Action by Churches Together (ACT)
Alert - Pakistan - 2/2002
Five Sindh districts badly affected by drought
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 please contact:

ACT Director, Thor-Arne Prois (phone +41 22 791 6032 or mobile phone
+ 41 79 203 6055)
or
ACT Appeals Officer, Mieke Weeda (phone +41 22 791 6035 or mobile phone
+ 41 79 285 2916)


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Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide alliance of churches and
their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency
response.  The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of
Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.
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