May 12, 2009
International humanitarian agency Church World Service is warning of a worsening humanitarian disaster in northern Pakistan and is calling on the United Nations and governments to increase their assistance to the affected region, where some 200,000 persons have been displaced in recent days.
NEW YORK--International humanitarian agency Church World Service is warning of a worsening humanitarian disaster in northern Pakistan and is calling on the United Nations and governments to increase their assistance to the affected region, where some 200,000 persons have been displaced in recent days.
"The people of this part of the world need long-term solutions to their problems," said Marvin Parvez, director of the CWS Pakistan/Afghanistan program, who had to cancel meetings in Washington, DC, with government and humanitarian officials this week in order to help coordinate the response in Pakistan.
Parvez made his call as Church World Service staff on the ground are moving response teams and relief items into the affected areas to meet the needs of those who are in makeshift camps--thousands in small refuges where no sustainable food, shelter, water or hygiene is available.
CWS already has distributed 250 food packages and 190 shelter kits. Further distributions are planned, with a total of 400 food packages and shelter kits planned for distribution in the coming days. CWS is appealing for funds to buy more family-sized tents and monthly food packages of lentils, oil, water, tea, sugar, rice and flour, as well as provide health and hygiene facilities.
Fighting between the Pakistan Army and Taliban in the northwest of Pakistan has intensified in recent days in an area where as many as 500,000 civilians already have been displaced since October 2008.
"This situation is a very serious threat to the people of Pakistan," Parvez said. "We want a quick end to this crisis so people can return to their homes. We call on all parties to the conflict to avoid civilian deaths and give safe passage for those civilians who are trapped."
Parvez warned that the movement of residents of Pakistan's Swat Valley could quickly become of the one of the world's worst displacement crises and that the international community needs to both respond immediately to humanitarian needs in the affected area and help find a permanent solution to the political, social and economic problems of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.
"Further commitment is needed," he said. "We can't leave people in limbo, facing hopelessness."
Church World Service programs in Pakistan include disaster management, capacity building, development and assistance for displaced people. The agency's Pakistan offices helped to coordinate immediate assistance and long-term recovery following the country's massive 2005 earthquake.
Shama Mall, a deputy director of CWS P/A, said those currently affected "are under the open sky in a very insecure and unstable environment."
"People have been forced to leave at short notice and their immediate needs are not being met. Many have never had to leave their communities before and are afraid to do so," Mall said in New Zealand last week, while meeting with government, community and humanitarian partner groups.
Church World Service is a member of the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, a grouping of aid groups that belong to the Action by Churches Together (ACT) alliance.
Contributions to support Church World Service emergency response and recovery efforts may be made online, by phone (800.297.1516), or sent to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.
Media Contacts:
Lesley Crosson, 212-870-2676 lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin, 24/7, 781-925-1526 jdragin@gis.net
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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