Present in the country since 1968, WFP's work is designed to complement existing government programmes, adhere to the objectives of the MDGs and fall within the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for Pakistan. WFP's goal is to provide the kind of support which allows communities to build self-reliance, while maintaining its emergency response capacity. Through a portfolio of seven operations active in 2010, WFP provided assistance to almost 16 million of the country's most vulnerable people last year, and is targeting 12.2 million in 2011 through the following projects.
Emergency Operation: Emergency Food Assistance to Families Affected by Monsoon Floods in Pakistan
August 2010 September 2012 - Total Value: US$775 million - Beneficiaries: 10 million
Within 24 hours of the onset of the devastating floods that hit Pakistan in late-2010, WFP launched an emergency response: providing life-saving food rations to affected families in the country's north. In accordance with the rapidly-expanding scale of the disaster, this support was quickly extended across areas of KPK, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan; covering a total of 62 of the country's worst-affected districts. By the end of 2010, WFP had reached close to 8.8 million victims of the disaster with food assistance, including 7 million within a single monthly distribution cycle in October. This crucial support helped beneficiary households maintain adequate food consumption levels and prevent nutritional declines amongst the most vulnerable, including young children and infants. All possible means were used to deliver assistance, including by helicopter, hovercraft, truck, push-cart and donkey. In 2011, WFP continued to respond to the crisis, helping affected communities restore their livelihoods and assets through food- and cash-for-work activities, while supporting nutritionally vulnerable groups through supplementary feeding for young children and pregnant and lactating women. Following renewed and devastating flooding across parts of Sindh and Balochistan since August 2011, WFP also provided emergency food and nutritional support to some 3 million victims of this disaster. Since January 2012, WFP has moved to the early recovery stage of the operation, providing livelihood support through food- and cash-for-work for some 2 million affected people.
Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation: Food Assistance for Household Food Security, Early Recovery, Peace and Social Stability
January 2011 December 2012 - Total Value: US$621 million - Beneficiaries: 9.5 million
Worsening food security has been most pronounced in marginalized areas along Pakistan's western border which have been subject to conflict and mass displacement in recent years: demonstrating a clear geographic overlap between extreme food insecurity and other forms of insecurity. Targeting up to 9.5 million beneficiaries during 2011 and 2012, this operation draws upon the full range of tools in WFP's arsenal, in order to best respond to immediate food needs, support recovery from multiple shocks and contribute to social cohesion. These include: the provision of emergency relief rations to conflict-affected groups who remain displaced or have recently returned home in KPK and FATA; school feeding to promote access to education; nutritional support measures for children and women; livelihood recovery activities through community-based employment using food and/or cash; and measures aimed at developing institutional and local capacities in disaster risk management.
Special Operation: Logistics and Telecommunications Augmentation and Coordination in Support of the Humanitarian Community's Response to the Monsoon Floods in Pakistan
August 2010 June 2013 - Total Value: US$83 million
In its capacity as Cluster lead for Logistics and Emergency Telecommunications, and on behalf of the entire humanitarian community, this operation provided for the equipment, staff, systems and facilities necessary to ensure a coordinated and effective logistics and telecommunications response to the 2010 floods. In coordination with the Government of Pakistan, WFP also facilitated the transportation of relief workers, mobile medical and assessment teams, as well as urgent relief supplies to affected populations in remote and isolated areas by helicopter. In 2011 and 2012, the emphasis of the operation is on strengthening preparedness measures in the event of future emergencies. In order to augment response capacities amongst both federal and provincial government departments, in addition to other humanitarian operators in the country, up to nine Emergency Response Depots will be constructed across the country.
Special Operation: Logistics Cluster Augmentation in Support of the Government of Pakistan and the Humanitarian Community's Response to Flooding in Southern Pakistan
September 2011 March 2012 - Total Value: US$1.9 million
This operation provides logistical services for the community of humanitarian respondents to the 2011 flooding, including: transportation, coordination and information management.