PAKISTAN: FLOOD SITUATION IN BALOCHISTAN "A TRAGEDY WITHIN THE TRAGEDY"

(New York / Geneva / Islamabad: 02 September 2010): The United Nations and its partners are increasingly concerned about the humanitarian situation in flood-torn Pakistan's south-western province of Balochistan, and are working to step up their activities there.

"We all have a tendency to follow the course of the River Indus, and Balochistan risks being neglected", said Mengesha Kebede, Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Pakistan, "But we won't let this happen, and are scaling up our response". The River Indus - which has been the main carrier of the floods - does not flow through the province, but water from it and from its tributaries has ravaged 11 of its districts.

"I have worked in humanitarian crises all over the world, but I had never seen a situation as devastating as in Balochistan", said Mr. Kebede, "I owe it to the people there, to put this on the table and help end their plight". Mr. Kebede returned yesterday from a mission to the affected districts, where he went to oversee and guide the humanitarian inter-agency response led by UNHCR, which coordinates the relief activities of the United Nations and its partners in the province. "I have visited two schools, where I literally could not walk in", continued Mr. Kebede, "There were almost no toilets, and people had defecated wherever they could".

As in most disaster situations, children are among those most affected. "If we don't scale up our nutrition activities, the lives of thousands of children are at risk", said Stefano Savi, head of the office of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Balochistan's provincial capital Quetta. "The psychological impact of this disaster on children must also not be underestimated", he continued, "and this is why we are working to make their lives as normal as possible, through the establishment of child-friendly spaces and learning centres".

The World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing one-month food rations in eight of the province's districts, and has so far delivered these to nearly 175,000 people. UNICEF is providing water daily to over 200,000 people through 33 water tankers, and has built emergency latrines in the most affected areas. UNHCR has been distributing tents and other shelter assistance in Balochistan since floods first hit on 22 July, and is scaling up its assistance and advice to Government officials in the management and coordination of camps.

The floods have seriously impacted on the health of communities, damaging and destroying health facilities, in turn reducing access to life-saving healthcare. Suspected malaria was present in Baluchistan before the floods, but since the disaster, there has been a reported increase in cases. On 1 September, 23% of the 4,642 consultations recorded in Balochistan were for suspected malaria. Health cluster members, including the American Rescue Committee, Relief International, UNICEF, and WHO are supporting health centres with medicines, primary health and reproductive health care services, and malaria control activities.

"The situation in Balochistan is a tragedy within the tragedy", said Martin Mogwanja, Humanitarian Coordinator in the flood-hit South Asian nation. According to current estimates, there are over a million displaced people in the province, including 600,000 who escaped the waters in Sindh. An additional estimated 700,000 people are also affected, particularly in the worst-hit divisions of Nasirabad and Sibi, and most are currently living near their damaged homes.

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 3675126, mobile +1 347 2442106, bunker@un.org; Nicholas Reader, +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117, reader@un.org; OCHA Geneva: Elisabeth Byrs, +41 79 4734570, byrs@un.org

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