Providing camp services
Overview:
The 8 October earthquake severely damaged community infrastructure, homes and public services. UNICEF, in coordination with the humanitarian community, is providing essential services -shelter, food, safe water, health services, and education - to over 240,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) currently living in planned and spontaneous camps in Pakistan Administered Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province. As winter comes to an end, the Government of Pakistan has announced the closure of camps in the early weeks of the spring and from March 15 onwards IDPs will be supported in their return home. UNICEF assistance in camps has been undertaken in the following ways:
Water and Environmental Sanitation (WES)
Water supply networks in many areas were severely damaged and water sources contaminated. As lead agency for the WES cluster the UNICEF priority was to rapidly restore families’ access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation facilities and has, through its partners :
- provided and restored the water supply to many areas, with almost 95 percent of water needs now being met in planned camps and urban centres
- built over 8,000 latrines
- reached all camp residents with hygiene education messages
Health and Nutrition
During the winter, the health focus in camps has been on prevention and treatment of acute respiratory infections and communicable diseases. Health services continue to be expanded to ensure access to essential drugs and health services. UNICEF, in coordination with its partners, completed a major measles vaccine campaign for over 1.25 million children aged under 15, essential for preventing children from infection. The Basic Health Units established have been equipped with New Emergency Health Kits, while medical professionals have been trained in primary health care including EPI.
Education
Until the Welcome to School initiative (aiming to have 450,000 children entered or re-entered into the school system by April 1) is completed, UNICEF has been providing at least one tented school per planned camp. The more than 100 tent schools have over 18,000 students and are delivering an unexpected “dividend” from the displacement the earthquake caused in that many boys – and many more girls -, particularly from North West Frontier Province, who had never had the opportunity for education, are attending school for the first time. Schools are equipped with school-in-a-box kits - each one containing teaching materials and text books for up to 80 students. Young people’s nutritional status is being improved too, since, with the support of the World Food Programme, every child in tent schools receives nutritional supplements in the form of high protein biscuits and dates.
Child Protection
Registration of vulnerable groups through UNICEF partners has concluded in the camps and ongoing monitoring continues. UNICEF, through its partners, follows up cases to ensure that the vulnerable receive the resources to which they are entitled. About 70 child-friendly spaces, where children receive emotional support through recreational activities, have been established for young children of pre-school age and their mothers.
