Pakistan is facing its worst displacement crisis. Around 1.7 million people have fled their homes after the army launched an offensive against Taliban militants this month. The United Nations, Pakistan's government and aid agencies have launched a major appeal for funding.
Nita Bhalla speaks to Manuel Bessler, head of the
U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Pakistan.
How much is the appeal for?
This is a revision of the existing Pakistan humanitarian response plan. The appeal was first launched in August 2008 for $55 million when people were displaced due to floods and fighting. This was then revised in January to $129 million. Then it was revised again in April for $174 million and this was 51 percent funded, that is $88 million.
Now we have had to revise it again due to this tremendous crisis we are facing as a result of the magnitude and speed of the displacement. The total amount we're asking for is $543 million. So the new requirements are $454 as $88 is funded. The total funded amount is now 16 percent.
Where is the money going?
There are three sectors of vulnerable people.
Firstly, of course, it is for the displaced. Those who had to leave their homes, some ... could just grab whatever they could and run. They are from the southern Malakand region Â? Swat, Buner, Lower Dir. This is the biggest sector of vulnerable people Â? of which 15 to 20 percent are living in camps. The others are living with host communities.
The second group is these host families. Some have been sheltering displaced people in their homes since August last year when previous groups of people were displaced. Obviously their coping mechanisms have come under a lot of stress.
Thirdly, it is for the people who could not leave the conflict zone. We have limited information about the people who could not leave as we do not have access. Some areas are slowly opening up but we do not have access to Swat. We are starting to have access to southern parts of Lower Dir and Buner.
What are the urgent needs of the displaced?
The immediate needs are indeed the life-saving ones. This means food aid, shelter either in the camps or to help reinforce the shelter that they have within the host communities.
Also, they need non-food items such as cooking utensils etc - things that you need for your daily life. We need to meet health needs such as providing health units in the camps and reach those in the communities. We also need to assist with water and sanitation.
They have come from very high altitude areas and they are not used to the extreme heat where they are now. They are used to drinking water from rivers. So the concern for water-borne diseases is very relevant. As well as safe drinking water, we have to make sure that the sanitation issues are put in order such as building toilets.
What about support for the host communities.
Will you provide a monthly allowance?
There cannot be a disparity where we are only giving support to those who have just arrived and not those who are already there and helping others. We have to strike a balance and help those host families as well. This would be through helping to reinforce their homes - with plastic sheeting, tents in their backyards, building an additional latrine.
The humanitarian community does not give out compensation or cash grants, but we will provide some cash-for-work schemes. Our development programme would be to provide people with work in the community.
How do you aim to provide support to those in the conflict area, given you have virtually no access?
This will be very closely coordinated with the authorities, particularly with the military. We have liaison arrangements in place and they inform us how far we can access areas like Buner, which is much easier to access now than Swat. So we have the possibility to go in and do needs assessments and also to provide basic assistance to those who are stuck inside their houses.
So have you started doing needs assessments in Buner?
The Red Cross and Pakistani Red Crescent have reinitiated their activities in Lower Dir. In Buner, to my knowledge, not yet. The U.N. for sure is not yet doing this due to security considerations. The security situation is so fragile and if something happens to one of our workers or one of the workers from another agency, this will have an impact on the whole operation and we will be forced to withdraw or suspend our activities. We cannot afford to risk this, given the large scale of people who depend 100 percent on us.
How long will the funds last?
If fully funded, this money should take us through until the end of the year. It is for June until December.
So you foresee this crisis lasting until the end of the year, if not longer?
We have to hope for the best of course and hope for a cessation of hostilities soon, but we have to be prepared for the worst. That is, a longer term crisis.
How confident are you that you'll get full funding for this appeal, given there are other crises in the region such as Sri Lanka, and there's a global economic downturn?
We have to increase our fundraising activities. We have to make it clear the urgency of the problem. We have to ensure that people know not only of the local implications of this crisis, but also the regional implications.
We did the launch the other day in Pakistan and we will have another launch in Geneva next week and in New York. So we do a lot to draw the attention of the international community, of the U.N. member states to this crisis. We have to explain to them the scale and condition of the crisis.
So I absolutely believe that well, not fully, we would receive a good percentage of the money which is an absolutely prerequisite to run this operation to make sure everyone who needs assistance and protection gets it.
Is the pledge made by donors on Thursday - $224 million - included in that appeal?
A lot of the pledges made on Thursday were indeed for relief but also for recovery. So a part of this money will benefit our activities. I imagine at this stage - we have pledges for $150 to $180 of this money. These are pledges and we do not count it until it's in the bank.
There appears to be a disparity with the situation in Sri Lanka when aid agencies were more vocal about calling for a humanitarian pause to access people in the conflict area. Why is this not happening in Pakistan?
There are differences between the two crises. We have much more people displaced here in Pakistan than there are in Sri Lanka. We have 2 million people who are living in camps or in host communities in Pakistan.
There is information, confirmed by the army, that there are civilians trapped inside the conflict area. Obviously it is a concern. But the U.N. security management department has not provided the green light for our access to Swat. We do have access, authorities are not preventing us. But, at this point, we cannot go there because of our own security rules. The access situation here is very different to what it is in Sri Lanka.
We are of course very concerned. The authorities assure us that curfew arrangements are adapted to these emergencies where people need health care facilities and secondly there are now several medical units on the way (which) actually should have reached the conflict area where they will set up health facilities.
You know when you have this ongoing conflict, where civilian institutions like the U.N. and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) cannot go there, we are very much in favour if the military does what it can do to support and assist the civilians.
The authorities informed us they are providing medical facilities in the area and food rations to the population. For sure, it is not enough. For sure, more needs to be done. And that's why we are in constant contact with the combat commanders who have special support groups to help those who are trapped.
At this stage, would the United Nations consider calling for a humanitarian pause?
Absolutely, it is not that we don't do this. If our information is solid enough, absolutely we will request it and push it through our channels and our liaison arrangements to provide that support.
It is a subject of discussion and with our very good liaison we have with the armed forces, it is obviously something that we would not shy away asking for.
So is it right to say the U.N. is considering requesting a humanitarian pause?
Yes, we would consider requesting a humanitarian pause but what we need is the minimum level of security in order to assess the situation and assist the civilian populations inside the conflict zone.
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