This month marks the first anniversary of one of the largest
population movements in Pakistan since the country's inception in
1947. The displacement of 2.3 million people was caused by military
offensives against militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formerly known
as North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Although government estimates suggest that 80 to 90 per cent of
the original displaced have returned to their homes in areas often
devastated by the fighting, many remain in eleven camps across
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The largest of them, Jalozai, which formerly
housed Afghan refugees, still houses over 100,000 internally
displaced people (IDPs).

According to the government, the displaced include some 39,000
families from South Waziristan, the scene of some of the heaviest
fighting, and over 45,000 families from Orakzai and Kurram
Agencies.

But despite the ongoing needs of vulnerable displaced families
and families who have returned home to rebuild their lives, the
Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan (PHRP) 2010 – a
consolidated UN appeal for USD 537 million launched two months ago
– has met with a lukewarm response from international donors.
Only 20 per cent of the Plan has been funded to date.

IOM, which appealed for USD 11.6 million for ongoing relief and
rehabilitation activities for displaced families, has received
nothing from the appeal. Projects proposed included the provision
of emergency shelter for returning vulnerable families;
reconstruction and development of essential community
infrastructure affected by military operations; security awareness
training for the humanitarian community; mass communications and
disaster risk management programming with local government.

The response contrasts sharply with generous donor contributions
for IOM quick-impact infrastructure rehabilitation over the past
year.

These projects, which are now nearing completion, included two
drinking water supply schemes benefitting over 40,000 people in
Daggar and Shanai villages, and the construction of link roads
connecting the villages of Bajkatta, Mandao Maira, Mullasar and
Kadha Khail, in Buner district.

Another three completed projects in Swat district are now
providing access to clean drinking water for 50,000 people in
Mingora, the district capital. The construction of two concrete
roads with drains in the town is also nearing completion.

Other projects in Dir district include the construction of a
flood-protection wall in Baroon village, which has a population of
3,000 people; and the rehabilitation of two government schools and
one college.

Since the beginning of the displacement crisis, IOM has also
distributed 67,550 tool kits, 1,550 tarpaulin shelter kits, 5,000
tents and thousands of non-food relief items, including blankets
and quilts.

It has also trained 187 aid workers from various NGOs, including
29 women, to work in high risk environments, including FATA,
through its Pakistan Security Awareness Induction Training (SAIT)
project.

For more information, please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

IOM Islamabad

Tel. +92-300-856-0341

E-mail: "mailto:srehmat@iom.int">srehmat@iom.int