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Media Statement, 30th June, 2006
The President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf
today presented the aid agency GOAL with an award in recognition
of its outstanding relief work in earthquake ravaged Kashmir, Pakistan.
GOAL is the sole Irish aid agency presented with this
prestigious award amongst over 100 businesses and other international
charities who will receive the award for the role they played in
reconstructing the region after the devastating earthquake last
October.
In the wake of the destruction which left 80,000 dead,
and nearly 4 million people without shelter, GOAL set up emergency
operations in the district of Bagh - one of the worst affected areas
where over 95% of homes were destroyed.
In a statement, GOAL’s CEO John O’Shea
said:
“It’s an honour to receive such an award, and indeed
testament to the volunteer GOALies who worked around the clock to
bring essential supplies to the survivors in the remote and mountainous
region of Bagh.”
“GOAL was able to respond immediately, thanks
to the array of professionals from various backgrounds whose dedication
we could rely on. They dedicate their time and energy to making
the world more tolerable for the poorest of the poor,” he
said.
GOAL’s emergency shelter programme distributed
hundreds of shelters, as well as over 2,000 winterised tents, 70,000
blankets and sleeping bag, insulating materials. Individual door-to-door
assessments ensured that all vulnerable people in GOAL's area of
operations had emergency shelter. Over 10,000 households received
vouchers of $100 dollars to enable them to supplement their shelter
kits with baic cooking and other items.
Demonstration shelters and information leaflets were
distributed to the homeless living in basic shelters so they could
use cheap and available materials to improve them against foul weather
conditions.
Some 450,000 school children lost their schools in
the earthquake, and in response to this GOAL is rehabilitating 50
schools, having had much success with a similar initiative in the
wake of the tsunami in Sri Lanka.
Last year the aid agency was invited to meet with
President George Bush at the White House, to discuss the ongoing
emergency in Pakistan.
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