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On 22 September 2020, a young girl shows her marked finger after receiving the polio vaccine in Rawalpindi. The country’s first national polio vaccination campaign in September 2020 – after a six-month pause due to COVID-19 – reached over 39 million children under five years of age. More than 260,000 trained frontline workers went door to door and, in the context of COVID-19, were equipped with personal protective gear to ensure the safety of children, caregivers and the workers themselves.
ISLAMABAD, (MANEND NEWS): The “2021 Pakistan Humanitarian
Response Plan (HRP)” was launched on Wednesday at a joint event
hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations in
Pakistan.
The Plan seeks to highlight the main humanitarian needs, share the
efforts and steps taken by the Government of Pakistan to handle these
challenges in collaboration with the UN and other partners, and set out
a well-coordinated and inclusive plan of action to respond to the needs
of the people. The HRP is holistic, with a multi-sectoral approach
covering the themes of health, education, protection, food security,
shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and refugees. The HRP
focuses on supporting the needs of around 4.3 million people in
Pakistan including refugees, facing a series of overlapping
emergencies, including extreme weather events and the COVID-19
pandemic.
Geographically, the Humanitarian Response Plan focuses on 81
prioritized districts. The life-saving response activities called for in this
Plan amount to US$ 332 million including food security and livelihood
assistance, nutrition programmes, primary health services, including
water and sanitation, women’s health, and education support, as well
as shelter for displaced people. Pakistan is a country with both the
capacity and experience in responding to humanitarian emergencies
and has made major strides in achieving Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).
At the same time, Pakistan is faced with the challenge of dealing with
the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreover, whilst Pakistan remains one of the low carbon emitters, it is
faced with climate induced risks and disasters, not of its making. The
HRP also highlights the generosity and compassion shown by Pakistan
in hosting more than 3 million Afghan nationals including 1.4 million
registered Afghan refugees holding a Proof of Registration card, 0.84
million Afghan Citizenship cardholders, and an estimated 400,000 –
600,000 undocumented Afghans, providing them protection, health,
education and livelihoods. The targeted humanitarian action put forth
in this Plan represents the commitment of the UN and humanitarian
partners in Pakistan to support and complement national efforts. It
garners international support and commitment to assist Pakistan in
responding to the humanitarian challenges, as part of the principle of
responsibility and burden sharing.
Delivering the keynote address, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah
Mahmood Qureshi said that the “Policies of the Government are guided
by two important principles: ‘inclusivity’ and ‘sustainability’. Our efforts
must take into consideration the aspects of efficient and effective
response to humanitarian situations, followed by inclusive recovery
and sustainable rehabilitation. This Response Plan is intended to
strengthen Pakistan’s capacity in the prevention, preparedness and
response to disasters including through the provision of relief services
by building cross-institutional and stakeholder linkages”.
Federal Minister for SAFRON Sahibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan,
in his remarks, said that “during the challenging COVID-19 pandemic
period, we have efficiently provided relief to Afghan Refugees and
other Afghans. Replicating the Government’s Ehsaas Program, the
Ministry of SAFRON with generous support of UNHCR has provided
Rs.12,000 to over 75,000 Afghan refugee families.”
The Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz highlighted the policies and
measures taken by the Government of Pakistan regarding disaster-risk
reduction, mitigation and adaptation.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said:
“In the face of grave implications of the pandemic, Pakistan also
continues to make sure no one is left behind and includes Afghan
refugees in its COVID-19 response including the government
vaccination programme.”
UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator Julien Harneis
said: ‘The people in Pakistan have to cope with the humanitarian
consequences of extreme weather events and conflicts in Afghanistan.
The causes of these humanitarian needs are in part global and
regional, and so although the Pakistani state and society have
significant capacity to respond to these needs, it is appropriate that
the international community share this burden. In launching the HRP,
we are laying out the roadmap of how the UN and humanitarian
partners aim to support and complement the response of the
Government of Pakistan.”
The Government and the UN have worked tirelessly on joint efforts to
contain COVID-19 and mitigate the pandemic’s socio-economic and
health impacts and humanitarian consequences, while remaining
inclusive of both Pakistan and non-Pakistani citizens such as refugees
and migrants. COVID-19 response activities have been mainstreamed
in this Humanitarian Response Plan, which aim to complement other
relevant frameworks including the UN COVID-19 Country Preparedness
and Response Plan (CPRP), COVID-19 Pakistan Preparedness and
Response Plan (PPRP), and the UN Socio-Economic Response
Framework to COVID-19 (SERF). The launch event was well attended
by the Diplomatic Corps, heads of UN agencies in Pakistan,
representatives of international organizations, IFIs, civil society and
media.
The Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan can be downloaded here:
https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/pakistan-humanitarian-response-
plan-2021-april-2021.