Emergency Relief: Pakistan (refugees)

Emergency Relief in North Pakistan

The recent violence in North West Pakistan has displaced over a million civilians and many more are expected to become refugees. Nearly 100,000 homes have been reduced to rubble, so that whole families have been left with no option but to flee their conflict-torn communities. The worst of the victims of this ongoing violence are children whose outlook is not grim.

All the usual problems for refugees  (lack of clean water, lack of proper sanitation and insufficient healthcare) coupled with soaring temperatures are making living conditions tough and making the people extremely vulnerable to disease and other risks. In total already around 2.1 million people have been forced away from home as a consequence of the recent violence in the country. There are at least 22 refugee relief camps operating in the area and 36,000 families (220,000 people) have been registered in and outside the camps. New sites for establishing camps are being sought in Swabi, Nowshera and other areas. 

SOS Children in Pakistan is as ever an early responder to crisis has been in contact with the government authorities and NGOs working in the area, offering to accommodate any orphans. Recognising how well our Kashmir earthquake programs were run, the Government of the North-West Frontier Province has requested SOS Children (SOS Children's Villages Pakistan) to organize a shelter for women and children, entirely funded by the government, similar to facilities we provided for victims of the Kashmir earthquake.

After detailed discussions with the government of NWFP it has been decided that, with their collaboration, an SOS Children Emergency Shelter for IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) will be established in Peshawar. A building has been identified and is being converted. Staff traingin will be done in the SOS Children’s Village Rawalpindi. The shelter should be operational mid June 2009.