The earthquake of 8th October was devastating for Northern Pakistan including Districts Mansehra and Shangla. It caused severe damages to the lives and properties of the inhabitants. Two of SDC funded project operated in/in the peripheries of these districts, namely CBRM (Mansehra/Balakot) and IPRP (Buner/Shangla). SDC and IC through their existing projects offered a quick response to provide an immediate relief to the earthquake affectees in these areas. In case of Mansehra, this support was supplemented by SDC- Humanitarian Assistance (SDC-HA) as the magnitude of damages there was extremely devastating. Once the immediate relief work was conducted, a strong need was felt to contribute towards the continuum between relief and development through restoring communities’ livelihood sources and their return to engaging in productive activities. The interventions identified were based on needs assessment ensuring no overlap with any other relief or development agency in the areas of work. The villages were divided into different categories such as worst hit villages with multiplicity of damages (human, financial, livestock and physical losses) and villages where the people could still manage their livelihoods due to relatively fewer losses. Within villages, the target groups were identified based on their losses in order to cater for the helpless first and then move to the rest.

Shangla: The livelihood support has two components namely productivity enhancement packages for ensuring food security and livestock provision. Existing (or for this purpose established) village committees support the local NGO partners of IPRP in identifying the communities, distributing rehabilitation goods, the resolving conflict, monitoring of the use of rehabilitation goods and be responsible for the collection and redistribution of the first off-springs of goats and maize /wheat seeds from the first yield (revolving mechanism on livelihood assets within communities). The implementing partners organized a Village Rehabilitation Committees (VRCs) to facilitate efficient delivery of these tasks. Further, the VRCs are responsible for operationalizing the revolving mechanism for assets in the deserving communities.

Mansehra: In case of CBRM, the activities of livelihood rehabilitation component with the SDC-HA supplemented the ongoing CBRM project activities in Mansehra. SHA covered and backstopped additional costs on livelihood rehabilitation component while CBRM and SHA appointed teams jointly implemented the project. A strong support was provided to communities in income generation activities and initiatives through already existing mechanisms in CBRM (including operational mechanisms, village activists, government line agencies and NGO partners’ networks). An innovative element in case of CBRM is rehabilitation of small cash-for-work infrastructure projects (feeder roads, water structures, cultivable terraces, etc.) with the technical advice from SHA implemented through village organizations and maintained by operation and maintenance committees nominated by the communities.