World agencies in aid efforts after Pakistan earthquake.

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An earthquake registering 7.6 on the Richter scale struck south Asia on October 8 causing widespread devastation. The epicentre was close to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

International aid agencies have been assisting the Pakistan government in attempting to get crucial supplies to the injured and to homeless families. UNICEF's Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said that the priority in the coming days will be to provide children with the means to survive. 'Needed assistance includes medical care, clean water, nutritional food for infants, clothing, and shelter--the things that matter most in the critical few weeks after a disaster like this when children and their families have lost everything.' Almost one in every five people in the affected zone is a child under the age of five.

ICM has been in contact with Imtiaz Taj Kamal of the Midwives Association of Pakistan, who is also the Secretary General of the former National Committee for Maternal Health. Imtiaz reports, 'We in Karachi are a couple of hours away by air from the disaster sites. We are collecting blankets, sweaters and clothes, which the national airline is airlifting from...