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Humanitarian Action for Children 2019 - Pakistan

Countries
Pakistan
Sources
UNICEF
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Pakistan Since 2010, more than 455,000 internally displaced families have returned to their areas of origin, and as of October 2018, more than 97 percent of displaced persons have returned. Out of the nearly 14,000 families that returned in 2018, nearly 3,200 were female-headed households, which face specific risks, and nearly 16,000 remain displaced in nine districts. The majority of returnees lack access to basic services. Forty-seven per cent of the population is using contaminated water and 64 per cent of the population lacks access to health care. More than 80 per cent of health infrastructure is severely damaged and not functioning and global acute malnutrition prevalence is at 20 per cent, exceeding the emergency threshold. The lack of basic educational facilities has undermined access to and quality of education. Half of girls and one third of boys are currently out of school. Minerelated incidents are increasing and children struggling with the loss of family and friends are experiencing significant psychosocial trauma. The tribal districts have the lowest rate of child birth registration nationally, estimated at only 1 per cent. The situation in drought-affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan is of increasing concern.

Humanitarian strategy

The 2018-2020 Pakistan Transition Plan developed by the United Nations, the World Bank, non-governmental organizations and the Government addresses both humanitarian and development needs. UNICEF’s strategy in the tribal districts is to ensure that returns of displaced people are sustainable and that their acute humanitarian needs are met. The response will address the residual humanitarian needs of both returnees and local communities by restoring non-functional health facilities and supporting restored facilities to provide integrated primary health care for newborns, children and mothers and expand community management of acute malnutrition services. The education programme will establish temporary secure and safe learning environments and provide learning materials to affected school-aged children. Access to safe water and sanitation will be increased through the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in schools and health facilities. Children will gain access to preventive and protective services, including recreational support and mine risk education. In line with the Transition Plan, UNICEF will continue to strengthen government-led technical working groups so that the clusters can be deactivated by 2020. To facilitate emergency preparedness and build resilience, UNICEF will strengthen national and sub-national capacities for disaster risk reduction and maintain and replenish contingency stocks for 100,000 people.

Results from 2018

As of 31 October 2018, UNICEF had US$4.6 million available against the US$18.2 million appeal. Humanitarian programme implementation was constrained due to significant underfunding, the limited capacities of implementing partners, lengthy administrative procedures and the inaccessibility of districts due to insecurity. The health, WASH and child protection sectors received no funding in 2018. The education and nutrition programmes were 50 per cent funded, which allowed for the enrolment of some 68,000 children in schools (85 per cent of the target) and the provision of multi-micronutrient supplementation to 80,000 pregnant and lactating women (63 per cent of the target). Due to inadequate humanitarian funding, UNICEF leveraged its regular resources, as well as the resources of government counterparts and partners, to achieve limited results in the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). As part of the national measles campaign, UNICEF supported the vaccination of over 840,000 children against measles in the tribal districts. Some 55,000 people (37 per cent of the target) gained access to safe water and 76,000 people (49 per cent of the target) were sensitized on safe hygiene practices. In addition, some 25,000 children and caregivers were reached through child protection awareness-raising activities (87 per cent of the target).