Highlights
WFP Pakistan welcomes USD 25 million from the Government of the United States.
Canada funds the Strategic Humanitarian Response Facility in Gilgit Baltistan (GB), Pakistan.
Study on the “Cost of the Solution” to the nutrition problem.
Agreement signed with Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and Department of Health, Punjab.
Launch of the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative feasibility study in Punjab.
WFP Assistance
In January 2016, WFP began its activities under a new operational model “Transition: Towards Resilient and Food-Secure Pakistan”. Under the framework of this project, WFP has been working in close partnership with a variety of federal and provincial government departments, as well as sister agencies to: ensure the improvement of food security and nutrition among displaced and returnee populations; reinforce the resilience of communities living in the most hazard-prone areas; address malnutrition among the most vulnerable segments of the society, particularly pregnant and nursing women and children under the age of 5 years; and support an environment for women to achieve social and economic equality.
WFP’s specific activities in the country currently include: life-saving relief food assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and their host communities, as well as returnees from Afghanistan; school meals in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA); livelihood support activities in areas of return in FATA and drought-affected districts of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP); nutrition programmes in KP, FATA, Sindh, Balochistan and Pakistan Administered Kashmir (AJK) regions; community-based disaster risk reduction interventions in the most hazard-prone and food-insecure locations; and government capacity strengthening in disaster risk management and other areas linked with food security and nutrition. WFP is targeting 2.7 million people for assistance in 2017.
WFP provides monthly relief food distributions to displaced and returned families in KP and FATA to meet their basic food needs. WFP’s food-assistance-for-assets (FFA) activities help highly vulnerable groups, particularly those who have lost their productive assets to restore their livelihoods and create durable assets. These are met through a combination of cash and food assistance depending on the availability of infrastructure, services and food in the targeted areas and local markets.
Nutrition-specific support activities being implemented in targeted districts focus on cases of moderate acute malnutrition amongst vulnerable women and children, while sister agencies focus on severe acute malnutrition.
A stunting prevention project is being implemented in Sindh and will be expanded to FATA and Baluchistan.
WFP’s school meals activity in FATA aims to increase enrolment and stabilise attendance in primary schools through provision of high energy biscuits, with a specialized focus on supporting girls’ education through cash incentives.
WFP has been working with local producers and the private sector to develop and produce specialised nutritious products for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition. These efforts stimulate the economy through engaging the local private sector, creating employment and raising food safety standards. WFP mills and fortifies wheat flour with a vitamin and mineral premix in Pakistan. Apart from fortifying food, WFP also supports a national and provincial strategy for wheat flour fortification that builds commercial local capacity to mill and fortify wheat.
Since mid-2016, WFP has supported the Federal and Provincial Government and other development partners in carrying out the Food Security and Nutrition Strategic Review, which will position food security and nutrition at the centre of the national development agenda and support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG-2) “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”. WFP also supports the National Zero Hunger initiative, the Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) and the National & Provincial Fortification Alliances (since 2012), in addition to encouraging the formulation of multi-sectoral policies and strategies. WFP is techincally suporting the Provincial School Education department and is engaged in the Government’s food security and nutrition-related evidence-based assessments and analyses creating a knowledge base to enhance local programming and policy decision-making.
The Humanitarian Response Facilities (HRF) and emergency storage facilities (flospans) constructed and installed by WFP continue to enable provincial authorities to respond to small and medium scale emergencies and disasters.
WFP has been coordinating with the Government at both the national and provincial levels. In 2016, WFP signed individual memoranda of understanding with the Governments of KP, Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, AJK, and the FATA Secretariat as well as with the related disaster management authorities based on its three-year programme. Seventeen provincial and federal annual work plans were also signed with the relevant line departments.