1. Foreword by The Humanitarian Coordinator
As part of the Government of Pakistan (GoP) return plan that was started two years ago, 2016 witnessed a significant number of returns to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). By 31 December 2016, the Government of Pakistan and humanitarian partners facilitated the return of 117,395 families to Orakzai, Kurram, South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Khyber Agencies and Frontier Region Tank.
Though principled, voluntary and dignified return of IDPs to their areas of origin is one of the goals of the humanitarian community in Pakistan, the return process confronted a range of challenges including; severely damaged infrastructure, lack of services, weak governmental institutions and lack of livelihood opportunities.
In 2016 the Pakistan Humanitarian Strategic Plan was 16 per cent less funded comparing to 2015. The Funding gap along with the increasing needs of the returnees have put the returning families at risk and created negative coping mechanisms which questioned the sustainability of the return. Against this backdrop, the Pakistan Humanitarian Pooled Fund (PHPF) played a crucial role in mitigating some of these challenges by providing resources to cluster partners to address some of the critical needs which targeted the most vulnerable population.
The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) support through the PHPF on the return process is premised on the provisions of the Returns Policy Framework of 2010 agreed upon between the Government of Pakistan and the HCT. The humanitarian community also ensures the process is principled, voluntary and dignified, and is based on a consultative process that brings together stakeholders from donors, clusters, national and international organizations, and UN agencies to promote transparency and accountability on the allocation process. In addition, during this allocation there were consistent and continuous consultation with the local community and government.
The overall funding portfolio for PHPF, which supported the returns in 2016, amounted to US$6 million in support of Kurram and Orakzai returnees for the provision of shelter, health, nutrition, education, protection, and WASH activities. As we experienced in 2015, new NGOs was included in the 2016 allocation in line with global guidelines for countrybased pooled funds. With the establishment of the Access Working Group, that provided critical guidance and recommendations on how to address access challenges, myself and humanitarian partners ensured continuous engagement with the different government bodies including the military that culminated in the revision of timeliness for the issuance of project No Objection Certificates (NOCs).
To ensure accountability to the affected population, timely and quality delivery of services, the PHPF unit conducted several workshops which considerably strengthened the capacity of national organizations, a practice which will continue for future allocations. All approved projects were subjected to rigorous reviews to ensure gender, protection and cross-cutting themes are well captured. I humbly thank the PHPF donors for the great support, the Advisory and Review Board members for taking the time and effort to facilitate the allocation process, and all the partners for their commitment for a principled humanitarian action in Pakistan. It’s also worth mentioning about the support that PHPF provided in 2016 through its reserve funds to carry out monitoring activities on the repatriation process of undocumented Afghan nationals on their movement to Afghanistan and into Pakistan.
In 2017, I look forward to continue to work with all partners in support of the work of PHPF in Pakistan.
Neil Buhne
Humanitarian Coordinator