Two years after the quake that devastated Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the ICRC continues its large-scale reconstruction programmes. The following is an overview of the organization's key activities in the region in the first half of 2007.
The ICRC continued its activities for victims of armed confrontations. These included following up of detainees returning from Guantanamo Bay and US military bases in Afghanistan; maintaining links between families and their relatives detained abroad; visiting places of detention, supporting hospitals treating wounded along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border and improving access to physical rehabilitation services.
Throughout the period large-scale reconstruction programmes continued in Pakistan-administered Kashmir where the 2005 earthquake devastated huge areas. The same region had long been affected by crossfire at the Line of Control before the ceasefire at the end of 2003.
Health
The ICRC continued reconstruction work in the communities of Nehlum and Jhelum valleys (Pakistan-administered Kashmir) affected by the October 2005 earthquake, with a wide variety of health, livelihood and water and habitat programmes.
Activities in the area of health included:
Continued to support medical care for those wounded in fighting or by mines and other explosive remnants of war in conflict-affected areas, mainly along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border, and to offer physical rehabilitation services to the disabled living in conflict or earthquake affected areas.
Amputees and other disabled people were given artificial limbs through the ICRC's comprehensive referral system. The Pakistan Institute for Prosthetic and Orthotic Sciences (PIPOS) in Peshawar and the Christian Hospital Rehabilitation Centre (CHRC) in Quetta continued fitting prostheses and orthoses for patients referred to them by the ICRC, which reimbursed the cost to these institutions.
Support to Fauji Foundation Artificial Limb Centre in Rawalpindi ended in May 2007, when the ICRC trained staff moved to the new ICRC Muzaffarabad Physical Rehabilitation Center.
Since January 2007, some 264 weapon wounded patients have been treated, 214 new patients were fitted with prostheses and 151 with orthoses.
Physical Rehabilitation Programme
To improve access to health care and quality of care for the population in Pakistan, ICRC has continued its support to the Ministry of Health by re-establishing a well functioning health system at primary level. In this regard, three basic health units were handed over to the Ministry of Health while the new, very large Muzaffarabad Physical Rehabilitation Center (MPRC) is soon to be inaugurated and fully operated by the ICRC for the coming years. The centre will provide rehabilitation services to up to 1,000 disabled people per year, be they polio patients or amputees injured by unexploded remnants of war, earthquake and road accident victims.
Protection
Detention
The ICRC obtained the necessary authorizations from federal and provincial authorities to begin visits to places of detention under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior. Over this period the ICRC visited ten major prisons according to its standard modalities. Findings during the detention visits were shared with the relevant authorities on a strictly confidential basis. The opening up of detention in Pakistan entailed recruiting of new delegates and interpreters for the expanded programme.
Restoring family links
The ICRC provided families of detainees in Afghanistan and Guantanamo with Red Cross messages and Tracing Agency services. In the first half of 2007, 845 RCMs were collected from families and distributed to detainees abroad, and 726 RCMs were distributed to the detainees' families.
Economic security
ICRC livelihood programmes - distribution of livestock, walnut tree saplings, repair of irrigation canals and repair of water mills - continued as planned despite heavy logistical constraints. Difficult road conditions, unpredictable weather and landslides present a continuous operational challenge and daily risks which demand a strict approach to safety and security. The main activities were:
- distribution of 570 cows and 549 calves;
- livestock re-stocking project implementation for further distribution of 1,500 cows and calves during the second half of the year;
- two pilot irrigation rehabilitation schemes were completed;
- monitored 2006 walnut tree distributions and prepared 2007 procurements;
- Community Animal Health training for 14 people selected by the community and refresher course for the 2006 trainees;
- continued the detailed assessment of water mills put forth for repair.
Water
Rehabilitation of rural water schemes continued with a number of Union Councils, in cooperation with the local communities, based on agreements of joint implementation. When the rehabilitation of each water scheme is completed, the project is handed over to the local community, which then assumes full responsibility. 34 areas out of the planned 91 were already provided with new or rehabilitated water schemes, which are going to serve 30,000 people.
In urban areas, reparation of a water treatment plant serving the town of Hatian Bala and reconstruction of the plant serving Gari Dupata are ongoing.
Promotion of international humanitarian law (IHL)
The ICRC continued to develop dialogue with religious circles and madrassahs in order to disseminate information on the ICRC's mandate and activities, broaden their understanding of humanitarian needs during armed conflict and to suggest compatibility between the basic norms of IHL and Islamic Law. Three seminars in Karachi, Muzaffarabad (Kashmir) and Abbottabad (North-West Frontier Province) were organized for Ulema, Muftis, teachers and scholars.
Armed forces
The ICRC continued to support and assist the Pakistani Armed Forces in the integration of IHL into their doctrine, training and education and to enhance their instructional capacity to teach IHL. To this end, the ICRC Pakistan delegation, through its agreed programme with the respective headquarters of the three services, conducted six IHL dissemination sessions and eight instructional courses at key training establishments.
Universities and colleges
The ICRC held bilateral meetings, re-established links and created new contacts with universities and colleges in Lahore and Islamabad that have faculties of law, international relations, and defence and strategic studies. The objective is to introduce IHL as a credit course within the institutes' curricula. Various institutes provided a positive response to the introduction of IHL as a course but were reluctant due to the lack of sufficiently trained professors who could conduct the course. To this end three professors were sponsored to attend the 10th South Asian Teaching Session on IHL in India. ICRC Pakistan also sponsored the participation of three students to the Jean Pictet Competition on IHL held in Spain, where 40 teams from around the world challenged one another in this field of law.
Government
Contacts were maintained with various governmental authorities, namely with the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Chief Justice, Attorney General, Law Commission and the Judge Advocate General of the Pakistani Army with the aim of promoting the integration of IHL within Pakistan's national legislation. Three Government officials were selected to participate in the IHL symposium in Beijing.
Civil society
The ICRC organized media workshops and dissemination sessions in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore on the subject of civilian protection during armed conflicts. Journalists from both religious and secular media, both print and electronic, actively participated in the events.
Cooperation with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society
The ICRC carried out a joint review of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society's (PRCS) first aid programme. The recommendations will serve to develop a three-year first aid strategy to strengthen, publicize and broaden the reach of the PRCS in this field, extending its first aid services in disaster and conflict-prone districts and underserved areas.