WFP continues food assistance to quake-ravaged north

The World Food Programme (WFP) continues to provide much needed food assistance to thousands of families left vulnerable by last year’s devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan. “I wouldn’t be able to survive without this assistance,” maintains Shanaz Bibi, as she readies to receive her monthly food ration of flour, pulses, salt and vegetable oil, outside the Eid Gha displaced persons camp in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Her husband badly injured and unable to work, Bibi’s is one of 21 families still living in the camp - down from 300 at the height of the emergency - but still in need of assistance. “How could I possibly feed my eight children otherwise?” the 37-year-old asked. That’s a question asked by many survivors after what has been described as the worst natural disaster to hit South Asia in over 100 years. More than 75,000 people were killed and over 3.5 million rendered homeless on 8 October when the 7.6 magnitude quake devastated much of Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP). And while more than 200,000 of those originally displaced by the quake have returned to their villages - encouraged by a government scheme to compensate home owners – thousands more remain vulnerable, including those who have lost their livelihoods, are landless, children who have lost their principle care givers, widows and single women without support or any other sources of income, elderly people without carers, as well as disabled people unable to manage on their own. According to Aziz Ahmad, district programme officer for the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), a local NGO and the implementing partner of WFP in Muzaffarabad district, there are some 45 camps like Eid Gha in Muzaffarabad district alone, where WFP continued to provide food assistance to some 5,000 families or 30,000 beneficiaries. Moreover, tentative plans were now in place to assist an additional 52,000 survivors living in some 18 villages in the Muzaffarabad area deemed unsafe by the government and likely to be relocated, most probably some time in June if approved, Ahmad added.

Shanaz Bibi and her nephew Wajid receive the food distribution once a month

But given the sheer magnitude of the quake - affecting an area of 30,000 sq km – the challenge of providing assistance to all those in need won’t be easy. Since WFP launched its relief effort almost eight months ago, 85,000 mt of food assistance has been provided to some 1 million quake beneficiaries employing planes, helicopters, trucks, rafts and pack mules throughout the region. However, whether it will be able to continue to do that depends largely on donors. “Donors have been generous in the past and we do expect that they will be generous enough to support our post-recovery plan,” WFP information officer, Amjad Jamal said in Islamabad, noting, however, that only 20 percent of the US $68 million Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) had been resourced thus far. “In order to expedite the process/plan, the immediate response of donors is needed,” Jamal maintained. Meanwhile, back at the Eid Gha displaced persons camp, residents continue to line up to receive their monthly WFP food ration – knowing all too well the importance it holds. As her 19-year-old nephew Wajid steadies the 40 kg of flour on his shoulder, Shanaz Bibi contemplates her future and whether they will ever be able to rebuild their home. “I don’t know whether we will survive this, but Inshallah [God willing] we will if we have help,” she maintained.