Updated March 2013

Humanitarian and political context:

Violent incidents continued in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan where NRC is operating. The significant militant activity in the southern districts of KP and coordinated assault on the Political Agent (PA) office in Peshawar district indicates the deterioration of the security situation in KP. Security forces continued military operations against suspected insurgents in Khyber and Orkzai agencies. In Tirah Valley of Khyber agency, clashes continued between two opposing militant groups. Balochistan province remained equally volatile with the violent secterian attacks against Shia Hazara community.

In the past three months, health workers carrying out polio vaccination campaigns were attacked and 18 workers, most of them female from national organisations were killed in different incidents across the country.

The humanitarian space is shrinking due to diminished safety and security of aid workers as well as bureaucratic constraints. The current government will complete its constitutional term on the 16th of March and general elections are likely to be held in May 2013. The security situation will most likely continue to deteriorate; the rise in militant activities in KP and targeted killings in Karachi and Balochistan may result in violent elections and lead to political and social unrest in the country. 

NRC priorities for 2013 and beyond:

NRC Pakistan will continue to reach out to the most vulnerable groups in the areas of FATA and Balochistan where very few humanitarian agencies are working and the needs of the people are still unmet. Furthermore, NRC will initiate programs in food security and livelihood and strengthen advocacy activities.

NRC will reinforce accountability and transparency procedures through needs-based approach, enhancing programme quality and ensuring continuous feedback from the target communities.

NRC Pakistan will continue to be an active member in various coordinating groups and platforms that focus on improving humanitarian response, assessing existing regional gaps from the field and addressing bureaucratic restrictions.

NRC core activities in Pakistan: 
 
NRC has worked in Pakistan since 2001 and is currently one of the largest INGO in KP and FATA. Despite the deteriorating security situation, NRC is among the few remaining key international organisations providing humanitarian assistance in Balochistan province.

Throughout 2012, NRC has been scaling up and expanding its operations in order to reach out to more vulnerable populations in KP, FATA and Balochistan. Access into FATA and other insecure areas is challenging, though NRC has managed to gradually increased its presence ensuring staff security by developing specific access strategies.

NRC programmes in Pakistan are focused on assisting Afghan refugees, IDPs, conflict and disaster affected communities and returnees. NRC Pakistan provides humanitarian assistance to displaced people through following activities:

Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) and Social Services:

The main objectives of NRC ICLA services are to contribute to durable solutions for refugees, IDPs, returnees, disaster and conflict affected communities and to assist them in securing their rights in KP, FATA and Balochistan through Information dissemination, counselling, legal assistance and trainings on human rights, Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), the Political Parties Act, peace building, conflict resolution and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).

ICLA services are offered in Nowshera, Charsadda, DI Khan, Kohat and Lower Dir districts in KP, Kurram, Bajaur and Mohmand Agencies in FATA and in Quetta District of Balochistan.

NRC has also established grievance desks for returning IDPs of Jalozai camp, DI Khan, Kohat and Kurram Agency and assisting IDPs with registration, legal documentation and trainings. Currently, NRC is the only INGO monitoring the return process of IDPs in FATA.

In 2012, the ICLA teams have resolved 2,161 cases of 4,802 relating to the rights of IDPs. 1,300 individuals received trainings and information was disseminated to 6,241 individuals; in total, approximately 8,910 refugees and 33,161 IDPs benefited from ICLA services.

Education:

NRC Education Team is implementing an Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) through 105 established ALP Centres in Charsadda, Nowshera, Lower Dir and Quetta. The number of beneficiaries of the Education programme reached 3,217 people, mainly flood and conflict affected IDPs, returnees and refugee children's between the ages of 9 to15 years, who had either limited or no access to schooling in KP, FATA and Balochistan.

The Education Programme has also been working closely with the Ministry of Education by providing Teaching and Learning Material (TLM) to conflict and flood affected schools in KP and FATA. Furthermore, NRC is implementing a teacher training component for a limited number of schools and so far 137 teachers have been trained.

Shelter:

The NRC shelter programme is focusing on flood and conflict affected refugees and IDPs in KP, FATA and Balochistan. During 2012, NRC Pakistan built 2,250 permanent shelters in Nowshera, Charsadda, Kohat, DI Khan, Kurram, South Wazirstan, Mohmand, Bajaur and Nasserabad. Moreover, NRC also constructed 4,000 tent shelters for IDPs at Jalozai camp and provided 460 shelter repair kits to the IDPs of Kurram Agency.

NRC delivers the approved shelter design to the beneficiaries as well as incorporating Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) elements to enhance protection of the population against natural disasters. NRC field engineers and monitoring teams closely supervise the construction of shelters and other structures to ensure their quality and durability.

In addition to shelters, NRC rebuilt 13 schools, which were fully or partially damaged during the conflict or flooding in Swat, DI Khan, Buner, Malakand, Bajaur and Mohmand.

NRC also distributed 78,200 Non Food Items (NFI) kits in KP, FATA and Balochistan, and stocks are also maintained to respond to the sudden onset of emergencies.

Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Promotion (WASH) and Community Projects:

NRC Pakistan is providing essential WASH services to the affected populations through its shelter programme and built 2,250 latrines in FATA, KP & Balochitan in 2012.

As a part of hygiene promotion activities, NRC had distributed 9,574 hygiene kits and provided hygiene training sessions to the vulnerable families in FATA, KP and Balochistan.

NRC Pakistan also improved access to water of affected communities by providing them with water infrastructures such as gravity fed water supply schemes and rehabilitating and installing new tube-wells and hand-pumps. NRC completed four community projects in Kohat, 15 in Mohamnad and 31 projects in Bajaur. NRC also built 17 flood protection walls in Charsadda, Nowshera, DI Khan, Bajaur and Mohmand.

Food Security and Livilihood:

NRC Pakistan is launching a one-year Food Security and livelihood project for the conflict and flood affected population of Nowshera, Kohat and DI Khan district of KP Province.

This project will contribute to improve access to food, generate more sustainable livelihoods, accelerate recovery and promote self-reliance in various phases of displacement. This project aims to assist around 273,000 individuals through livestock restocking, poultry distribution, agriculture tool-kits, kitchen gardening, cash for work activities and various training sessions.

Protection and Coordination:

NRC Pakistan is involved in advocacy and protection of the most vulnerable groups. It plays a leading role in coordinating these efforts at different levels with the relevant actors and stakeholders.

In NRC Pakistan, advocacy remains focused on promoting the rights of refugees and IDPs in Pakistan and their access to assistance and protection.