Donors asked to plan their support in rehabilitation and reconstruction process of tribal areas.

FATA since 2008-09 has seen a number of military related operations in which numerous lives were lost and basic infrastructure damaged, around half a million families were displaced including disabled and elderly persons but today 96% of the families stand returned to their area of origin this was told by Director General FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) Sirajul Haq while addressing as a chief guest on the completion ceremony of HUJRA-WFP funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) here at a local hotel in Peshawar on the other day.

The ceremony was also attended by DG Monitoring & Evaluation Planning & Development KP Muhammad  Khalid, Muhammad Abdullah Shah Deputy Director Provincial Services Academy, WFP Provincial Program Officer Khalid Rasool, Program Officer SDC Khursheed Ahmad, HUJRA organization Executive director Salim Ahmad delegates from SDC Islamabad, Representatives from World Food Programme, Representatives from Technical  Working Groups and district administration of  Mohmand and Bajaur agencies, line departments FATA Secretariat, civil society organization, UN agencies and Disaster Management Authorities.

The Aim of the event was to draw a future course of action for resilience programming in FATA based on the experience and lesson learnt from the joint project.

Addressing on the occasion Salim Ahmad Executive Director HUJRA told that the livelihood and Disaster risk reduction project was implemented jointly by FATA Secretariat, the Un World Food Programme (WFP) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) under a signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) and was executed through a cooperating partner HUJRA.

The major objective of the project was to build community resilience in the effected population of Mohmand and Bajaur agencies through community based disaster risk management (CBDRM) and integrated watershed management practices.

 He said that the successful project has imprinted notable impacts with many success stories in target areas, which has promoted the livelihood activities in the target communities by the cash injection and has enhanced the food security in the area.

Salim Ahmad added that due to the project 13,360 families were benefitted with Cash for Assets (CFA) and Cash for Trainings (CFT) in Mohmad and Bajaur tribal districts.

“There are some (TWGs) Technical Working Groups, 131 Villages Disaster Risk Management Committees Formations in 100 Villages, 99 Community Resource Centers were established to implement disaster risk mitigation structural and nonstructural activities” Salim told.

 Director General FDMA Sirajul Haq told that the government of Pakistan, the United Nations Organization, World Bank and others international donors tried their best this return is safe, voluntary, informed and dignified and the gains of the interventions are sustainable.

He said that increasing trend of disasters and climatic events alongside the human induced crises are impending challenges to communities and system in the region and therefore it is obvious to increase the localized resilience as a counter measure.

“FATA is also prone to many natural disasters that affects food security also livelihood in this region” he added.

DG FDMA Sirajul Haq said that the donor organizations play a pivotal role in the process by providing humanitarian assistance to the TDPs in return, relief and recovery.

He said that the government that the govt has approved Rs.80 billion package that is catering to the return, rehabilitation and reconstruction needs of the FATA people.