The World Food Programme (WFP) and the government of Pakistan have agreed to initiate joint programmes of assistance in earthquake affected areas of NWFP and AJK. WFP Country Director in Pakistan, Michael Jones and Secretary, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ismail Qureshi signed the Letter of Understanding on Thursday.
The programme will be implemented over a period of two years and will benefit about 948,500 persons located in the mountainous terrain of Bagh, Neelum and Muzaffarabad districts in Azad Kashmir and Battagram, Mansehra, Shangla and Kohistan districts in the North-West Frontier Province.
This programme, which is part of the overall United Nations and Erra 'early recovery plan', will be implemented in close collaboration with the NWFP-Perra and AJK-Serra as well as with the respective district authorities.
Overall guidance will remain with the Erra and other Ministries of the government (Minfal and EAD) and provincial departments will provide co-ordination and technical inputs.
The objectives of this operation are to protect livelihoods in crisis and enhance resilience to shocks by meeting the temporary food needs of the homeless and returnees and by providing them with marketable skills, tools and equipment, improve nutrition and health of children, mothers and other vulnerable people by increasing the availability of locally produced and fortified wheat flour.
The operation will also support access to education and reduce gender disparity by increasing and maintaining primary school attendance, retaining girls in middle schools and addressing short-term hunger to improve learning.
Nurseries and green houses would also be established under the restoration of livelihoods programme and women associations/community-based organisations and households willing to establish nurseries on their land will benefit from the activity.
This will lead to acquiring marketable skills and ensure continued income from the sale of high value fruit and nut trees, which also contribute to food security.
Local technical expertise from the Forest and Agriculture Departments will be used. Communities will be assisted in rehabilitating badly damaged infrastructure, especially small rural roads as well as terraces and small agricultural fields. The WFP will provide necessary tools and equipment. Similarly, assistance will also be provided to repair water channels for human and animal consumption.
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