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FROM THE FIELD

Relief for 350,000 displaced but needs still great in Pakistan’s troubled north-west
25 Jan 2010 12:13:37 GMT
Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe/ Central Asia office
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IDPs arrive at a camp set up for the displaced, though 
the majority have found refuge in host communities. Photo by Jeff Hall.
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IDPs arrive at a camp set up for the displaced, though the majority have found refuge in host communities. Photo by Jeff Hall.
World Vision MEERO, http://meero.worldvision.org
Some 356,300 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) have received emergency relief assistance and food provisions from World Vision through the Church World Service (CWS) and the World Food Programme (WFP) in an effort to meet their immediate needs and relieve some of the burden being borne by poor but generous host families.

The conflict between government forces and the Taliban militants that triggered the displacement of more than 2.5 million people from Swat, Dir and Buner districts in May and June 2009 may be over, but daily life remains a challenge for the returning population.

World Vision Pakistan responded by providing emergency relief support in Buner and Lower Dir Districts through water and sanitation interventions, providing household items, food aid, Child Friendly Spaces, shelter kits, livelihood support, primary health care services and cash vouchers to IDPs and host families.

Food rations are currently being distributed to 60,000 households every month in Buner district in partnership with the World Food Programme and water purification packets are distributed to ensure the displaced have clean drinking water. Fifty-two communal water sources have been rehabilitated in various villages benefitting 36,000 people.

Meanwhile, in partnership with the CWS, World Vision has distributed 900 hygiene kits, 900 family kits and 2,700 blankets to some 6,570 IDPs in Dera Ismail Khan district who have fled separate conflicts in South Waziristan. Military restrictions on movement and humanitarian activities by international organisations in the area continue to pose challenges.

Assistance is now shifting from emergency relief to livelihood and economic recovery as displaced communities return to their homes. World Vision is currently working to assist some 86,400 people through Cash for Work activities and other agricultural activities, operating out of offices in Buner and Lower Dir.

Over the coming months most of the IDPs will continue to need humanitarian assistance, specifically shelter, food, water and sanitation and the delivery of basic social services including health and education.

As the frontlines shift towards other troubled parts of Pakistan on the Afghan border, tens of thousands of people are likely to be displaced joining those already taking refuge in poor communities. Any significant increase in the number of displaced persons could lead to a further deterioration of the current conditions.

-Ends-

Other relief interventions to date:
Future activities:


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]


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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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