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DRIVE Pakistan: Verification Exercise Update (August 2021)

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OVERVIEW

The Documentation Renewal and Information Verification Exercise (DRIVE) is being undertaken by the Government of Pakistan - the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), the Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees (CCAR), and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) - with the support of UNHCR.

DRIVE is verifying and updating the data of 1.43 million Afghan refugees who are Proof of Registration (PoR) cardholders in Pakistan and issuing new PoR smartcards to all eligible refugees. The new smartcards have an initial validity period of two years.

DRIVE verifications are being carried out at 35 operational sites across Pakistan, support-ed by four mobile teams covering vulnerable groups and remote locations. A further 4-5 sites and several additional mobile teams are expected to commence later in the exercise.
At full capacity, DRIVE is able to interview an average of 10,400 individuals per day, six days per week.

PROGRESS

As at the end of August, DRIVE has completed more than thirty per cent of its anticipated interviews, and 100,000 individuals have received new PoR smartcards. Processing rates are accelerating after a dip in July and a record number of interviews—more than 148,000—were completed in August.

The Government of Pakistan has issued formal notification of the new PoR smartcards to financial institutions, law enforcement agencies and service providers. This ensures that the new cards are accepted as a recognized document by banks, education institutions, police and others, and it also provides for ‘existing’ PoR cards (ie, those with the 2015 expiry date) to remain recognized in the interim. Maximum Processing COVID processing

While all figures are provisional pending data quality reviews, analysis of DRIVE data has commenced and is starting to provide indications of demographic F changes, protection needs and the socio-economic circumstances of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan. Ongoing work to ensure integrity and efficiency in DRIVE has continued. The capacity of the two highest volume call centres (Peshawar and Quetta) has been strengthened in August, and comprehensive training to DRIVE site teams on data acquisition has been delivered nationally. Strengthened SOPs on the efficient resolution of applications for registration of applications for registration of new borns have been endorsed and associated amendments to DRIVE systems are being prepared. The staffing of all DRIVE site teams is being increased to meet the demands of higher processing rates.

Further increasing the reach of DRIVE, four mobile registration vans have been deployed, including one operating in Pakistani Ad-ministered Kashmir. Planning for the transition of four DRIVE sites to new locations Is on track for the new sites to commence oper-ation in October.