Rehabilitation of former refugee settlement areas

As the repatriation drive of Afghan refugees continues, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Pakistani government have agreed to rehabilitate areas being vacated by the refugees. "Once the refugees have left the area, the structures need to be rehabilitated, because they are an environmental hazard," Abdul Akbar, the public relations officer for Pakistan's Federal Minister for Water and Power, Kashmir Affairs, States and Frontier Regions, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday. The US $40-million programme was jointly developed by UNDP and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help restore what they describe as "damaged and over-used social and physical infrastructure", as well as the economies of refugee hosting communities. "We are trying to generate money from the donor community to help the refugee hosting communities to rehabilitate their areas," Zafar Iqbal, the UNDP assistant resident representative, told IRIN in Islamabad. Pakistan hosted one of the world's largest Afghan refugee communities, a situation which impacted a negatively on the poverty stricken country's resources. About 1.5 million Afghan refugees were repatriated last year and 150,000 refugees have been repatriated so far this year, with the figure expected to rise to 600,000 by year's end. A similar figure was also expected for next year, Iqbal said. Selection of project areas was determined by the results of ecological surveys, the status of socioeconomic indicators and consultations with government. The projects will focus on the two areas of Mastung and Qila Abdullah in the southwestern province of Balochistan, and the three areas of Peshawar, Haripur and Hangu districts in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. The Federal Minister for Water and Power, Kashmir Affairs, States and Frontier Regions, Aftab Sherpao, has pledged full support for this and two other UNDP-sponsored programmes - 'Mass Awareness on Water Conservation Use' and 'Strengthening Pakistan's Disaster Management Capacity'. Iqbal said the minister had accepted the chair of the steering committee for 'Water Conservation and Use,' - a $4 million programme. "The water situation is a major source of concern and is the highest priority," he said. Pakistan has suffered a devastatingly severe drought over the past few years. There has been very little rain in Balochistan for the last five years, which has badly affected livestock and forced people from some remote villages to migrate to cities in search of food and water. The southwestern province is not the only region affected by the drought. Parts of the southern Sindh Province have also been hit, and the programme will address water concerns in all four provinces of Pakistan. The third programme of the proposed projects - 'Strengthening Pakistan's Disaster Management Capacity' - was also of great importance, Iqbal said. Pakistan is in a region prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes, drought, cyclones and floods, and there is no comprehensive disaster management policy at the national level. UNDP will assist the government in developing such a policy with the provision of technical cooperation and advice on a mitigation policy and disaster preparedness. All three projects are expected to be implemented by August 2003.