Operational Update September, 2013
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Operational Update September, 2013 Situation Update WFP Pakistan urgently The monsoon season in Pakistan is forecasted to conclude by mid-September and requires US$ 102 million to WFP continues to closely monitor and evaluate the situation. The Government of avert the imminent Pakistan has been responding in flood affected communities with the provision of food and non-food items and has not requested international humanitarian rupture in its pipeline and assistance. ensure the continuity of its on-going relief operations In support of national preparedness efforts, WFP is in process of handing over 22 for the IDP and returnees, motor boats to assist the Government with search and rescue operations and the lifesaving nutrition transportation of staff and relief goods to areas difficult to access. Additionally, in interventions across the light of the damage to infrastructure and livelihoods caused by the recent flooding, country and its other WFP is evaluating the need for scaling up its on-going livelihood recovery operations in the affected districts to also assist in reducing the negative impact of interventions up until June floods on the local population and contribute towards the recovery efforts. 2014. This shortfall accounts for the timely The humanitarian community in Pakistan is providing support to the return of receipt of the second approximately 14,000 IDP families who intended to go back to Tirah Valley. Upon tranche of the their return, WFP will continue to provide them relief assistance at least until Governments 75,000 MT spring 2014, in an effort to bridge the gap between winter and the 2014 harvest; assuming funding is forthcoming. in-kind Wheat Contribution WFP continued implementation of the livelihood programme with cash-for-work interventions in KPK, Baluchistan and Sindh, the Community Management of Acute A single WFP relief and Malnutrition (CMAM) intervention across Pakistan as well as livelihoods (food-for- recovery food assistance work) and school feeding activities in FATA during the month of August. operation is targeting 4 As part of its initiative to augment the national disaster preparedness and response million of the country’s capacity, WFP has recently handed over 10 temporary storage units to the most vulnerable people in Government of Sindh. 2013. Population Displacement from FATA During the month, a nutrition and healthy diet Through concluded August-cycle distributions, WFP supplied life-saving relief food assistance to approximately 1,052,000 returnees and displaced individuals in Khyber advocacy initiative was Pakhtunkhwa Province (81 percent) and FATA region (19 percent) undertaken in collaboration with AusAID Distributions took place in 4 distribution points in 3 camps locations and through 20 and Masterchef Australia operational humanitarian hubs for off-camp IDPs. Some 18 percent of recipient contestant, Ms. Amina families were headed by women, for whom special provisions are made including the Elshafei. The activities establishment of separate counters and waiting areas and the deployment of female staff at the same, and the remaining 82 percent of families were male headed consisted of a cooking households. contest in Lahore and site visits to the RUSF WFP plans to maintain the provision of emergency food rations to IDPs throughout production facilities in the duration of displacement, followed by a standard return package of Lahore and the Jalozai IDP unconditional assistance upon return to the areas of origin. camp. MasterChef Australia Contestant Amina Elshafei Visits Pakistan In an effort to promote and disseminate key messages pertaining to nutrition and diet diversity, WFP in collaboration with AusAID planned a series of events as part of the visit of MasterChef Australia Season 5 contestant Ms. Amina Elshafei to Pakistan. The activities began with a cooking contest held at the Lahore College for Women University on the 21 August. Contestants from several regional schools and colleges were asked to prepare a low-budget nutritious meal that incorporated grains, vegetables, fruits, proteins and milk, and could feed a family of four (two adults and two children aged one to five years) and Amina was one of the judges. A visit to the production facilities of Asian Foods Limited was also organized to observe production of the locally developed and produced nutrition supplement “Acha Mum” which is used to treat malnutrition. On 26 August, Amina visited Jalozai IDP camp where she was briefed on the challenges faced mainly by women and children living there due to their displacement. Amina, a paediatric nurse by profession, greatly appreciated the efforts underway by the UN and other key stakeholders to improve the nutritional situation in the country. Other Operational Highlights During the month, WFP livelihood and CMAM interventions were impacted as a consequence of the monsoon flooding which manifested in the form of access constraints to CMAM sites whereas several completed livelihood projects had been affected as well as ongoing activities halted in some districts. A stock-take was initiated in northern Sindh to discern the extent of damage suffered in areas where WFP implements early recovery cash-for-work activities. WFP continues to monitor the situation closely in other areas as well and all possible measures are being taken to ensure continuity of ongoing operations in affected districts remains unaffected and all the planned activities are implemented as per their respective timelines. WFP, UNICEF, WHO and other government and NGO partners are continuing to implement the targeted CMAM/CNP programme in some of the most food insecure areas of the country. In cooperation with NGO partners and the Department of Health, the intervention is currently operational in 44 districts or agencies of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, FATA and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK). In August, WFP reached over 270,000 Moderately Acute malnourished children, pregnant and lactating women and siblings. A MoU has been signed with WFP’s cooperating partner, Micronutrient Initiative, for an expansion of the Universal Salt Iodization project into 110 out of 145 districts in Pakistan. The project is conducted in cooperation with provincial Health Departments, UNICEF, WHO and the NGO Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). Implementation is due to be initiated by the third week of September. The Ministry of National Food Security and Research, WFP, FAO, Oxfam and other stakeholders are preparing the celebration of the World Food Day in Pakistan scheduled for 29 October, 2013. Events to celebrate the day have been planned at the federal and provincial levels. WFP will contribute towards the event and is also sponsoring the Norman Borlaug Award as well as the planned Essay Competition. School feeding in FATA resumed in the summer zone schools and nearly 140,000 students were provided daily on-site rations of High Energy Biscuits in August. All targeted schools have been provided metal trunks for safe storage of the commodity, school supplies and other materials. To increase the outreach of the beneficiary feedback desk, all schools benefitting from the programme display contact information for beneficiaries to use to relay their grievances and suggestions. Targeting the most vulnerable families in FATA, implementation of the early recovery livelihoods through food-for- work programme focusing on the rehabilitation and improvement of assets is well underway in FATA’s South Waziristan, Kurram, Orakzai, Bajaur and Mohmand agencies. Assessments for the 5th and final round of activities are in progress subsequent to the successful completion of the previous 4 rounds. Relevant projects are being implemented based on the needs identified by the communities themselves and mostly include agricultural activities (such as kitchen gardening and vegetable production for income generation) and rehabilitation of the community infrastructure. Based on the results 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 ongoing. Intervention areas were selected based on levels of food insecurity, extent of destruction caused by flooding and necessary market functionality. A key success of the intervention is that targeted communities in northern Sindh where the activities suffered damage due to the renewed flooding took it upon themselves to repair the damages on a voluntary basis, illustrating a high level of ownership. DRR activities striving to improve community resilience in the event of future disasters in potentially hazard-prone districts are in progress in selected communities within prioritized districts of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A Norwegian funded capacity building project aiming to train district level government officials who are the first level responders to emergencies, in key areas of emergency preparedness and response; was ongoing with the collaborated effort of OCHA, WFP and relevant government authorities. WFP has contributed to fund management, logistics, and transportation, storage and safe distributions for the district and sub-district level trainings. Phase I of this initiative has been completed in 41 flood-prone districts where more than 450 personnel have been trained. Ten semi-permanent metallic warehousing facilities, each with a storage capacity of 300 metric tons were formally