OCHA Situation Report No. 25
Pakistan: Floods/Cyclone
20 December 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This situation report is based on information received from the United
Nations Resident Coordinator's Office in Pakistan, National Disaster
Management Authority, Pakistan Meteorological Department, Clusters, and
media sources.

HIGHLIGHTS

- The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), UN
Agencies/Clusters and the humanitarian community (representatives of
Pakistan Humanitarian Forum) held a Disaster Management meeting on 13
December 2007 to discuss the possibility of a workable mechanism for
emergency preparedness and response.

- In Sindh, according to the assessments produced by 9 NGOs, 40,850
families need assistance in Dadu and Kamber-Shahdadkot districts. The
priority interventions included shelter, food items, drinking water and
NFIs (warm clothing, blankets etc).

- In a survey conducted by JADE in Kamber-Shahdadkot district the
average income of a family after flood is Rs 7,000 (US$116) per annum
whereas in a normal year it is Rs 44,000 (US$733). A report by Norwegian
Refugee Council indicates that approximately 30% of the flood-affected
population in villages of the Kamber-Shahdadlot district did not receive
relief compensation.

  - Merlin reports that since 25 November 2007, 215 cases of malaria have
been diagnosed and treated in Jhal Magsi district, Balochistan. Merlin
urgently requests that the activities of the provincial malaria control
programme are intensified with the support of District Health Officer.
There are also severe malnutrition cases which would require specific
treatment and referral system.

  - Residual needs require urgent action in view of the on-going winter.
In particular, projects related to shelter, water, self reliance and
early recovery would need additional funding.

OVERVIEW

Sindh

1. Norwegian Refugee Council reports that people from villages in
Kamber-Shahdadkot district are in need of food items, blankets and warm
clothing for the coming winter. Many flood affectees are living in
inadequate shelters. The shelters provided earlier by NGOs were intended
for temporary use till families reconstructed their homes. But many
families do not have the resources to reconstruct their homes and the
temporary shelters are all they have. Many families have not even
received temporary shelters and are living in makeshift shelters. Most
families uses their house reconstruction allocation to purchase food.

2. Based on assessments conducted by 9 I/NGOs, 40,850 families are in
need of assistance in Dadu and Kamber-Shahdadkot districts. These NGOs,
including Premiere Urgence, Kachho Foundation, TRDP and GSSB, have been
working in 3 tehsils of Dadu district and have identified 9,166 most
vulnerable families. JADE, Norwegian Refugee Council, Care
International, Action Aid and SRSO have been working in tehsils Kamber,
Warah, Qubo Saeed Khan and Miro Khan of Kamber-Shahdadkot district and
have identified 31,684 people still in need of assistance. Priority
sectors include shelter, food items, drinking water and NFIs (warm
clothing, blankets etc).

Balochistan

3. Considering the stage of the emergency, the situation in Balochistan
remains unsatisfactory in many of the flood-affected areas. Many
affected families are facing food shortage, lack of access to drinking
water, poor hygiene and sanitation conditions. Majority of the IDP
families in the areas of Gandhava and Kot Magsi (Jhal Magsi district),
Bagh Head and Karya Feri (Jaffarabad district) are living on roads.
Almost 80% of these IDPs have not received any compensation from the
government. In order to compensate loss in agriculture production, male
family members are working on monthly wages in nearby small towns for
less than Rs 700 (US$ 11) on average per month.

COORDINATION

4. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), UN
Agencies/Clusters and the humanitarian community (representatives of
Pakistan Humanitarian Forum) held a Disaster Management meeting on 13
December 2007. General Farooq, Chairman of NDMA, welcomed the initiative
of holding combined meeting with NDMA on a monthly basis and discussed
the possibility of a workable mechanism for emergency preparedness and
response. The UN Resident Coordinator said that the Terms of Reference
(TORs) and Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs), drafted to guide
emergency response, needed to be in line with NDMA framework and should
be reviewed in the second DMT meeting on 21 January 2008.

5. Mr. Rashid Khalikov, Director/OCHA New York and Eliane Provo Kluit,
Regional Disaster Response Advisor/OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific in Bangkok visited the flood-affected and earthquake hit areas
from 28 November to 3 December 2007. The Mission met NDMA Chairman
General Farooq and Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation
Authority (ERRA) Deputy Chairman General Nadeem. The visit aimed at
reviewing the earthquake response projects after 2 years, assessing the
current situation of floods affected areas, making recommendations for
OCHA presence and building relationship with the Government/NDMA.

6. During its 3-day visit to flood-affected areas of Sindh the mission
visited three villages which received different levla of assistance:
Chukhi village (UC Kot Magsi), Mirpur Burero (UC Bago Dero) and Thorke
village (UC Gabi Dero). In the first village, the water hasn't receded
and people did not get compensation. In the second village, the
population has returned and JADE is providing shelter and medical
support. In the third village, the population owns the land but is
living in makeshift shelter, under difficult health and daily sustenance
conditions. Other consequences of the floods include the over saturation
of soil with salt, making it inappropriate for farming and consequently
decreasing the level of annual income, increasing the number of health
problems.

7. It is reported that in Union Councils Kamal Khan, Chinni, Pat Ghul
Mohammad and Sawaro, tehsil Johi, Dadu district more than 70 villages
are still surrounded by flood water, with thousands of acres of
cultivable land remaining under water and consequently no chance of
cultivation in coming months.

8. The UN Resident Coordinator's Office in Sindh and Balochistan is
consolidating all assessments and surveys conducted so far by I/NGOs in
order to identify unassisted population and families in need of
winterization assistance.

9. Protection Cluster meetings continue to be held on a regular basis in
Quetta and Sindh. The next Protection Cluster meeting in Sindh will be
held on 18 December. A Protection Cluster meeting was held in Islamabad
on 11 December to discuss advocacy on protection issues. It was decided
that a meeting between NDMA, the Protection Cluster and other key actors
will take place in January to discuss lessons learned from the flood
response and overall Protection issues.

10. General Coordination Meetings (GCM) in Sindh are held weekly on
alternate basis in Kamber/Larkana and Dadu and chaired by Norwegian
Refugee Council and UN Resident Coordinator's Office. The last one was
held in Larkana and chaired by the new District Coordination Officer
(DCO) of Kamber district. The DCO has asked for a 2-page report from
each I/NGO stating their background, activities and area of work,
achievements and future projects. The UNRC office will compile the
reports and hand over to the DCO.

RELIEF ACTIVITIES

Balochistan

Health

11. From 5 to 16 November 2007, WHO conducted a comprehensive health
assessment in all the ten severely flood-affected districts of
Balochistan to plan for early recovery activities, comprehensively map
out facilities in these areas, identify issues relating to quality of
healthcare and make the preparedness plans for next floods and flood
prone areas. The assessment was carried out in 239 out of 262 health
facilities, including 24 drug warehouses, 28 diagnostic laboratories, 38
Mother and Child health services (MNCH) and 7 of the remaining camps in
Turbat district. A total of 80 health facilities were damaged, out of
which 64 were partially damaged and 16 completely damaged. The provision
of healthcare services in Balochistan is generally poor except for
outpatient department (OPD) services. The other services are only
provided at secondary level. The following recommendations are finalised
at district level with the health Executive District

Officers (EDOs): 33% of the facilities are either partially or
completely damaged and therefore in need of revitalization. There is an
urgent need to address key preparedness activities before the next flood
season. Primary health care should be given priority both by the
district and federal government. Secondary services also need to be
strengthened as there is no provision of special services. There is a
need to implement and monitor Disease Early Warning System (DEWS) for
prevention of outbreaks and planning purposes. Furthermore, there is a
need to ensure adequate supply of essential drugs with good storage
practices by professional staff/pharmacist at the government warehouses
in all the districts. The government needs to provide basic utilities
such as continuous supply of water, electricity and sanitation
facilities. Shortage of professional staff especially gynaecologists,
paediatrician, female medical officer/technician and lady health
visitors pose a great health risk to the vulnerable groups. Many of the
findings in the report reflect the vulnerabilities and poor coping
mechanisms existing prior to the floods.

12. Merlin will be providing primary healthcare services in 4 Union
Councils of Jhal Magsi district (Kot Magsi, Hathiari, Patri, Panjuk)
until the end of December 2007. Two static clinics at Kot Magsi and
Hathiari Basic Health Units, and two mobile clinics are currently
covering 18 villages and reaching out to 49,000 indirect beneficiaries.
All medical teams are providing comprehensive primary healthcare
services and drugs, free of charge. Merlin reports that since 25
November, 215 cases of malaria have been diagnosed and treated. Merlin
urgently requests that the activities of the provincial malaria control
programme be intensified with the support of District Health Officer
including the training of all active health staff on the new National
Protocol for Malaria Diagnostic and Treatment. Merlin also reports many
cases of severe malnutrition which require treatment and referral
system. Merlin will end its operation in the district by 20 December
2007 because of lack of funding. However there is a need to continue
health activities until the Ministry of Health starts providing
comprehensive primary healthcare.

Protection

13. Norwegian Refugee Council Quetta has completed a series of trainings
in Jhal Magsi district of Balochistan. The topic of these trainings was
'Protection Issues in Emergencies'. Sessions for government officials
were organised on 14 November whereas sessions for I/NGOs were organised
on 15 November 2007.

Education

14. Most of the schools in Jhal Magsi and Jaffarabad districts are
non-functional and need repair/rehabilitation. In Jaffarabad district 28
schools are completely damaged and 17 partially damaged. The District
Coordination Officer has requested tents for schooling. 2,000 students
were affected during the floods in Jaffarabad district. The enrolment
ratio is low in view of the school age population in the district.

15. National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) with UNICEF's collaboration
is constructing 78 temporary school shelters (TSS) including water and
sanitation (WES) facilities in Turbat district. So far 20 TSS have been
completed.

16. Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP) with UNICEF's
collaboration is constructing 150 shelters in Bolan (100 shelters) and
Jhal Magsi (50 shelters) districts including WES facilities.

17. 376 teachers are being trained by UNICEF in psycho-social support in
Turbat district. Moreover, 3,000 pamphlets and 5,000 posters for
back-to-school campaigns are being distributed. Supplies such as
school-in-box, blackboards, recreational kits, plastic mats, water
coolers, teachers' furniture and books are being distributed in four
districts (Khuzdar, Turbat, Bolan, Jhal Magsi).

18. UNICEF is supporting flood-affected regular programme in Khuzdar,
Lasbela, Kalat and Sibi districts. Of the 30 temporary shelter schools,
7 have been provided through School Development Plans in Khuzdar
district.

19. Damage assessment is being conducted through cluster partners in
most affected areas of Turbat, Jhal Magsi, Bolan, Naseerabad, Khuzdar,
Lasbela, Kalat and Sibi districts.

Livelihoods

20. Between 25% to 30% of flood affected farmers have been targeted by
FAO in Sindh and Balochistan.

21. FAO reports that the livelihoods of households farming/grazing
rangelands have not been restored in most flood-affected areas. In
addition to damages to standing Kharif (summer) crops in Balochistan and
Sindh, this essentially means that there will be a shortage in supply of
wheat straw and increasing pressure on the degraded rangelands.

22. Lack of support for the rehabilitation of irrigation channels,
watercourses and water harvesting systems combined with poor water
management practices have restricted the choice of crops that farmers
can grow. Scarcity of water has reduced yields of food and fodder crops
significantly, putting additionalpressure on the limited natural
resource base.

23. There is an apparent lack of further donor funding for early
recovery activities in the cropping and livestock sub-sectors for the
2008 Kharif (summer) crop, in particular for the repair and
rehabilitation of traditional on-farm water management systems owned and
operated by community based water users associations.

24. Roots Works has started food-for-work programme in Jhal Magsi
district. Union Councils Kot Magsi, Gandhava, Bareja have been targeted
and 3,800 families benefited from the project. The food package consists
of wheat, sugar, pulses and dry fruit.

Shelter

25. Hundreds of flood-affected people are still living in tents or
transitional shelters. In many parts of Turbat, Jaffarabad and
Naseerabad districts, people are living in their damaged houses without
walls and doors. The population, in particular children, is exposed to
the winter cold and need warm clothing, shoes, blankets etc. The IDPs
informed that they do not have washing units or latrine facility.

26. UNHCR's implementing partners, including Catholic Relief Services
(CRS), Save the Children and BRSP, have distributed 48,000 plastic
sheets, 3,000 tents, 9,500 blankets, 6,000 jerry cans.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

27. Lack of resources for recovery interventions after completion of
emergency projects by the end of December will cause a gap in provision
of water and sanitation facilities.

28. In many parts of Jhal Magsi district, communities that have returned
to their homes are facing severe shortage of drinking water. They are
using contaminated water from nearby ponds and are facing serious health
problems.

Information Management

29. UN-Habitat has deployed a GIS/MIS expert in the office of Provincial
Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). The organisation has conducted
training workshops for the UN, I/NGOs on reporting forms and Flood
Information web portal (PFIC website). The forms have been distributed
to the cluster members and I/NGOs for information. Maps and updates are
prepared and distributed to stakeholders.

Sindh

Health

30. The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has
conducted in December 2007 drinking water tests in the villages Haibat
Khan Magsi, tehsil Kubo Saeed Khan, Kamber district. Based on the
analysis of various water resources, most of the samples in the village
were found to be unfit due to turbidity and bacterial contamination.
Skin diseases spreading during floods have still not been controlled due
to improper treatment and regular use of contaminated water.

31. Kachho Foundation (local NGO) has established 80 medical camps in
tehsil Johi, Dadu district and 3,020 flood affected individuals and have
received medical treatments.

32. Action Aid, through its implementing partners, conducted 132 health
sessions in tehsil Warah, with the participation of 2,659 affected
individuals, including 1,239 malnourished.

33. JADE reports that NGOs have not reached more than 100 villages
because of lack of access related to floodwater. They are establishing
10 medical mobile camps in 3 tehsils: 4 in Kubo Saeed Khan, 4 in Kamber
and 2 in Warah.

Education

34. The schooling year of the children has been disrupted with majority
of families in the flood-affected areas migrating to other areas in
search of work. When the cropping season will be over those families
will return and children will be able to go to schools.

35. In some other schools located in the flood-affected areas, girls
don't have access to education because of the non-availability of female
teachers, the lack of transportation facility and the lack of schools in
remote areas.

36. School Management Committees (SMCs) setup by the District
Coordination Officers are inactive and have difficulties providing
voluntary support to the school administration in order to overcome the
current problems (teacher absenteeism, low student enrolment, high
student dropout and lack of building maintenance). The SMCs complains
about the lack of funding from the Sindh Government and district
education offices and the subsequent water and sanitation problems in
schools. Latrines are nonfunctional and school items have been stolen or
broken by IDPs.

37. During the month monitoring visits were conducted to the schools
provided with Temporary School Structures (TSS) in Dadu and Kamber
districts. One of the most urgent problems to be addressed by the
district education and administration was the need for watchmen to
protect the school belongings from theft. During coordination meetings,
the District Education team has requested UNICEF to play a role for the
appointment of watchmen to Government Primary Schools.

38. Of the 70 targeted Government primary schools, UNICEF has provided
and set up 35 temporary school structures in Kamber and 28 of the 35
have been completed in Dadu district. The temporary school structures
include tents, school-inbox, recreational kits, plastic mats and other
supporting material.

39. UNICEF through a local NGO, Indus Resource Centre (IRC) is providing
minor repair, maintenance and disinfection services including water and
sanitation facilities to 200 schools. Those 200 schools are also
provided with school-in-box and recreational kits.

40. Indus Resource Centre (IRC) is working on Child Emergency and
Education. 7 child friendly spaces are established in 7 villages in Dadu
distric (Bago Dero, Garkan, Pejaho, Kandowah, Mado, Murid Baber and
Ibrahim Sand). IRC is offering Life Skill Based Education (LSBE) to
children, women and teenagers at these spaces. They have also set a
target for providing psychosocial support to 700 children, 1,000
teenagers and 500 women in all 7 centres. This project lasted from 15
September to 15 December 2007.

Protection

41. Norwegian Refugee Council reports that approximately 30% of the
flood-affected population in villages of Kamber-Shahdadkot district were
excluded from the assessment and did not receive compensation. People
receiving compensation are also having difficulties cashing the
compensation checks.

42. UNICEF has asked the Relief Commissioner/PDMA Representative in
Sindh for information on the cash compensation distribution process in
Sindh. The Relief Commissioner stated that the information would be
released only after a written request was made. The High Court of Sindh
dated made a decision on 1 November 2007 on the "petitions ... filed by
persons claiming to be flood affectees who allegedly have not received
the relief fund of Rs 15,000. It is also the contention of the
petitioners that proper survey has not been carried out and the funds
have been distributed not on the basis of identification of real
affectees". The decision of the High Court of Sindh stated that all the
persons who are petitioners shall apply within a maximum period of seven
days to the District Coordination Officer (DCO). The DCO Kamber-
Shahdadkot shall after examining these applications and conducting
enquiry determine by 30 November, 2007 whether the petitioner's
application is genuine and entitled to relief compensation. The
applicant/petitioner will then become entitled to the relief fund.

43. Takhleeq Foundation, a local NGO is working in 4 tehsils and 7 Union
Councils. They are also establishing library and organising events for
women in Bago Dero, Hazarwa and Kubo Saeed Khan. They are working with
UNICEF on child and women protection emergency programme. The
organisation provided 17,000 non-formal education kits to children in
their service base, radios and LSBE (Life Skill Based Education) to
women: 2,500 each in 7 Union Councils (Kubo Saeed Khan, Bago Dero,
Hazarwa, Dost Ali, Seelra, Khandu and Mirpur).

44. Mehran Welfare Trust in collaboration with UNICEF is starting a
project on family tracing for unaccompanied children in Dadu and
Kamber-Shahdadkot districts in December. One-day training was conducted
for the staff at Larkana.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

45. Premiere Urgence has been working in 3 Union Councils (Sawaro,
Chinni and Kamal Khan) in District Dadu. They have setup a water
purification plant in Dadu. Premiere Urgence has stopped its main
activity of water trucking on 20 November. The plant has been dismantled
on 28 November 2007 and handed over to Pakistan Red Crescent (PRC) due
to shortage of funds. Premiere Urgence has also conducted an in-depth
assessment on water and sanitation and is in the process of finalising a
proposal for rehabilitation of existing water sources,as well as
development and implementation of a new water network. In this regard,
they are looking for potential donors.

46. Care International is installing 250 latrines and 150 hand pumps in
Dadu district.

Livelihoods

47. FAO reports that procurement of approved wheat seed varieties for
Sindh was not possible due to lack of supply in the market. Funds
earmarked for wheat and fertilizers have been used to augment livestock
feed beneficiaries.

48. Kachho Foundation and Caritas have setup 17 livestock camps where
2,788 animals have been vaccinated in tehsil Johi, Dadu district.

49. A survey conducted by JADE in Shahdadkot concluded that the average
income of a family after flood is Rs 7000 (US$116) per annum whereas in
a normal year it is Rs 44000 (US$733).

Information management

50. UN-Habitat is collecting information from all I/NGOs working in the
field. 3W (Who What Where) forms have been circulated among I/NGOs and
based on the information provided, maps are being developed. This will
help in the identification of gaps and will be shared with NDMA.
However, UN-Habitat requires more information from I/NGOs on a regular
basis to update information.

51. UN-Habitat has conducted Global Positioning System (GPS) in Karachi
for UN agencies and I/NGOs on 22 November. The training aimed at
familiarizing the participants with the working and importance of GPS.

Cluster-specific documents, situation reports, maps including Who What
Where (3W), assessments and technical guidelines relating to this
emergency can be found at www.pfic.webexone.com. This situation report
together with further information on ongoing emergencies is also
available on the OSOCC Internet Website. http://www.unocha.org/vosocc
and on the OCHA Internet Website http://www.reliefweb.int/.

For detailed information please contact:

Desk Officer (New York)
Ms. Severine Rey
Office Tel: +1 917 367 53 36
Office Fax: +1 212 963 36 30
Email: rey@un.org

GCMS (Geneva)
Jean Verheyden
Office Tel: + 41 22 - 917 1381
Mobile : + 41 79 - 509 8116
Email: verheyden@un.org

OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Mr. Rajan Gengaje
Regional Disaster Response Adviser
Office Tel. +66-2288-2572
Office Fax +66-2288-1043
Mobile + 66-8-1916-1271
Email: Gengaje@un.org


Press Contact:

(NYC)
Ms. Stephanie Bunker
Office Tel : + 1 917-367-5126
Office Fax: + 1 212-963-1312
Email: bunker@un.org

(GVA)
Ms. Elizabeth Byrs
Tel + 41 22 917 26 53
Fax + 41 22 917 00 20
E-mail: byrs@un.org

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