Operational Update 1 April 2013
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Operational Update 1 April 2013 Situation Update New and previously unforeseen population Commencing in mid‐March, a new wave of population displacement is currently taking displacement is currently place from the Khyber agency of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), following an escalation of hostilities between rival militant groups in the taking place from Khyber’s volatile Tirah Valley. Those displaced thus far are making their way to FATA’s adjacent Tirah Valley. FDMA reports Kurram agency, as well as the Kohat, Hangu, Peshawar and Nowshera districts of the that close to 5,500 families neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (KPK). have been displaced thus far and projects that up to Latest information from the FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) indicates 10,000 families may be that some 5,500 families have already been displaced from their homes, with a affected and require majority of those affected believed to be women and children. Current FDMA projections suggest that up to 10,000 families (an estimated 60,000 people) may be humanitarian assistance. displaced by this latest violence in the coming days and weeks. A single WFP relief and The population movement is expected to follow a similar pattern to previous recovery food assistance displacements: some 15 percent of affected families may seek refuge in the New operation is already Durrani camp in Kurram, the Togh Sarai camp in Hangu and the Jalozai camp in targeting 4 million of the Nowshera, while the majority balance will likely be accommodated by hosting country’s most vulnerable communities in off‐camp locations (primarily in the Peshawar Valley and Kohat). people in 2013. Affected families are reportedly moving with few or no belongings and it is expected WFP currently requires that they will require assistance to meet a broad range of basic needs. FDMA has been providing initial support, including cooked meals, tents and free transportation. In some US$54 million to complement, the international humanitarian community is preparing to initiate and/or implement planned expand their own emergency responses. assistance until the end of the year. In the event that additional resources are New Population Displacement from FATA’s Khyber Agency not confirmed, WFP may be forced to reduce food After dispatching necessary food stocks to select locations and mobilizing additional rations and/or limit some NGO partner capacity during the course of last week, WFP commenced the activities from July. distribution of monthly relief food rations to newly‐displaced families in the New Durrani and Jalozai camps on 30 March and 1 April, respectively. With additional security measures in place, distributions also started at two off‐camp locations WFP assisted a total of today, and will continue to expand as and where possible in cooperation with 12.7 million beneficiaries government and other humanitarian counterparts. across Pakistan during 2012, through a range of As with similar responses in the past, the first monthly round of WFP relief food relief and recovery assistance will be distributed to all those newly‐displaced families preliminarily interventions supporting enlisted by FDMA. This information is being rapidly verified by UNHCR and cross‐ vulnerable communities checked against WFP and other beneficiary databases in order to ensure that families affected by food insecurity, are not already registered for humanitarian support. A more comprehensive social instability and registration process for the newly‐displaced will take place in parallel and will natural disaster. facilitate subsequent distribution cycles where possible. It should be noted, however, that WFP assistance will be provided on the basis of need and not exclusively subject to formal registration. Where target families are found not to be in possession of necessary documentation, such as a valid Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), a temporary token‐based system will be used to distribute food rations until registration can take place. As the situation continues to unfold, and as the precise locations of those displaced into off‐camp hosting communities are identified, WFP and its humanitarian partners will refine operating protocols and expand implementation. While it is not clear at this point precisely how long families will remain displaced, the complexities of the conflict and the considerable extent of damage in places of origin suggest that humanitarian assistance may be required until the end of the year, at which point affected groups might consider returning depending upon security and other conditions. WFP plans to maintain the provision of emergency food rations throughout the duration of displacement and supplemented by a standard return package of unconditional assistance. Should a total of 10,000 families, or an estimated 60,000 people, be newly‐displaced in the coming days and weeks as currently projected, this would bring the total number of individuals affected by insecurity in Pakistan’s north‐west and targeted for WFP relief food assistance to approximately 1 million in April (including returnees supported within their places of origin). This number would then be expected to decline to approximately 933,000 by May, following the conclusion of a six‐month return package of unconditional assistance to some groups. Through concluded March‐cycle distributions, WFP supplied life‐saving relief food assistance to a total of more than 931,000 beneficiaries. Some 18 percent of recipient families were headed by women, for whom special provisions are made including the establishment of separate counters and waiting areas and the deployment of female staff at the same. Distributions took place in three camps and through 19 operational humanitarian hubs. Following the fatal 21 March terrorist attack on the Jalozai camp, which killed seventeen and injured twenty‐nine, the security of all operational sites remains a key concern for humanitarian actors. After a temporary halt to humanitarian distributions in the immediate aftermath of the attack, WFP resumed operations on 27 March in areas where the March cycle of assistance had yet to conclude. Additional precautions have since been adopted, and WFP and its UN and government counterparts are continuing to review the situation across FATA and KPK and implement further measures to reinforce mitigation where necessary. Other Operational Highlights Elsewhere, WFP, UNICEF and other government and NGO partners are continuing to implement the targeted Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programme in some of the most food insecure areas of the country. The programme is currently operational across 35 districts of Punjab, Sindh, KPK and Balochistan, and is expected to commence in FATA and AJK later this month. In cooperation with 11 NGO partners, WFP has provided treatment in the form of specialized nutritional products to more than 138,000 moderately acute malnourished children aged 6‐59 months and nursing mothers so far this year. At the end of 2012, recovery rates amongst both groups were found to exceed the minimum Sphere standard of 75 percent, and reach more than 90 percent in some locations. WFP has also been working to strengthen local institutional capacities through the purchase and handover of basic medical equipment worth US$1 million for use at Basic Health Units in Punjab, Sindh, KPK and Balochistan. Preparations are underway to commence a three‐year pilot project to prevent stunting amongst young children in Sindh; a technical team is currently in the process of conducting an acceptability trial, training health staff and identifying appropriate NGO partners. Following the conclusion of a comprehensive feasibility study across districts targeted for WFP conditional cash programmes in 2013, activities seeking to rebuild community assets and thereby promote recovery from last year’s flood disaster in Sindh and Balochistan are expected to commence this week. Specific locations within prioritized districts (Naseerabad, Jaffarabad, Kashmore, Jacobabad and Shikarpur) have been jointly selected with NGO partners and local authorities, based on levels of food insecurity and necessary market functionality. Field assessments to identify specific works schemes and register beneficiaries have been completed in Balochistan and are scheduled to conclude in Sindh this week. In other particularly hazard‐prone districts of the country, a programme seeking to improve community resilience in the event of future disasters is also well underway. The first work cycle for targeted participants in Sindh’s Tharparkar, Umerkot and Mirpur Khas districts will conclude next week; while, in KPK’s Swat Valley, implementation in initial target villages will commence in the coming days. An online beneficiary database has been introduced for both programmes, which is facilitating the registration process and will automate the recording and analysis of key output and outcome data as the activity progresses. Preparations are underway to commence other activities, including food‐for‐assets schemes and a school feeding programme in areas of return across FATA, during April. Following the last such exercise conducted in 2009, a new nationwide food security assessment (implemented in partnership with FAO, UNICEF, SDPI and the Ministry of National Food Security and Research) has now commenced, aiming to provide a comprehensive analysis of the current food and nutrition security situation in Pakistan and inform programme