The United Nations kicked off a $300 million early recovery program for Pakistani earthquake survivors who are returning to mountain villages. Jan Vandemoortele, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, said: “We believe we had a successful relief phase behind us … We want to sustain the success into the early recovery and reconstruction phase.” The 12-month project aims “to make sure there is no gap between the end of relief and the beginning of full-fledged reconstruction,” he added. The U.N., according to Vandemoortele, already secured a third of the needed amount and is hopeful that donors, which committed $6.2 billion for the efforts in November, will finance the rest. (Source: UN Begins $300M Program To Support Pakistani Quake Victims/The Associated Press)
