OCHA Situation Report No. 6 Pakistan - Drought 29 November 2000
1. Since spring 2000, Central and South Asia has been suffering from severe drought. The countries most affected are Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). Significant losses of livestock and crops, and rapid deterioration of health and sanitary conditions have been reported and the prospect of large population displacements has been raised. As part of the efforts to respond to the crisis in a coordinated manner, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) has formed a Drought Task Force, which is based in Geneva and is chaired by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). SITUATION 2. Pakistan has been facing a severe drought situation this year. According to officials of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), the overall shortage of water inflow might reach the level of 35 per cent, compared to the average inflow of the last 10 years. The water shortage was around 22 per cent last year and the drought conditions had crippled life in southern Punjab and upper Sindh area. 3. Pakistan's most affected areas are certain sectors of Sindh and most of Balochistan. The drought in these provinces has resulted in considerable losses to livestock and natural resources, reducing opportunities for livelihood and resources for sustenance. The widespread drought has caused severe damage in the two provinces, killing more than 140 people and affecting about 2.20 million persons. 4. Afghan refugees also remain an issue in a country that already hosts 1.2 million refugees. According to UNHCR, more than 17,500 Afghan refugees in desperate need of help fled into Pakistan since renewed fighting broke out in northeastern Afghanistan in September (Shamshattu Camp). UNHCR is concerned that the closure of Pakistani borders on 9 November 2000 will exacerbate the suffering of the victims of the conflict in the midst of winter and the worst drought in memory in Afghanistan. NATIONAL RESPONSE 5. According to the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator, the Federal Government has provided so far Rs. 2.5 billion (approx. USD 43.8 million) for Balochistan and Rs. 1 billion (approx. USD 17.5 million) for the province of Sindh. 6. The Provincial Government of Balochistan (GoB), while continuing distribution of immediate relief supplies to drought affected people in the province, also concentrated its actions on a range of rehabilitation measures in different sectors. So far, in decreasing order of importance, roads, forestry, irrigation and power, water, public health, agriculture and livestock benefited from donations to the drought relief fund and allocations made by the provincial government (total: Rs.665 million, equivalent to USD 11.6 million). The GoB also planned rehabilitation activities including ground water exploration through windmills, extension and improvement of karezes (underground water canals), expansion of animal health facilities, construction/improvement of roads and water supply schemes, procurement of seed and construction of delay-action dams in drought-affected areas. 7. The Punjab Province provided 500 MT of wheat flour as well as 547 truckloads of relief goods with a total value of Rs. 266 million (equivalent to USD 4.6 million). Besides, local private organizations also provided 500 MT of food items and fodder, 25,850 packets of items of daily use, 555,000 bags (20 kg each) of wheat flour and 80 bags (80 kg each) of wheat, 4 truck loads of miscellaneous relief items and rations for 1,000 families, valued at Rs. 45.5 million (equivalent to USD 798,000). INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE UN response: 8. UNDP provided funds from its Drought 2000 Relief Assistance Project to conduct a rapid household survey in 24 districts of the province. The objective of the survey is to determine the impact of the drought on the sectors of agriculture, livestock, water and sanitation, health and nutrition. The final report of the survey will be released in December 2000. 9. The UNICEF Office in Quetta has been continuously monitoring the drought situation in the affected areas, particularly in terms of outbreak of diseases and shortage of supplementary food for children under two years and lactating mothers and drinking water. UNICEF's relief assistance (from May to September), consisted of essential medicines, as well as 60 tons of UNIMIX food, hand pumps, water storage pumps, 11,000 jerry cans, construction of pit latrines (200) and disposal of solid waste. 10. The WHO Office in Quetta provided medical assistance worth Rs. 512,300 (approximately USD10,000) for procurement of common ailment medicine, including paracetamol, feros sulfate, multivitamin tablets and syrups, for distribution by the Relief Commissioner in Balochistan. The Relief Commissioner, in close collaboration with the Pakistan army, has been dispatching these medicines to drought-affected districts for use in mobile and static health facilities in the drought affected communities. 11. WFP assessed the situation and provided 32 metric tons of edible oil as an immediate relief support to drought affectees of Khuzdar and Lasebela districts. This assistance was provided from March to July, 2000. In addition, WFP provided 18,400 tons of food during a 40-day operation (estimated value USD 7.4 million). 12. The UNHCR Office in Quetta has taken a number of direct measures to address the problem of access to water and increased surveillance of the population's morbidity to ensure adequate control of the situation. It provided relief items, such as tents, wheat flour, kettle, jerry cans, for immediate relief worth Rs. 1.02 million (equivalent to USD17,800) for drought affected refugees in Balochistan. Also, it should soon start consolidating 26 scattered and lowly populated Afghan refugee villages into 8 clusters in several districts. This operation will ensure optimum and cost-effective use of resources and will facilitate general provision of assistance in terms of health care, education and community development. 13. OCHA made available USD30,000, through UNDP, to provide animal feed for Balochistan. In addition, the Government of Norway provided USD22,000 through OCHA for the Balochistan Area Development Programme of UNDP. UNDP has arranged the preparation of 200,000 Urea Molasses Blocks (UMB) to supplement the poor grazing and crop residue feeding of 30,000 breeding sheep and goats in the hard hit areas of Balochistan province. The first installment of 30,000 UMBs was handed over to the Balochistan Relief Commissioner on 23 September, 2000. The remaining quantity of 170,000 UMBs is being produced in Quetta and will be handed over to the Balochistan Relief Commissioner during the coming months. Bilateral response: 14. The Governments of China, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, New Zealand, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America, and NGOs have participated in relief activities in the drought-stricken areas and made substantial contributions in cash and in kind. 15. The total value of international cash and in-kind contributions reported to OCHA is USD 24 million. Details of the contributions to this disaster may be found by clicking on Financial Tracking at the top of the page for this disaster on the OCHA Internet Website (http://www.reliefweb.int). Donors are requested to verify this table and inform OCHA Geneva of corrections/additions/values. Donors are encouraged to notify OCHA Geneva of their contributions to this disaster using the OCHA Standardized Contributions Recording Format, available electronically in the above mentioned Financial Tracking Website. 16. This situation report, together with further information on ongoing emergencies, is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at http://www.reliefweb.int Telephone: +41-22-917 12 34 Fax: +41-22-917 00 23 In case of emergency only: Tel. +41-22-917 20 10 Desk Officers: Ms. S. Metzner-Strack / Mr. R. Mueller / Mr. S. Matsuka Direct Tel. +41-22-917 21 44 / 31 31 / 40 34 Press contact: (GVA) Mr. Donato Kiniger-Passigli, direct Tel. +41-22-917 26 53 (NYC) Ms. Phyllis Lee, direct Tel. +1-212-963 48 32 distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -