UNHCR provides relief to 665,000 flood victims in KP

The UN Refugee Agency has so far provided assistance to 665,000 flood-affected people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), said a statement issued on Sunday.

To reach the people in need, UNHCR established 17 distribution points in coordination with implementing partners in Peshawar, Charsadda, Swat, Kohat, Nowshera, Kohistan, Shangla, Dera Ismail Khan, the lower and upper districts.

In addition, the agency had distributed aid to affected people in Haripur, Manshera and those scattered in various parts of the Chitral Valley.

UNHCR and its partners had carried out assessments, and those whose houses had been destroyed or damaged had received tokens that allow them to collect assistance, including tents and other non-food relief items such as jerrycans, mosquito nets and kitchen sets from the distribution points.

UNHCR’s Peshawar officer-in-charge Yoshimi Saita said, “Needs of affected people are immense and to survive through these difficult times they need continued support from aid agencies.”

The UNHCR and the UAE Red Crescent Authority had recently launched a joint emergency shelter programme in Nowshera. Under the project, 20,000 families would receive emergency shelter and basic domestic items, to assist them in coping with the hardships of refugee life.

“Winter is approaching which is going to make it more difficult for the people who do not have shelter, especially in that parts of the province where the season is quite harsh. In response, we have initiated our transitional shelter project for the flood-affected people in Uthror village of Swat”, Saita added.

Materials for 105 transitional shelters had already been airlifted to Uthror in Upper Swat.

Airlifting is preferred as access by road through the recently constructed route to the village is only possible on light vehicles.

As part of a coordinated relief effort in KP, UNHCR had distributed 54,491 tents, 570,810 blankets, 332,516 quilts, 95,035 kitchen sets, 130,790 mosquito nets, 149,480 plastic buckets, 375, 992 sleeping mats, 117,924 plastic sheets, 196,678 jerrycans and 142,702 kilogrammes of soap.