(9) Guarantee of human rights in the reconstruction of areas hit by the devastating earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province

The massive earthquake which struck Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, on May 12, 2008 caused colossal life and property losses to the areas hit. The State Council specially enacted the Regulations on Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and the General Plan for Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Restoration, decided to finish the major reconstruction tasks, make the basic living conditions of the victims and the economic development level of the quake-hit areas restore to or exceed the pre-quake levels in three years' time, and attain the goal that every family has a house to live in as well as an income from employment, with social security for everyone.

- Basically completing rebuilding of collapsed or seriously destroyed farmers' houses to ensure that quake survivors can move into new houses by the end of December 2009.

- Taking a range of measures to resolve the problem of employment for over 1 million people in the restoration areas included in the plan, with emphasis on finding a job for at least one member of each jobless family. In these areas, urban residents' average disposable income and rural residents' average net income will surpass the levels before the earthquake, with a secured basic living standard for all people in the quake-devastated areas.

- Rebuilding and restoring elementary and middle schools to high quality. Priority is given to restoring and rebuilding county-level hospitals and public service institutions for disease prevention and control, women's and children's healthcare and family planning, as well as township-level clinics and major township family planning service stations.

- Respecting earthquake victims. Registering the names of people who died or disappeared in the earthquake and made them known to the public.

- Persistently supervising and checking the use of relief funds and materials to ensure that they are all sent to and used for people in the disaster-hit areas and for the smooth progress of the rehabilitation and reconstruction work. Regulations have been worked out and improved for the management and use of relief funds donated by society, stressing special checks on major areas and key links. The people are given full scope in their supervisory role. Any illegal acts of embezzlement, or unauthorized withholding or misappropriation of relief funds or materials will be investigated and severely dealt with in accordance with the law.

-Implementing the Law on Earthquake Prevention and Disaster Reduction and other relevant laws and regulations to provide better legal guarantee for future precautions against earthquakes and disaster reduction. Knowledge of disaster reduction and the necessary precautions against disasters should be made more widely known through campaigns to popularize them, and education in this regard should be included in the national education system. Disaster-reduction-related knowledge should also be integrated into the activities of spreading cultural, science and technology and hygiene knowledge in the countryside. The construction of emergency shelters and venues for disaster relief should be included in urban and rural planning.