PAKISTAN: PROGRESS FOR FIRST FLOOD HIT PROVINCE, BUT STILL A LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY

(Islamabad/New York/Geneva, 16 September 2010): Flood affected communities in Pakistan's north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), the first province to be hit by the country's devastating floods, are still struggling to rebuild their lives, and look ahead to the long road to recovery.

"A lot of progress has been made, but the way ahead is still long", said Ahmed Warsame, head of the sub-office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in KPK. "We need to ensure that we meet the needs of all flood affected communities and reach out to those most vulnerable to ensure they have access to humanitarian assistance. At the same time, we look forward to tackling the major challenge of the transition to early recovery".

Currently, over 4.3 million people are affected by floods in KPK. Over 192,600 homes have been destroyed or damaged, and an estimated 786 schools are still being used as shelters-- seven weeks into the disaster.

"After eight days of non-stop rain and flooding, the refugees and IDPs who were already living under difficult conditions became doubly affected - and some had to move to schools and host communities for shelter", explained Waheed Anwar, humanitarian affairs officer based in KPK for the United Nations Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"We have been able to reach out to almost two million people including those previously cut off in the mountainous heavily flooded areas in Swat and Kohistan through cable cars, mules and helicopters", explained Wolfgang Herbinger, Country Representative for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Pakistan. "WFP has begun early recovery activities such as distribution of quick growing vegetable seeds", he added.

Through the United Nations and its partners, nearly 1.7 million people in KPK have received access to clean drinking water, over one million people have received emergency shelter in the form of tents and tarpaulins, and more than 1.2 million people have essential medication.

As the first province to be hit by the floods, KPK is now moving from the acute emergency phase to taking the first steps toward early recovery. However, there is still a long road ahead to assist the millions of people in KPK and across Pakistan to recover and rebuild their lives.

For further information, please call: OCHA Islamabad: Maurizio Giuliano,+92 300 8502397 giuliano@un.org; Stacey

Winston, +92 300 8502690, winston@un.org; OCHA New York: Stephanie Bunker, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 347 244 2106, bunker@un.org; Nicholas Reader, +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117, reader@un.org; OCHA Geneva: Elisabeth Byrs, +41 22 917 2653, mobile +41 79 473 4570, byrs@un.org

OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int