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Pakistan: ICRC remains active in North-West Frontier Province
30-11-2009 News Release 09/243
Peshawar (ICRC) – Contrary to what some recent media reports have indicated, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) remains active in the North-West Frontier Province and the Tribal Areas.
Neither its sub-delegation in Peshawar nor its offices in Timergara and Mingora have closed down.
" We are here to serve the victims of the fighting, " said Benno Kocher, the head of the ICRC's sub-delegation in Peshawar. " We have international staff going out to the field every week, be it in Buner, Dir or Swat, " he added. " We actually have a team living in Dir. "
The ICRC and its national partner, the Pakistan Red Crescent Society, have just completed the first phase of an agricultural support programme in Buner and Dir, helping 45,000 families kick-start farming in areas most affected by the fighting of the previous months. Rural families are given seed and fertilizer, as well as advice, to help them regain their economic security. Altogether, 315,000 people should be self-reliant by harvest time in May 2010. In the meantime, the ICRC will continue to provide them with food aid. The organization is planning to expand the programme to Swat in the coming months.
The ICRC and the Pakistan Red Crescent have just set up a new camp in Lower Dir for over 1,000 people who fled their homes in Bajaur, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, over the past couple of months. Each family has been given food and other essentials to tide it over. The coming of winter is of particular concern, so the tents have been " winterized. " The ICRC is exploring the possibility of opening another camp to cope with the stream of newly displaced Bajauris arriving in Dir. In the meantime, the ICRC and the Pakistan Red Crescent are helping over 11,000 displaced people (IDPs) who could not be accommodated in the existing camp.
The ICRC's surgical hospital for weapon-wounded patients in Peshawar also remains open and active, operating on over 30 victims of bullet wounds, shrapnel and explosive devices every week. The hospital stands ready to treat further victims.
The ICRC has a mandate to protect and assist the victims of armed conflict and internal violence. It has helped more than a million victims in the area since the start of major combat in May 2009. Together with the Pakistan Red Crescent, it aims to maintain its humanitarian services over the coming months.
For further information, please contact:Sébastien Brack, ICRC Islamabad, tel: +92 300 850 81 38
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