Geneva, 15 November 2002 -
A field drought assessment mission of the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UNDP called on the Additional
Chief Secretary (Development) of Sindh Province in Pakistan on 14 November
2002. According to the Pakistan Newspaper Dawn of 15 November, a proposed
assessment of the drought-hit areas in Sindh formed the basis of the discussion.
The mission will assess the impact of drought on crops, food supply, households
and communities. It will also identify the areas most severely affected
by drought in Sindh.
The mission was informed that five districts
in Sindh and 3,000 human settlements were badly affected by prolonged drought
conditions. 194,798 families of the districts of Thar, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar,
Dadu and Thatta, with 1.38 million population and 5.60 million livestock,
have been affected and more than one million people had moved from the
drought-hit area of Thar to the irrigated areas of the province.
The Secretary also briefed the mission on the relief and emergency action plans of the government. This includes declaring the Thar Kohistan and Kacha regions of Sindh as 'calamity stricken areas'. This will mean the postponement of recovery of past years' dues, medical aid, free distribution of wheat at 100 kgs per family for two months as well as the current provision of about 25,000 metric tons of wheat.
ACT member Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan, through its local partners, the Participatory Village Development Program (PVDP) and Lower Sindh Rural Development Association (LSRDA) plan to implement an emergency intervention to prevent further deterioration of the health and nutrition status of the most vulnerable groups and avert the development of widespread famine. CWS P/A plans to assist 1,500 families in 110 villages of Mirpurkhas Division by providing food packages containing 50 kg of wheat flour, 25 kg oil and 15 kg pulses as well as 100 kg fodder for their livestock.
The implementation period is expected to be 6 months with an initial budget of about USD 159,281. The ACT Co-ordination office is currently processing an Appeal.
Thank you for your attention.
For further information:
ACT Web Site address: http://www.act-intl.org
ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response.
The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.