$136 million help received so far: United Nation

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations appeal for $543 million needed to provide help to over 2.5 million
civilians displaced from Malakand division remains under-funded, UN official said Monday as the world body
pressed on with its relief efforts.
They said the UN had so far received only $136 million about 24 per cent of the amount to covering areas
such as health, protection and education. Another $15 million have been pledged.
The appeal was made last month in the wake of the anti-Taliban military offensive in the Swat region that sent
tens of thousands of people fleeing from the conflict zone.
The appeal was subsequently renewed at donors meeting at UN Headquarters in New York.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) is streaming critically needed food assistance to the suffering
people and helping to bring stability to the region through an innovative system which is helping to feed and
protect victims, the agency said in a Press release.
Food is a basic building block for life, and in Pakistan, it goes beyond immediate nourishment by providing
peace and stability to the human tide of people uprooted by conflict, WFPs Executive Director, Josette
Sheeran, said in Rome Monday. WFP was already feeding 6.2 million people in Pakistan before the recent
crisis, including 510,000 girls attending school.
WFP - in cooperation with the Government of Pakistan and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR - has devised a
'service point approach to distributing food and other relief assistance through humanitarian hubs in protected
areas close to the homes of displaced families.
As the Pakistani authorities and UNHCR work to refine their process of registering families for food assistance,
WFP is working to ensure that food is targeted sharply on those who need it most.
Once at a hub, IDPs receive monthly WFP food rations plus relief items such as cooking utensils and shelter
materials against their verified registration card. Nearly 90 per cent of all IDPs fleeing the most recent fighting do
not stay at camps, but in host communities within easy reach of the humanitarian hub.
Sheeran said WFP was ready to try new approaches to respond to the needs of a large number of unexpectedly
displaced people over the next several months. In May alone, WFP distributed some 40,000 metric tons of food
commodities valued at US$30 million - enough to feed 2.5 million people for a month.
Given the enormous challenges posed by the rapid increase of displaced people, WFP is making a number of
efforts to provide critical relief, in addition to the establishment of humanitarian hubs by:
providing nutritional supplements for women and children to prevent malnutrition among the most vulnerable
members of displaced families;
designing community development programs (Food-for-Work, School Nutrition) in safe areas to encourage
stability and provide economic opportunities;
in partnership with the Governments National Registration Authority offering IDPs smart cards which are
swiped like a bank withdrawal card to provide cash to buy food rations in areas where sufficient food is available
on markets.