The UN refugee agency after completing its operation in quake-hit areas on Thursday handed over its offices to the local authorities for further relief operation. UNHCR will continue to advise the authorities until the end of the year through the UN resident co-ordinator's office and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The offices were located in Mansehra, NWFP and in Muzaffarabad, AJK.
In a statement issued here, UNHCR's Senior Emergency Co-ordinator, Kilian Kleinschmidt said this was part of an overall framework for the transition of camp management responsibilities to the authorities, in line with the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA)/UN Early Recovery Plan that was adopted earlier this year.
From the outset, he said, we had made it clear that our involvement would be until the end of the winter. UNHCR does not normally get involved in natural disasters, but, partly because of their huge scale, the agency quickly started helping survivors of the last year's earthquake in the mountainous Kashmir region, he added.
Immediately after the October 8 earthquake, UNHCR tapped emergency relief stockpiles and distributed thousands of tonnes of supplies to the quake survivors, he added. To date, the agency has distributed more than 21,000 tents, 115,000 plastic sheets, close to 850,000 blankets, 38,000 mattresses and some 25,000 stoves/heaters, he said.