Pakistan: UN launches shelter initiative for quake victims at high altitudes

Continuing its relief efforts for the victims of last month's devastating earthquake in Pakistan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched an initiative this week to help 30,000 families in high altitude areas to build locally designed winterized shelters from the rubble of their homes and locally available materials.

For its part, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has deployed teams to fix water- and sanitation-related problems in makeshift camps that have sprung up across hard-hit areas following an outbreak of diarrhoea among victims of the quake, which killed at least 73,000 people, injured almost as many others and left 3 million more homeless.

In organized camps, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its partners have already set up water points, latrines and bathrooms while other UN agencies are contributing to the relief effort in their areas of expertise.