Pakistan: Top UN official urges more support for IDPs

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)

Date: 22 Jun 2009

DUBAI, 22 June 2009 (IRIN) - The UN Secretary-General's special humanitarian envoy, Abdelaziz Arrukban, after a two-day fact-finding mission to Pakistan, has urged Gulf countries and others to step up support for hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northwestern Pakistan.

"I visited IDPs living in camps, schools and with host families in the Mardan area [North West Frontier Province]. The conditions they are living in are very tough. People are struggling to cope with the heat, lack of adequate water and sanitation, and there are entire families living in one tent or a small room," Arrukban told IRIN from Islamabad.

He said the revised Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan, which includes projects by UN agencies and NGOs amounting to US$532, "urgently needs more support". The Plan has been 35 percent funded, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement on 22 June.

"I appeal to the countries of the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] and the rest of the international community to step forward and support their brothers through this crisis," Arrukban said.

Arrukban, who is from Saudi Arabia, became the Secretary-General's special humanitarian envoy on 10 July 2007 and acts a bridge between UN humanitarian agencies and Middle East/North African humanitarian players to enhance partnerships with countries in that region.

In Mardan District, where most IDPs from Swat and Buner districts are living, Arrukban visited a camp and a girl high school currently used by displaced families and as a humanitarian aid distribution centre, according to OCHA.

Host families also need help

"The vast majority of IDPs are living with host families, and the sheer scale of the displacement makes it difficult to reach everyone in need," Arrukban said, adding: "The needs of the families and friends who have taken them in so generously. must not be overlooked."

Commenting on the speed of IDP formation, he said: "In Sudan we have about four million IDPs, but they emerged over a few years. Can you imagine about two million people [displaced largely] in two months?"

He said the coming monsoon made it all the more important to act quickly: "Shelters need to be adapted to cope with the heat, and precautions need to be taken to mitigate the risk of epidemics in the coming months."

The humanitarian community was working hard to overcome these challenges and there were 44 humanitarian hubs distributing tens of thousands of tons of food and non-food items to the affected people, Arrukban said. "We are moving in the right direction, but the response needs to be scaled up still further to match the scale of the displacement," he said.

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OCHA highlights - updated 18 June 2009

The registration of some 1.9 million IDPs has so far been confirmed by Pakistani authorities. Some 260,000 IDPs are living in 27 camps and the remainder with host families.

Concerns have been raised regarding the establishment of several spontaneous camps in Upper Dir, and the possibility of others to follow in areas not easily accessible by the humanitarian community.

There are presently 10 Registration Centres and 34 Humanitarian Hubs, which distribute 47,000 tons of food and non-food items to IDPs living in and outside camps. Ten more distribution points are inside IDP camps.

Precautionary measures have been taken in host communities to prevent any outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea and other illnesses which could occur with the upcoming monsoon season