Pakistan: UN gears up to aid influx of displaced fleeing conflict in north

The United Nations announced today that its agencies are ramping up their humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan as tens of thousands of people continue to flee armed clashes between the army and insurgents in the troubled North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

In collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority, UN agencies and their partners have started work on providing assistance to around 1,000 families escaping Buner and Dir districts to the Jalozai Camp, home to some 100,000 Afghan refugees before it was closed down last year.

In preparation for another 5,000 families forced from their homes by fighting, two additional camps have been set up in Mardan and one in Swabi in NWFP to give immediate assistance in the form of shelter, food, water, sanitation, as well as hygiene, health and education.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan, Fikret Akcura, noted that while the relief agencies could not give the internally displaced persons (IDPs) “the comfort of their home, we will try to make it as easy for them as possible.”

“The United Nations works for the people of Pakistan and supports the Government’s will to extend all assistance possible to the people that have left their land and lives,” stressed Mr. Akcura.

The UN has been providing humanitarian assistance to IDPs in NWFP since late last year with over 50,000 families receiving “one-off” provisions of relief materials and in February alone food and essential services were given to 348,000 IDPs and conflict-afflicted groups.