The Department for International Development will help hundreds of thousands people in the North West Frontier Province, and South Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. This investment will bring the total amount provided by the UK for displaced people since 2008 to £34 million.

£2 million in new emergency humanitarian aid will be sent to South Waziristan to improve water and health facilities for more than 1.2 million people, including providing mobile teams to give medical care in remote areas and set up maternal health care services for severely ill newborn children and mothers.

In addition, £10 million recently announced by the Prime Minister will be allocated to help rebuild infrastructure, stimulate the economy and improve local agriculture for displaced people returning home following the recent conflict.

This will include innovative cash for work schemes to rebuild vital infrastructure, provide farmers with improved livestock breeds and delivering teaching kits to help restart children’s education.

International Development Minister Mike Foster said:

‘The people of Pakistan have suffered severely during the recent fighting. Millions of people have lost their homes and jobs and children are missing out on schooling.

‘As well as rebuilding vital public services, the UK Government will help the people of Pakistan rebuild their lives after the first stage of recovery from the conflict.’

DFID’s funding will provide:

 

• Innovative cash for work schemes and tools to help people rebuild vital infrastructure, roads and other facilities destroyed in recent fighting. This will include repairing water and sewage works in Mingora city and help 3,750 households restore irrigation facilities for crops and livestock.

 

 

• Cash and enterprise grants for families and small businesses to restart livelihoods damaged or destroyed in recent fighting. This will include providing sewing machines to women to help develop their own businesses in Swat and Dir districts.

 

 

• Cut reliance on food aid by developing agriculture. This will include introducing new cow and poultry breeds that are easier to maintain, vaccination and de-worming of livestock and repairing irrigation systems. DFID will help farmers to access veterinary services, provide training to better combat disease and rebuild bridle paths and roads to make sure farmers can take their goods to market.

 

 

• Help 25,000 families kick-start small-scale farming by providing fruit orchard plants, fodder crop to feed livestock and new hand tools for farmers and bio-fertilizer for kitchen gardens.

 

 

• Give displaced children the education they deserve by providing school and teacher kits that contain text books, teaching aid and stationary.

 

 

• Emergency humanitarian shelter such as tents and plastic sheeting, including 1,300 household kits for families who have lost their homes and tools and materials to help get their homes ready for winter.

 

 

• Decent water and sanitation facilities to 21,400 displaced people living in camps in Dera Ismail Kahn, Tank and Bannu.

 

 

• Set up mobile health teams who will provide emergency healthcare to 1.2 million people in remote rural areas and set up maternal and Maternal and newborn health care services for severely ill new born children and new mothers in South Waziristan. 

 

An estimated 2.4 million people have been displaced during the crisis.  Approximately half of those displaced have returned to Buner, southern Swat and Lower Dir.