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Support To Spontaneous Shelter Recovery in Earthquake Affected Villages in Pakistan (completed)

Background and Objectives

The project was designed as an emergency response to the widespread destruction of housing in the earthquake-affected highlands of NWFP. With the onset of winter, many families urgently needed winter/emergency shelters to protect themselves and their livestock from the harsh winter. The one-room shelter design is socially acceptable and based on nationally available materials and local technology has been developed by UN-HABITAT in collaboration with WWF-Pakistan and the Emergency Architects. In the construction form of the emergency shelter, the lower courses of the walls are built from polypropylene sacks filled with soil and the upper courses with crop wastes, straw or pine needles for lightness and insulation. The roof is corrugated iron sheeting, insulated internally in the same way as the upper walls and suspended from strings fixed between the timber ridge and the wall plates. The structure is earthquake resistant with the soil filled bags in the lower part, bound with 14g wire and to the wall plate for wind resistance in the roof. The upper bags will also be bound with wire but are also lightweight to minimize earthquake forces. The roof sheeting insulation and timber in the emergency shelter will be reused in the permanent shelter.

The victims of the disaster have been affected in a wide variety of ways - lost lives, damaged or destroyed homes, affected livelihoods, disruption of services (health, school), and widespread displacement. UN-HABITAT responded to the disaster by committing to build 333 culturally and environmentally friendly shelters in Palas Valley of District Kohistan of NWFP. Each shelter comprises a room for human occupation and a covered shelter for cattle.

Development Partners / Partners

Development Partners: Government of Japan
Partners: WWF-Pakistan and the Emergency Architects


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