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ACT Alert
Pakistan
- 02/2002
Five
Sindh districts badly affected by drought
Geneva,
15 November, 2002
A field drought assessment mission of the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UNDP called on the Additional
Chief Secretary (Development) of Sindh Province in Pakistan on 14
November 2002. According to the Pakistan Newspaper Dawn of
15 November, a proposed assessment of the drought-hit areas in Sindh
formed the basis of the discussion. The mission will assess the impact
of drought on crops, food supply, households and communities. It will
also identify the areas most severely affected by drought in Sindh.
The mission was informed that five districts in Sindh and 3,000 human
settlements were badly affected by prolonged drought conditions. 194,798
families of the districts of Thar, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Dadu and Thatta,
with 1.38 million population and 5.60 million livestock, have been
affected and more than one million people had moved from the drought-hit
area of Thar to the irrigated areas of the province.
The Secretary also briefed the mission on the relief and emergency
action plans of the government. This includes declaring the Thar Kohistan
and Kacha regions of Sindh as ‘calamity stricken areas’. This will
mean the postponement of recovery of past years' dues, medical aid,
free distribution of wheat at 100 kgs per family for two months as
well as the current provision of about 25,000 metric tons of wheat.
ACT member Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan, through
its local partners, the Participatory Village Development Program
(PVDP) and Lower Sindh Rural Development Association (LSRDA)
plan to implement an emergency intervention to prevent further deterioration
of the health and nutrition status of the most vulnerable groups and
avert the development of widespread famine. CWS P/A plans to assist
1,500 families in 110 villages of Mirpurkhas Division by providing
food packages containing 50 kg of wheat flour, 25 kg oil and 15 kg
pulses as well as 100 kg fodder for their livestock.
The implementation period is expected to be 6 months with an initial
budget of about USD 159,281. The ACT Co-ordination office is currently
processing an Appeal.
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