[Excerpt] The region affected by the tragic earthquake that struck on October 8 has large numbers of poor with little savings and who therefore rely heavily on their own labour for their survival. Therefore, one piece of information that is both crucial for the region’s recovery and central to the mission of the ILO is how the earthquake has damaged people’s ability to earn an income and to provide for themselves and their families. To help piece together this vital information, the ILO has undertaken a rapid employment assessment to provide key information about the affected labour markets and to estimate the number and share of jobs that were lost due to the earthquake.