World Humanitarian Day

World Humanitarian Day, on 19^th August, represents a chance to remember the individual sacrifices that humanitarian workers have made and continue to make. This year, under the banner of #notatarget, organisations are reminding the world of the need to protect civilians and those who provide assistance during conflict.

In Pakistan, humanitarians have sadly been targeted, with more than 100 polio vaccinators, and those who were protecting them, killed between 2012 and 2016 in areas with high militancy. But the humanitarian need in these areas remains high.

The increase in security across the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) has seen over a million people return to their homes. The area has suffered much damage, both from fighting and lack of maintenance as people fled. The government and military have been engaged in the rehabilitation of roads, schools and medical centres. However, people are still in need of help, especially when it comes to protection and their ability to earn a living.

The UK, through the Department for International Development (DFID), has been able to establish a number of community centres in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa that help those displaced from Fata through a consortium of INGOs. These are welcoming and safe spaces for women, children and young adults. They can find help, attend trainings and receive the mentoring necessary to overcome the difficulties caused by their displacement. Over 15% of people who are returning to Fata are widows or female heads of households, who face great challenges in rebuilding their lives and those of their families.

Rozeena, in her early twenties, had never before had an opportunity to earn money, until she joined a training programme through the protection centre close to Peshawar. Her father is disabled, and the family had very little income. For six months she attended sewing and knitting classes at one of the centres. She is now earning up to 500 rupees a day, making wedding dresses and embroidering bed sheets. She used her new skills to make the outfits for her own wedding, and because she contributes financially to the household, her father is able to receive the extra medical help he needs.

The centres have also worked with many young men who had become addicted to drugs. A mentoring scheme was established, which paired young men who were already addicted, or were at risk of being so, with older more established members of society. The young men were trained in a skill of their choosing while the older men spent time with them, helping them find work, and supporting them to make their communities stronger.

Many children have been traumatised by the effects of both the fighting that they witnessed, and by having to flee their homes. As they now return after being displaced, the protection centres provide psychosocial counselling for the most affected children and their parents. The children have a safe space to express their feelings, to play and to start to recover.

As successful as these centres have been in providing a safe space for women, youth, and children, many of them have sadly had to close because the organisations managing the centres have failed to get permission to manage them. It is vital that protection of civilians remains at the core of the help being provided in Fata. DFID remains committed to continuing to invest in the needs of people in the area, and on this World Humanitarian Day calls for continued focus on the rights and dignity of people returning there to rebuild their lives.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2017.

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