IRIN
PAKISTAN: WFP ready to meet winter quake needs
23 November 2006


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

MUZAFFARABAD, 23 November (IRIN) - As the first snow falls on the peaks 
above the towns and villages of Pakistani-administered Kashmir and North 
West Frontier Province (NWFP) decimated in the earthquake of October 
2005, UN World Food Programme (WFP) officials in the field say they are 
ready for the hard months ahead.

WFP may need to support up to 350,000 people across the mountains of 
Pakistan's earthquake zone this winter, but the agency says there will 
be enough food to go round, even if forecasters are correct and 
temperatures plummet below the seasonal norm.

WFP completed most of its emergency food programmes earlier this year, 
as communities began to recover and rebuild from the disaster, returning 
from temporary camps in the valleys to their mountain communities. Yet 
around 350,000 people have been identified as vulnerable and could 
become food insecure in severe weather conditions, with temperatures in 
the Himalayan foothills set to dip below -20 Celsius in the weeks ahead, 
leaving many communities cut off.

Across NWFP, which includes the township of Balakot, close to the quake 
epicentre, the WFP food distribution plan up to the end of December is 
well advanced. Half of the 8,750 mt of food identified to support 
vulnerable families from October to year-end has been moved to strategic 
hubs in the mountains for distribution through international aid 
organisations over the coming weeks, as required. Here alone, up to 
294,000 potential beneficiaries have been identified as vulnerable and 
may require support, mainly through food-for-work reconstruction 
schemes, in camps, or through schools across the region.

Salim Akhtar, head of WFP's Programme Unit for Hazara, based in 
Mansehra, said: "During the post-emergency phase we have been 
distributing mainly through activity-based schemes, rehabilitation, 
water schemes and road construction in food-insecure areas. Currently, 
we are working through NGO partners to establish the needs over the 
coming weeks. Half the requirement up the end of December has already 
been moved; the rest will be in place before the end of November. We 
have enough food. The difficulty is always logistics in an area 
difficult to access, and getting the food to the people. But we feel we 
are ready."

Akhtar added that 2,000 mt was being held as a further reserve 
contingency, to be dropped by air into snowbound villages through the 
UN's helicopter service, which will become operational again over the 
coming weeks as severe weather cuts off communities.

The same story of preparedness is echoed across Pakistani-administered 
Kashmir. Head of WFP's Muzaffarabad office, Kaneez Khan, said some 834 
mt was ready for distribution from November to February next year 
through food-for-work schemes, with a further 55.7 mt earmarked for 
schoolchildren.

The entire tonnage was already prepositioned at strategic hubs in the 
mountains across the Muzaffarabad, Neelam and Bagh districts, ready for 
immediate distribution as necessary, she said. Almost 52,000 people had 
been identified as being vulnerable to food insecurity in these areas in 
severe conditions.

She also confirmed WFP would aim to airlift supplies to snowbound 
communities facing severe hardship.

Khan added: "Already we have snow here and very soon many roads will be 
covered, so we have had to move early. People have stored food for the 
harsh months ahead, but in the event of a hard winter, we feel our 
contingency plan is enough."

Supplies include wheat flour, pulses, vegetable oil, rice and salt, 
mostly made available through community participation schemes. But in 
the event of a halt to activity-based support through harsh weather, WFP 
stands ready to distribute anyway.

More than 75,000 were killed and more than 70,000 severely injured or 
disabled in last year's earthquake. Some 3 million were left with 
inadequate shelter, most of them in need of food in the immediate 
aftermath.

The fragile infrastructure in these harsh, rugged mountain communities 
was destroyed: hospitals, schools, government buildings, livelihoods and 
roads crucial for access. Tens of thousands of families remain in 
temporary shelter as the second winter since the disaster approaches.


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