Habitat for Humanity Pakistan

Contact information HFH Pakistan HFHI, Asia-Pacific Area Office Q House, 8th Floor, 38 Convent Road Silom, Bangrak Bangkok 10500 Thailand Phone: +66 026320415 E-mail: ap_info@habitat.org
Country profile

THE MYRIAD LANDSCAPES of Pakistan reveal a country of many contrasts, from coastal beaches on the Arabian Sea in the south to snow-covered mountain ranges in the north, including K2, the world’s second highest peak. The south Asian nation, born out of partition from its neighbor, India, combines bustling cities with a countryside where traditions are slow to change.

More than two-thirds of Pakistan’s population lives in rural areas and are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Despite the country’s impressive economic growth in recent times, poverty is widespread and the inflation rate is high. According to the World Bank, around 35 million people in the rural areas are living in poverty, representing about 80 percent of Pakistan’s poor. The chronically poor, comprising an estimated one-in-ten of the population, survive on as little as 374 Pakistani rupees (about US$4) a month.

Many rural dwellers lack adequate access to basic services such as safe drinking water, primary health care, education and other social services.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Housing Program aims to build one million affordable housing units annually for poor families and government employees in need. The massive floods in the summer of 2010 added to the demand with some 1.7 million houses estimated to have been destroyed or damaged in the disaster. The housing shortage is also acute in cities and towns where half of the population lives in slums or irregular settlements known as katchi abadis.

Houses in Pakistan typically have walls made of baked or unbaked bricks, stone, wood or bamboo, while roofs may be made of reinforced cement concrete, cement or iron sheet, wood or bamboo, among others.

Habitat for Humanity Pakistan first began operating in Karachi city, southeastern Sindh province, in 2003. It was planning to expand its programs in the province when a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck close to Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, in October 2005. The tragedy killed some 73,000 people and left a further 2.8 million homeless.

HFH Pakistan moved its operations to the capital Islamabad to facilitate a post-disaster-response program in the worst-hit town, Balakot, in the North West Frontier Province. The initial response involved a distribution of winter survival kits, blankets and tents.

This was followed by the provision of dome-shaped transitional shelters using galvanized sheet metal roofing in communities around Balakot.

When times allowed and the weather improved, the shelters could be dismantled and the materials reused in building permanent housing.

In the second phase, HFH Pakistan focused on more permanent housing solutions in areas further away from Balakot. Funded through donations from HFH Canada and CIDA, the Canadian government’s international development agency, the two-year Pakistan Earthquake Reconstruction Initiative was the centerpiece of Habitat’s work in Pakistan.

Habitat established community-based resource centers in Mansehra and Balakot where local Habitat teams could store and distribute construction materials. The centers also served as a meeting point for members of the community to gather and decide about rebuilding and as a venue to train and advise people on new building codes and construction techniques.

A Habitat design for more permanent seismically strengthened homes involved building a 0.9-meter high rock and wood wall with an upper section of lighter corrugated iron roof sheets, metal side sheeting and insulation.

HFH Pakistan also used tractors to bring mobile sawmills, funded by Japanese donors, to villages where people could bring their salvaged timber for cutting into boards and trusses to build lighter roofs. In this way, less wood was used to strengthen homes and
re-use of existing materials also meant fewer trees were felled.

In spite of the difficult terrain, a 16-member team of university student volunteers organized by HFH Korea spent a week building homes in areas around Balakot.

By the first quarter of 2010, Habitat served about 10,000 families who now live in a safer environment. With the completion of the post-earthquake reconstruction program, Habitat wound down its direct presence in the country. Future activities will be through partnerships with local or international groups.

HABITAT HIGHLIGHTS

• March 2010, Habitat had completed a two-year, US$900,000 project funded by HFH Canada and Canadian International Development Agency to help build permanent, earthquake-resilient homes for tens of hundreds of families.

• As of October 2008, Habitat has enabled more than 6,000 families to rebuild or repair their houses with its free sawmill services.

• A Habitat partnership with the Pakistan government and UNHABITAT trained more than 5,500 families to build earthquake-resistant homes in Abbotabad district, North West Frontier Province.


• Sixteen South Korean volunteers helped earthquake-affected families to build 40 transitional shelters and 15 houses in January 2007. The volunteers also helped families to cut wooden beams using Habitat’s free sawmill services.

COUNTRY FACTS

Population: 184,404,791 (July 2010 est.)

Capital: Islamabad

Area: 803,940 sq. km.

Ethnic groups: Punjabi 44.68%, Pashtun (Pathan) 15.42%, Sindhi 14.1%, Sariaki 8.38%, Muhajirs 7.57%, Balochi 3.57%, other 6.28%

Languages: Punjabi 48%, Sindhi 12%, Siraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%, Pashtu 8%, Urdu (official) 8%, Balochi 3%, Hindko 2%, Brahui 1%, English (official), Burushaski, and other 8%

Religions: Muslim 95% (Sunni 77%, Shi’a 20%), Christian, Hindu and others 5%

Literacy: 49.9% (2005 est.)

Urbanization: 36% (2008)

Population living on US$1.25 a day: 23% (2005)

Access to improved water sources: 90% (2009)

Access to improved sanitation facilities: 45% (2009)

Sources: CIA World Factbook, World Bank

Updated January 2011