan, a sharp, funny teenager with roughly cropped hair, dressed in a dirty shalwar kameez (the traditional South Asian trousers and tunic) and an oversized man’s wool jacket.

In northern Pakistan, ‘child-friendly spaces’ help young quake survivors heal
NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE, Pakistan, 1 November 2006 – As Britain's Prince Charles pays a highly publicized visit to earthquake-affected communities of Pakistan-administered Kashmir today, quake survivors there and in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) continue their struggle to resume a normal life.

Zakia’s story: Support for education in Pakistan’s earthquake zone
BATTAGRAM, Pakistan, 27 October 2006 – Under the watchful eyes of her mother, Zakia Bibi is getting ready for school, diligently packing her books and folders.

Rebuilding lives in the Pakistan earthquake zone, one year later
NEW YORK, USA, 6 October 2006 – It has been an extremely difficult year for children living in the earthquake-affected regions of northern Pakistan.

‘Eye See’ photo project spotlights the views of young earthquake survivors in Pakistan
NEW YORK, USA, 5 October 2006 – To mark the one-year anniversary of northern Pakistan’s devastating earthquake, UNICEF has launched the ‘Eye See II’ photo project, a special initiative to highlight the unique experiences and needs of children in the quake’s aftermath.

Delivering quality, child-centred education in Pakistan’s earthquake zone
BATTAGRAM, Pakistan, 8 September 2006 – Eight-year-old Parveen is once again getting used to life in her new tented classroom, following the end of the summer holidays. When the earthquake that affected so much of northern Pakistan struck in October 2005, her old school building was totally destroyed, forcing teachers to suspend classes due to lack of available shelter.

Pakistan’s children thirsty for safer water
RAHIM YAR KHAN, Pakistan, 31 August 2006 – Surrounded by vast mango groves and freshly tilled fields, Basti Yar Muhammad, a village of 200 people in the south of Punjab Province, is bracing itself for a storm. Dark, pregnant clouds hang low and a hot wind stirs up a veil of dust. The village welcomes the rain where daytime temperatures soar.

Monsoon rains put children at high risk of diarrhoea in Pakistan quake zone
BATTAGRAM, Pakistan, 11 August 2006 – Twelve-year-old Abdullah and his 10-year-old sister Shazma were unconscious when they arrived at the children’s ward here in Battagram. Both siblings were suffering from severe dehydration – a result of a diarrhoea epidemic that broke out after the monsoon season began several weeks ago.

Nourishing children affected by quake in Pakistan’s northern mountains
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 24 July 2006 – Young Raabya weighed eight kilograms when she was brought into a tent clinic for malnourished children. Her weight was that of a 10-month-old baby, but her actual age is 10 years old.

Community health workers reach out to quake-affected families in Pakistan
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 18 July 2006 – Firdaus, a 19-year old college student, entered the canvas-and-aluminium shelter of the Akhtar family in the ruins of Chela Bandi village, Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Summer schedule helps mountain schools in Pakistan's quake zone catch up
JABORI, Pakistan, 12 July 2006 – In the valley communities of northeastern Pakistan devastated by the 8 October 2005 earthquake, thousands of temporary tent schools supported by UNICEF are closed down for the long, hot summer.

Puppet theatre welcomes children back to school in Pakistan earthquake zone
BALAKOT, Pakistan, 12 June 2006 – Schoolgirls topple over each other in a fit of giggles as they watch a puppet show performed by the Dosti Welfare Organization, a UNICEF local partner in Pakistan.

UNICEF-supported documentary reveals South Asia quake’s effects on children
DOHA, Qatar, 15 May 2006 – A documentary film about children living in the aftermath of last October’s devastating earthquake in South Asia has won a top award.

Health and nutrition survey provides vital information on Pakistan earthquake survivors
NEW YORK, USA, 9 May 2006 – Seven months after the terrible earthquake that devastated Pakistan in October, malnutrition persists as one of the major problems for children under the age of five in the affected areas. But the situation is gradually improving, thanks in part to an ambitious survey of the condition of earthquake survivors.

Six months after Pakistan quake, child nutrition and health care are key concerns
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 6 April 2006 – Six months after the earthquake that devastated this area in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, UNICEF is helping Pakistan’s Ministry of Health operate a therapeutic feeding centre for undernourished children in Muzaffarabad and extend health care to village communities where there was none before. These activities are intended to safeguard children’s health as the emergency phase of the quake relief effort changes to return, reconstruction and rehabilitation.

UNICEF Pakistan supports services for women and children disabled by earthquake injuries
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 24 March 2006 – Among the most vulnerable of the thousands injured in last October’s earthquake are those who suffered severe spinal injuries. In a society where disability is not easily addressed, UNICEF is providing support by helping Pakistan’s National Institute of the Handicapped to establish a special ward for injured women and children.

Art and puppet theatre provide relief for child survivors of Pakistan quake
BALAKOT, Pakistan, 9 March 2006 – Here in northern Pakistan, the children of Balakot have suffered a great deal. First there was the earthquake that killed more than 80,000 people and left millions homeless in the region last October. Then came the freezing winter and miserable conditions in tent camps for the displaced.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu meets earthquake survivors in Pakistan
NEW YORK, USA, 1 March 2006 - UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu visited the scene of the earthquake in Northern Pakistan to highlight the ongoing needs of the survivors. On the trip, she spoke with children and learned how UNICEF is supporting the recovery process.

Pakistan: Promoting hygiene among earthquake survivors by encouraging healthy behaviours and providing hot water
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 15 February 2006 – In Pakistan-administered Kashmir and North West Frontier Province (NWFP), where more than 136,000 earthquake survivors are living in camps, UNICEF is engaged in two major new projects to promote healthy hygiene practices. The first is an education programme to encourage clean habits; the second is the introduction of hot water to keep people washing themselves during the winter months.

Protection centres offer quake-affected children a chance to leave trauma behind
HASNABAD CAMP, BAGH, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, 20 January 2006 – “Abda talks very little since the earthquake – she doesn’t seem interested in going to the camp school or to play. She often cries for her mother and little sister,” says Akbarbi, the little girl’s grandmother.

UNICEF brings community health care to quake-hit Pakistan
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 17 January 2006 – The village of Ghorisadan is tucked away in a hidden valley in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir. The earthquake did not spare a single home. Now residents manage with what little they have – in very poor conditions. Some are trying to patch together temporary shelters out of broken wood they find in the rubble.

Bleak Eid holiday for earthquake-affected children
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 12 January 2006 – Eid al-Adha is the most important date in the calendar for Muslims all over the world. As elsewhere, families in Pakistan traditionally come together to share food and gifts. Children are usually given new clothes.

Three months on, signs of progress in Pakistan quake recovery
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 9 January 2006 – The conditions in Pakistan’s earthquake-affected areas are difficult indeed: the weather is bitingly cold, windy and wet. Many displaced people are living in tents; the tents’ thin canvas bends under the weight of snow. Bedding is soaked by rain, and deep mud squelches underfoot everywhere.

Reaching quake-affected children with essential winter supplies
MACHIARA, Pakistan, 9 January 2006 – The New Year has brought heavy snow to Pakistan’s quake-affected region, leaving many villages cut off and aid flights grounded. Many quake survivors, among them thousands of children, do not have adequate clothing to shield them from the freezing temperatures. In a race against time, UNICEF and partners have been rushing out winter supplies for children and families.

Former camel jockeys reclaiming their lost childhood
NEW YORK, USA, 6 January 2006 – After passing through the final security check point at the international airport in Dubai, a group of Pakistani boys are going back home at long last. Like thousands of other children from poor countries they were sent by their parents – and sometimes even trafficked – to the United Arab Emirates to work as camel jockeys. Enduring harsh living conditions and long working hours were once their daily routines.

Restoring water supplies in quake-affected Pakistan
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 6 January 2006 – Nearly three months after the earthquake that devastated the Pakistan-India border region, UNICEF pursues its relief efforts in the area. The distribution of clean water to affected people remains a priority. Thanks to repair work and temporary supply arrangements, the water needs of nearly 90 per cent of Pakistan’s quake-affected population – including both camp residents and city dwellers – are now being met.

Pakistan: School kits help children cope with earthquake
NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE, Pakistan, 19 December 2005 - All over the earthquake-devastated areas of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, UNICEF has been delivering essential education supplies so that children can get back to school.

Helping quake-affected children to survive a cold winter
NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE, Pakistan, 22 December 2005 - The long shadows of winter are falling on the Himalayan mountains. The shortest day of the year has dawned and temperatures in northern Pakistan have plummeted.

UNICEF distributes hygiene kits to families affected by earthquake
BAGH, Pakistan, 19 November 2005 – Like millions of others, Shaheen Bibi’s home was destroyed by October’s earthquake. Living with her children and grandchildren in a relief camp, she finds coping with everyday life a big challenge.

ECHO helps get vital supplies to Pakistan’s children
NEW YORK, USA, 15 December 2005 – The first snows have arrived in the mountains of Pakistan and there are fears that thousands who survived October’s earthquake could now be killed by a cold winter.

Netherlands Development Minister pledges support for education in Pakistan’s earthquake-affected areas
MANSEHRA, Pakistan, 12 December, 2005 – The Netherlands’s Development Minister, Agnes van Ardenne, has pledged a further €30 million to the large-scale rebuilding of the education sector in earthquake-devastated parts of Pakistan.

UNICEF distributes winter clothing for quake-affected children
SUDHAN GALI, Pakistan, 9 December 2005 – The Himalayan winter is descending on Pakistan-administered Kashmir. For children who survived October’s earthquake that now means an uphill battle for survival in the freezing cold temperatures.

Pakistan earthquake: ECHO contributes $500,000 to UNICEF response
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 9 December 2005 – Pakistan suffered heavy losses when the earthquake struck South-East Asia on 9 October. Over 80,000 people were killed and many more injured. Over 2 million people were left homeless, many of them in inaccessible mountain villages.

Pakistan earthquake: UNICEF renews its fight against measles
NEW YORK, USA, 7 December 2005 – As the harsh Himalayan winter looms in quake-affected Pakistan, UNICEF is fighting both disease and plummeting temperatures.

Pakistan Quake: UNICEF supplies New Emergency Health Kits ahead of winter
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 2 December 2005 – With the northern Pakistan winter weather beginning to bite and thousands of earthquake survivors living in tented camps, UNICEF is helping healthcare workers here fight the threat of freezing temperatures and disease for children and women by providing emergency health supplies.

Life in a tent camp for Pakistan’s earthquake survivors: Nisreen’s story
BALAKOT, Pakistan, 2 December 2005 – UNICEF Pakistan Communication Officer Javier Marroquin speaks to Nisreen Bibi*, a 20-year-old mother and  earthquake survivor who now lives with her family in the newly set up Jaba camp, Mansehra, North West Frontier Province. Nisreen’s village was completely destroyed by the October 8 earthquake. This is her account.

Children orphaned by quake struggling to cope
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 1 December 2005 – The tented camp sprang up along the foothills of Meera Tanolia, Muzaffarabad, where more than 1,200 earthquake survivors now make their home. The camp is growing every day as more and more people abandon their ruined homes and come here to seek refuge. Among the new arrivals I came across a little boy: 18-month-old Owais, orphaned by October’s earthquake.

Earthquake relief effort: Preventing deaths among growing camp populations
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 30 November 2005 – The threat of a wave of additional deaths among quake survivors in northern Pakistan is becoming more acute with each passing day. Families continue to arrive in relief shelters, fleeing the sudden advance of winter and leaving behind villages damaged weeks ago in the disaster.

Immunization campaign protects half a million children from preventable diseases
CHINARI, Pakistan, 22 November 2005 – As winter approaches, poor hygiene conditions and the possible outbreak of disease are threatening the lives of tens of thousands quake survivors in Pakistan’s relief camps.

France’s Foreign Minister donates 2.5 million euros to UNICEF during his visit to quake-affected Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 21 November 2005 – France’s Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy has just completed an emergency visit to quake-affected Pakistan and donated 2.5 million euros to UNICEF. During a press conference in Islamabad, Mr. Douste-Blazy stated that, “France will continue its assistance to Pakistan in relief and rehabilitation efforts to help quake survivors.”

Nane Annan visits children’s hospital as polio campaign kicks off
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 18 November 2005 – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his wife Nane Annan are in Pakistan to attend an international donors’ conference for earthquake emergency relief. Mrs. Annan took the opportunity to visit the Islamabad children’s hospital and spend time with boys and girls recovering from injuries sustained in the 8 October quake.

UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia visits quake zone, sees progress
MANSEHRA, Pakistan, 18 November 2005 – UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia Cecilia Lotse has visited northern Pakistan, hit hard by the earthquake of 8 October, to review progress of the relief effort. Ms. Lotse went to the Mansehra area in the North West Frontier Province and to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, as well as visiting the Islamabad children’s hospital.

Water and sanitation projects aim to prevent deaths among quake survivors
MANSEHRA, Pakistan, 15 November 2005 – More than a month after a massive earthquake devastated northern Pakistan, a lack of clean water and adequate sanitation is threatening the lives of survivors. UNICEF and partners are working to prevent disease and deaths in relief camps by providing water and storage tanks, setting up latrines and distributing hygiene supplies.

Pakistan: No joy on Eid-al-Fitr for quake-affected families
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 8 November 2005 - Two days before the traditionally joyous Muslim festival Eid-al-Fitr was to begin, soldiers found the body of 12-year-old Awaiz Asmat.

On the eve of Eid-al-Fitr, quake-affected children have little to celebrate
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 3 November 2005 – The festival of Eid-al-Fitr, taking place tomorrow, should be the happiest time for Muslim children. It’s traditionally a time for presents and laughter as a reward after a month of Ramadan fasting.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman concludes her visit to quake-affected areas
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 1 November 2005 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman has completed her visit to Pakistan’s earthquake-affected areas, including the North-West Frontier Province and the Pakistan-administered areas of Kashmir. She also visited a hospital and rehabilitation centre for children in Islamabad.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman visits quake-devastated region
NEW YORK, USA, 31 October 2005 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman has visited Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir to assess first-hand the destruction brought by the 8 October earthquake. Ms. Veneman is the first head of a United Nations humanitarian agency to visit the area.

Queen Rania of Jordan visits quake zone
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 31 October 2005 – Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan visited Pakistan to meet with children and families affected by the devastating South Asia earthquake. Bringing a planeload of relief supplies with her, the Queen hoped to help generate the international support still needed to save the lives of thousands of children.

South Asia earthquake: First tent school opened for children living in relief camps
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 28 October 2005 – For the first time since the powerful earthquake struck northern Pakistan two weeks ago, the sound of school children has begun to fill the air around the temporary shelters for displaced people. Earlier this week, the first tent school opened up in Muzaffarabad – a city 90 per cent destroyed by the disaster.

South Asia earthquake: 10,000 children could die in coming weeks
MANSEHRA, Pakistan, 24 October 2005 – It’s one of the most inhospitable places on earth. The towering Himalayan mountain ranges that make up a large part of the earthquake zone in Pakistan present a major challenge for relief workers. Thousands in remote areas have not yet been reached with supplies. Many injured children remain untreated, and 10,000 more could die if obstacles to relief are not cleared.

South Asia earthquake: Quick donor response helps save lives
NEW YORK, 17 October 2005 – Within 24 hours of the earthquake that struck South Asia on 8 October, funds for emergency relief had started to come in from governments all over the world. Although much more is still needed to ensure the survival and well-being of children and families affected by the quake, this quick response enabled UNICEF’s emergency teams to help thousands of people.

South Asia earthquake: Relief efforts focus on saving children’s lives
NEW YORK, 14 October 2005 – One week after a severe earthquake hit South Asia, survivors are still reeling. Tens of thousands of children have been injured, and others are separated from the families, putting them at risk. Nearly one fifth of the affected population are children under five.

Pakistan: Children injured in quake flood hospitals
ISLAMABAD, 10 October 2005 – Hundreds of children are being treated in this city’s largest hospital –  the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) – for injuries sustained during Saturday’s earthquake.

South Asia earthquake: Children in need of medical care
NEW YORK, 10 October 2005 – The massive South Asia earthquake of 8 October killed tens of thousands and damaged or destroyed homes, schools, medical centres and mosques. It also caused severe injuries to thousands of others, including children, who are in desperate need of medical treatment.

Powerful earthquake strikes South Asia
NEW YORK, 8 October 2005 - A violent earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck areas near the Pakistan-India border at 8:50 am (local time in Pakistan) on 8 October 2005. The earthquake’s epicentre was approximately 95 kilometres, north-east of Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad.

Young people speak out at regional consultation on violence
ISLAMABAD, 30 May 2005 – The UN Study on Violence Against Children is gathering inputs from young people, experts and officials, through consultations in every region around the globe. Two of the youth leaders who spoke at the most recent consultation – held 19-21 May in Islamabad, Pakistan – were Noor Jahan from Afghanistan and Ugen from Bhutan.

UNICEF supports calls for an end of violence against children in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 24 May 2005 – UNICEF’s Regional Director for South Asia, Cecilia Lotse, brought attention to efforts to stop violence against children during her first trip to Pakistan to attend the South Asia Regional Consultation on the UN-mandated Global Study on the Violence Against Children in Islamabad.

Public health forum: Islamabad Declaration prioritizes child survival
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 6 April 2005 – Pakistan is prioritizing the improvement of maternal health and child survival.  During the first week of April, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Saukat Aziz, presided over a landmark public health forum entitled ‘Achieving the Millennium Development Goals for Maternal Health and Child Survival in Pakistan’. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah delivered a keynote address at the forum.

Pakistani villagers snowed in for weeks receive UNICEF aid
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 4 March 2005 - People living in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan (NWFP) prepare for a 15-20 day ‘seige’ when the snow falls each year, but this winter they’ve been snowed in for four weeks with the worst weather conditions in forty years.

Worst rainstorms in 20 years threaten children’s lives
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 14 February 2005 - Torrential rainfalls and snows have besieged Pakistan causing devastating loss of life across the entire country. A series of landslides and avalanches have also disrupted transportation, leaving thousands of people stranded or homeless.

Pakistan’s children say to President: Please do more for education
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 13 December 2004 – Last week, during a ceremony dedicated to children’s education, the President received 32,000 postcards written by Pakistani children.

The long haul: Getting vaccines to all children in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 6 December 2004 – In Pakistan’s remote western province of Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, children of Balochi nomads are being immunized against polio during UNICEF’s National Immunization Days (NIDs).

Bellamy: World needs to do more for children’s survival and development goals
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 6 December 2004 – UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, in Pakistan for a three-day visit, spoke about the challenges facing UNICEF.

South Asia earthquake: Many children in isolated areas remain in peril
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, 18 October 2005 – It’s a race against time to save up to 120,000 children who have not yet been reached by the relief effort in remote mountain areas of quake-stricken northern Pakistan.

Pakistani pop band brings HIV/AIDS prevention message to children
NEW YORK, 20 October 2005 – HIV/AIDS is a growing problem in Pakistan, where many cases go unreported because of the stigma attached to the disease. Educating the country’s 75 million children and breaking the silence is key to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Helicopters bring food relief to hard-to-reach areas
BALAKOT, Pakistan, 15 October 2005 – Vital aid from UNICEF is reaching the more remote regions of Pakistan affected by the earthquake.

South Asia earthquake: Helicopters bring aid to remote areas
MANSEHRA, Pakistan/NEW YORK, 12 October 2005 – Survivors are struggling to stay alive after the South Asia earthquake that claimed at least 33,000 lives and injured at least 50,000 more. At present more than 120,000 people are in urgent need of shelter; the number of people left homeless as a result of the disaster could rise to over 4 million. Among the critical supplies being rushed to affected areas are tents and tarpaulins.

South Asia earthquake: Delivering supplies means saving lives
NEW YORK, 10 October 2005 – When the deadly earthquake struck South Asia on 8 October, emergency supplies were pre-positioned in UNICEF’s warehouses in Karachi and Peshawar, Pakistan. The supplies were immediately loaded onto trucks bound for Mansehra, located in an especially hard-hit area.

Supplies en route to assist children affected by earthquake in South Asia
NEW YORK, 9 October 2005 - The destruction caused by the earthquake in South Asia continues to claim lives, amid news reports that children are among those trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings in the region.

Pakistan: ‘Fair Play for Girls’ campaign uses cricket to promote development
LAHORE, Pakistan, 23 September 2005 – On a cool, grey day in September, the voices of thousands of schoolgirls singing filled a packed sports stadium.

Stopping a polio outbreak in its tracks
THATTA DISTRICT, Pakistan, 5 July 2005 – Nine-month-old Asma was a healthy little girl until she suddenly fell ill with a high fever on a fateful day in May 2003. At a nearby rural health centre, examination and tests confirmed that she had contracted polio. Her left leg was paralyzed, and even today, Asma can’t stand still without support.

Child camel jockeys return home
LAHORE, Pakistan, 28 June 2005 - Fifteen-year-old Ghulam Sarwar spent almost half of his young life racing camels far away from his home in Pakistan. His parents sent him to the United Arab Emirates seven years ago to work as a camel jockey. In exchange, the family received a recruitment fee, and Ghulam was paid a few dollars a month.

Pakistan: Frontier schools blaze a trail for girls’ education
ISLAMABAD, 25 April 2005 — The students of Pitao Banda Primary Feeder School are among the trailblazers for girls’ primary education in the remote hamlets that are scattered throughout the foothills of the Hindu Kush, in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province.

Pakistani religious leaders pledge to ‘break the silence’ around HIV/AIDS
NEW YORK, 19 April 2004 – Pakistani religious leaders assembled for the First Meeting of the Inter-Religious Council of HIV/AIDS in Islamabad, Pakistan to discuss how to create a caring society free of HIV-related stigma and discrimination.