Quake victims can best judge what they need

BEIJING - Local villagers in quake areas, rather than officials, are the right people to decide what is needed for rebuilding efforts, a top UN official said on Friday.

Jordan Ryan, assistant administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and director of the Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery made these comments after his recent visit to quake-stricken Beichuan County and Douzuizi village in Sichuan province. His trip was in connection with the second anniversary of the Wenchuan Earthquake that shook southern China two years ago and killed almost 70,000 people.

Ryan told reporters at the UNDP building in Beijing that pilot projects aimed at revitalizing the economy are being undertaken in 19 villages in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.