Facilitating Return of IDPs through Rehabilitation of Community Infrastructure and Facilities
Background
The military operations in and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and FederailyAdminlstered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan and the consequent displacement of households and communities from their areas of origin, has resulted in destruction, damage and depreciation of their settlements. The movement of people from the operational areas has resulted in the largest displacement in the history of Pakistan with peak of 2.6 million individuals, registered and verified by authorities, In the period between April and June 2009. To facilitate the return, started in July 09 and estimated in 1,65 million Individuals, normal life has to begin in these areas. This means that the civil administration has to restart and markets to re-open. During the military operations and due to neglect, basic infrastructure has gone into disrepair and is not functioning. People need basic facilities like water, access roads, schools and community infrastructures to restart their lives. While these basic facilities are necessary, they also need employment opportunities to restart their lives. Therefore, investment on rehabilitation of community infrastructure and facilities can achieve the twin goals of assisting people to have access to basic facilities and have access to employment opportunities.
Objectives
In the areas of displacement, the lower part of KP (Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Nowshera, Peshawar) where recent UNHCR assessment confirmed that 350.000 individuals are still displaced, the long displacement has exhausted the scarce resources of the host communities, a significant number of whom were already vulnerable before the crisis. Thus host communities and displaced people need.support to recover from long time overexploitation of limited resources.
The needs of returned and host communities are the same; provision of basic services such as water, interrupted or decreased during the crisis, and important infrastructures that were destroyed or damaged, Lack of resources does not allow repairs. The Government is focused on public infrastructures and pay limited attention to communities' infrastructures. The crisis has adversely affected local economic activities, from agriculture to small scale trades,Therefore, investment in infrastructure provision through communities' involvement would provide income opportunity directly to the affected communities.
The proposal is directed to support provision of community infrastructures over two year's period to an estimated 200 communities in return areas and 9.50 in displacement areas. The methodology will empower communities in deciding their priorities. The contracts will be awarded to community based organizations, with technical assistance from UN-HABITAT in strengthening managerial capacities of CBOs and supervising finance and construction works. The impact will be on improving communities' living conditions with better infrastructures generating income at local level while other Important impact will be on empowering communities in taking decisions regarding their own welfare and contributing to peace building during the process.
Security is a major Issue in most of the Malakand Division. Pocket areas in Swat valley and Upper and Lower Dir Districts are not yet accessible, while sporadic conflict with Insurgents as well as bomb blasts and terrorist attacks are unfortunately happening daily in the region. This volatile and unsafe situation is a real challenge for the implementation of the community infrastructure project; it imposes additional costs for security protection and preventive measures.
