RRU in a lurch after UNDP withdraws funding

The agreement between the Directorate of Projects of Fata Secretariat and UNDP ends on March 31

PESHAWAR: While the April deadline for the return of displaced families from Fata nears its end, the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Unit (RRU) for the Temporarily Displaced People (TDPs) is left in a lurch after its funding ended last month.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan had ordered the creation of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Unit under the Directorate of Projects, Fata Secretariat, as a separate unit and as an administrative arrangement in 2014.

Its basic aim was to manage the process, formulate policies, strategies, and guidelines, and coordinate with all stakeholders on issues related to the TDPs under the Sustainable Return Rehabilitation & Reconstruction plan spanning over a time period of 24 months.

“The agreement between the Directorate of Projects of Fata Secretariat and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which lasted for almost two years ends on March 31,” an official of the Fata secretariat told The Express Tribune.



The official explained that the donor was funding a team of technical experts, rehabilitation and reconstruction, roadmap for medium to long-term socioeconomic development as well as constitutional, legal, structural and institutional reforms.

The annual cost came to around $0.8 million. UNDP Peshawar head Jakhongir Khyadarkov, when asked what was the reason behind ending the funding, said he was unaware of the technicalities.

However, a senior foreign development bureaucrat, who wished to rename anonymous, told The Express Tribune that the incumbent setup in the Fata Secretariat, was “difficult to work with”.

“We asked for a meeting twice four months ago but the officials there do not seem to be interested,” he said, while reflecting on other projects. “At a time when the Fata reforms need a push the federal government should have more cooperative and visionary people,” he said.

The RRU was to work under the directorate of projects but was recently made to work under the Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) by the Additional Chief Secretary Fata, Fida Muhammad Wazir. Wazir did not take calls despite repeated attempts.

The Director General of Projects Fata, Islamzaib, told The Express Tribune that the secretariat was aware that the funding would end and; therefore, a PC-1 had been prepared to fund the project from the Annual Development Programme (ADP).



“It is a routine matter,” he said, adding, “Some other donor agencies are also taking interests [in the programme].”

However; an insider familiar with the working said while some of the posts were already advertised, “we will be able to retain 16 of the employees, but experts that really matter are beyond the resources of the secretariat.”

He said the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and USAID had been contacted, “but it will take over a month [to know] if they agree”, he concluded.

The Fata reforms committee has set April as the deadline for the return of all TDPs. The voluntary and dignified return of over 310,729 TDP families was initiated in March 2015. Their return was planned to be completed in four phases by November 2016.

The officials concerned of the FDMA said while there was no shortage of funds but there were departmental hurdles in facilitating the return of the TDPs. He claimed that even if the RRU was non-functional, the FDMA’s ground teams were capable enough to do the job.

There have been complaints of people returning to their homes, but did not find the necessary infrastructure, three political agents comtirmed to The Express Tribune.