UNICEF delivers 50,000 warm clothing kits to quake survivor kids
By Adnan Rafique

ISLAMABAD—UNICEF has delivered the first batch of over 50,000 warm clothing kits specially packed in 4 sizes for children, each kit containing a padded jacket, a hat or shawl, socks and snow boots.
Over 100,000 more kits with a unit cost of US $20.00 each are on the way. The step has been taken with the freezing temperatures of the northern Pakistan winter now producing snow across a large swathe in the mountains above 5000 feet, the need to deliver items to help earthquake-affected families who remain in the high altitude villages is critical.
Children living above the snowline are at particular risk from acute respiratory infections in any winter season, and keeping them warm and dry in the coming months is crucial.
UNICEF started delivering the first batch of over 50,000 warm clothing kits specially packed in 4 sizes for children, each kit containing a padded jacket, a hat or shawl, socks and snow boots. Over 100,000 more kits with a unit cost of US $20.00 each are on the way. UNICEF Representative Omar Abdi said, "The needs of the affected populations are huge and urgent - and nothing is more urgent than providing now for children's health and wellbeing, since children are extremely vulnerable at times like these."
Deliveries to the most remote locations have been prioritized so that the items arrive before the roads are blocked by snowfall. They are being distributed by partner NGOs such as the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP). In the last few days NRSP has been targeting the hill villages set above 7000 feet on the steep slopes of the Jehlum River valley in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
In Sudhan Gali which lies at an altitude of 7,500 ft. in Bagh district, 14,500 kits have been handed out during the last three days. Another 5,400 kits are being distributed in another high area called Topi.
Children in these areas can be seen wearing their new clothes, brightly-colored boots on their feet. In the tented villages at valley level in Kashmir and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) where some 170,000 people made homeless by the quake are now living, UNICEF is distributing kits to help survivor families with their hygiene needs. These are designed to decrease the risk of communicable disease resulting from inadequate sanitation and crowded conditions.