Credit: Refugees International
11/20/2005

Two women sit amid the rubble of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan. The lives and livelihoods of an estimated 3.2 million people were affected by the earthquake that struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005. A November 2005 assessment done jointly by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank found 400,000 homes damaged or destroyed. Recent estimates suggest that there may be as many as 500,000 damaged or destroyed dwelling units. Estimates of the number of individuals displaced approach three million. Refugees International is urging the Government of Pakistan and donor governments to do more to design and implement of urban reconstruction programs.