Internally displaced: Senior UN official tours Jalozai camp in Nowshera
Directs PDMA and other relevant authorities to resolve problems in camps.
PESHAWAR:
UN Assistant Secretary General Catherine Bragg on Saturday said that she hoped that the UN would not isolate internally displaced people (IDPs) in its humanitarian efforts.
Visiting the Jalozai camp in Nowshera district, Bragg said that the international agencies need to ensure that the conditions are right for IDPs to return home.
“As a representative of the UN, it is my duty to visit various humanitarian crises around the globe,” the assistant general secretary said.
She said that due to militancy thousands of people have been displaced and are forced to live in camps away from their hometowns.
Bragg pointed out that the UN had provided funds for IDPs and they are also trying to create further awareness among donor countries to provide finances for agencies helping displaced people.
“Due to global economic downturn, it is not easy to find funds but we are trying to tap donors such that they support humanitarian agencies and the government to facilitate these people,” she said.
Bragg visited various distribution points and hospitals at the camp and checked the facilities available for IDPs. She also interacted with the habitants of the camp and directed relevant organisations to solve their problems.
PDMA’s efforts
Director General of Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Syed Zahirul Islam said that as the organisation is working for IDPs and that they know the problems people living in camps face.
He said that due to the non payment of electricity bills, there was a blackout in the camps for a few days. However, PDMA paid the bills and electricity has been restored.
Elaborating on the government’s efforts to facilitate the IDPs in the summer months, Islam said they have provided 10,000 air fans and 500 electric water coolers.
He said that due to a lack of resources, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government faces various problems but is trying its best to provide all kinds of facilities to IDPs.
He said that they will be given blankets, shawls, sweaters, and other items of use for winter. The director general added that aiding the IDPs who have migrated from Kurram Agency is the organistation’s foremost priority.
Fata Disaster Management Authority director general Asghar Khan said that registration of nearly 60,000 families has been completed and the process is still ongoing. He added that the IDPs will return home next year.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2012.
UN Assistant Secretary General Catherine Bragg on Saturday said that she hoped that the UN would not isolate internally displaced people (IDPs) in its humanitarian efforts.
Visiting the Jalozai camp in Nowshera district, Bragg said that the international agencies need to ensure that the conditions are right for IDPs to return home.
“As a representative of the UN, it is my duty to visit various humanitarian crises around the globe,” the assistant general secretary said.
She said that due to militancy thousands of people have been displaced and are forced to live in camps away from their hometowns.
Bragg pointed out that the UN had provided funds for IDPs and they are also trying to create further awareness among donor countries to provide finances for agencies helping displaced people.
“Due to global economic downturn, it is not easy to find funds but we are trying to tap donors such that they support humanitarian agencies and the government to facilitate these people,” she said.
Bragg visited various distribution points and hospitals at the camp and checked the facilities available for IDPs. She also interacted with the habitants of the camp and directed relevant organisations to solve their problems.
PDMA’s efforts
Director General of Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Syed Zahirul Islam said that as the organisation is working for IDPs and that they know the problems people living in camps face.
He said that due to the non payment of electricity bills, there was a blackout in the camps for a few days. However, PDMA paid the bills and electricity has been restored.
Elaborating on the government’s efforts to facilitate the IDPs in the summer months, Islam said they have provided 10,000 air fans and 500 electric water coolers.
He said that due to a lack of resources, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government faces various problems but is trying its best to provide all kinds of facilities to IDPs.
He said that they will be given blankets, shawls, sweaters, and other items of use for winter. The director general added that aiding the IDPs who have migrated from Kurram Agency is the organistation’s foremost priority.
Fata Disaster Management Authority director general Asghar Khan said that registration of nearly 60,000 families has been completed and the process is still ongoing. He added that the IDPs will return home next year.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2012.