The activities proposed under the 5th assessment round are still subject to the adoption of the second amendment of the financing decision ECHO/WWD/BUD/2012/01000.
MAJOR CHANGES SINCE PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE HIP
The 2012 HIP, published on 9 November 2011, was first amended in April 2012 in order to increase the response to the nutrition and food needs of the populations affected by the consequences of the 2010 and 2011 floods in the Southern Province of Sindh and to respond to new population displacements of population from the Khyber agency in the Federally Administered Tribal areas (FATA) to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province. An additional amount of EUR 20,000,000 was then allocated to prevent further deterioration of the nutritional status and food insecurity situation in Sindh and to support the agencies working in KP for the newly displaced populations.
The impact of the 2011 floods in the Southern Province of Sindh has been particularly severe for an already very vulnerable population. The results of a National Nutrition Survey (NNS) launched in September 2011 show that Sindh is home to the highest proportion of food-insecure people in Pakistan, with almost 72% of households suffering from food insecurity. The 2011 survey concludes that Sindh has the highest levels of malnutrition in the country, with Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates of 17.5 % amongst children under five, above the World Health Organisation's (WHO) “critical” threshold of 15 %. The situation has worsened since the onset of the 2011 floods. In view of the critical levels of food insecurity in Sindh, it is a priority to continue to support the response in the areas of food and nutrition.
Recent military operations in Khyber agency, part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), have triggered the displacement of a large number of people. The influx of internally displaced people (IDPs) into Jalozai camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) began in mid-January and intensified in March due to increased security operations in Khyber agency. The renewed conflict has resulted in the displacement of over 361,000 individuals from FATA to KP in the last 6 months. Currently, a total of more than 741,000 people are displaced in the North (total of those displaced since 2007 and new displacements). Bearing in mind that people do not always register or are refused registration by the authorities for various reasons, the real figure may be higher. Displaced families from Khyber Agency have arrived at Jalozai camp, Togh Serai in KP and New Durrani camp in FATA for registration and to receive relief assistance since January-March. In June/July, on average, 1,200 individuals have been registered per day, in contrast to 3,000 individuals per day at the beginning of May and 10,000 per day in mid-March. 11 % of those displaced are living in the three above-mentioned camps and 89% in host communities outside the camps.
The crisis goes almost unnoticed, is rarely reported in the media and is largely underfunded. The severe underfunding has already triggered reductions in food rations and without new funding, there will be a disruption in the delivery of basic health, nutrition services and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services which may cause disease outbreaks. There is already a serious lack of shelter and non-food items (NFIs). The influx to the camps has resulted in part of the assistance which was originally designated for off-camp population being re-allocated for urgent needs in the camps. This is in particular true for protection activities.
It is therefore crucial to reinforce the assistance with a clear priority for shelter and NFIs, food, health, and water and sanitation. It is also important to ensure that the off-camp population receive the right level of attention compared to those who may choose to stay in camps.
For all these reasons, an additional amount of EUR 15,000,000 has been allocated to the current 2012 HIP bringing the total allocation to EUR 70,000,000. This additional EUR 15,000,000 should be implemented through funding of new actions and/or modifications of on-going operations to allow the response to the additional needs.