More than 1 million people have been left jobless by the earthquake that devastated parts of northern Pakistan this month, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Monday, according to Reuters. Labour-intensive job creation programmes must form part of the recovery effort after the disaster in which 40,000 people are feared to have died. Each person employed before the quake had supported, on average, two others, so the numbers of those left without a livelihood was far higher, the ILO added. "Reports of widespread destruction show that the livelihoods of millions of people are threatened or have been destroyed," said ILO director-general Juan Somavia in a statement. "By losing their employment, even for a short period of time, workers in the affected districts have likely already fallen into extreme poverty," he said. The Pakistan government estimates damage from the quake at about $5 billion. So far more than $500 million has been pledged from around the world, but development officials said they have started planning for a much larger long-term appeal.
