ReliefWeb

In Numbers

3,344 mt of food distributed in July 2020

US$ 36.6 million six months (Sep 2020 – Feb 2021) representing 69 percent of total.

262,155 people assisted in July 2020

Operational Updates

• In August, WFP and the Government launched an ambitious nation-wide stunting prevention programme linked to the country’s national safety net (BISP/ EHSAAS), which provides unconditional cash transfers to over 4.5 million ultra-poor households. This programme targets mothers and children enrolled in the Government’s safety net and will use the Government’s primary health care system to provide a comprehensive package of four interventions: locally produced specialized nutritious foods, conditional cash transfer top-ups, awareness sessions on feeding and hygiene practices, and routine child monitoring and immunization. The aim is to reach over 120,000 women and children over the course of two years.

• In response to the findings of the recently published national nutrition survey, which showed that rates of acute malnutrition in Pakistan far exceeded the emergency threshold, WFP is scaling up its community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) programmes throughout the country, in close partnership with UNICEF, WHO and health authorities. WFP’s ongoing CMAM programmes are aimed at providing 252,072 children under five and pregnant and lactating women (PLW) with specialised nutritious food (SNF).

SNF is provided along with behavioural change communication on infant and young child feeding practices and health and hygiene practices. In the coming months, WFP plans to reach an additional 94,222 children and PLW suffering from moderate acute malnutrition (56,556 children and 37,666 PLW).

• To enhance Pakistan’s emergency response capacity, WFP constructed a Humanitarian Response Facility (HRF) in Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) —an area prone to natural disasters. This HRF facility has a storage capacity of 1,000 mt and will be used for prepositioning food and non-food items for relief activities and emergency response.

• To support the Government’s COVID-19 response, WFP and the National Disaster Management Authority have been conducting fortnightly Logistics and Supply Chain Working Group (LSCWG) meetings.
The LSCWG working group brings together heads of UN agencies, international financial institutions, and the Ministry of Health, to optimise the supply chain management of critically needed supplies for the COVID-19 response.