CWS-P/A recently expanded its eight-year political education project to Afghanistan. The project originated in Sindh Province, Pakistan and over the years has worked to increase the knowledge of communities on human and child rights, state and democracy, elections, and gender. In early April, fifty students and ten teachers representing five schools attended the first camp in Afghanistan, which included various activities including role-plays, group work, and presentations among others.

The project’s expansion into Afghanistan demonstrates continuous efforts to raise more awareness after its successful implementation in Pakistan. Facilitator, Ali Moazzam, shared that he had been eager about conducting the training camps in Afghanistan and admired the responsiveness of the students. By including teachers in the camp, CWS-P/A establishes a foundation for continued learning and greater awareness for the broader student population within the schools.

During April 2012, CWS-P/A’s mobile laboratory unit (MLU) brought services to residents of Kohistan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The facility helps poor communities to access required health-related tests. Prior to the MLU services, community members often would travel as much as nine hours to reach facilities where medical examinations were conducted.

Nearly 2,000 tests were conducted during the month. These included chemical and hematological tests of which the frequently performed were hepatitis A, B, and C, typhoid fever, anemia, blood urea and glucose, and serum bilirubin among others. In addition to reducing the burden on the community with respect to affordability and accessibility to the health services, the diagnostic support system helps medical staff to treat patients with the right choice of medication.

“I’m deeply impressed by the resilience and self-help spirit of the community. I am delighted to be here and to see the joy returning to the people’s faces by getting their houses. I can foresee that these houses will sooner become home,” expressed Neill Garvie, Program Manager for Christian Aid, at a ceremony on April 20, 2012 in Ahmed Dars Village, Sindh. The event marked the completion and handing over of the first forty houses under CWS-P/A’s housing reconstruction project in seventeen villages of Sujawal, Thatta District.

Ahmed Dars was destroyed during the 2010 floods. After months in a camp, the families returned to a place that no longer resembled their former home. The village was further devastated during the 2011 monsoon season. For more than a year, they lived in tents and makeshift shelters. The community’s livelihood was lost because the main source of income was labor on agricultural land. Since the floods, the community survives on reduced daily labor and selling milk. Women in the village additionally contribute to family income through selling handmade embroidery. The village lacks basic facilities such as electricity. There is a school, but the teacher comes irregularly so the children do not receive the education to which they are entitled. Fortunately, the village is located approximately four kilometers from a larger town in which health facilities can be accessed for those who can afford them.

Since 2009, CWS-P/A has worked to improve the quality of and access to education in Laghman Province, Afghanistan with specific emphasis on girls’ education. Enhancing teachers’ capacity is one aspect of the initiative. During 2011, CWS-P/A’s team under the transformational learning and development project facilitated training on pedagogical skills, an initiative which is also successful in Pakistan. This methodology for teaching promotes student interaction with the learning environment.

In April 2012, CWS-P/A organized the first training camp for twenty-five female students from grades four through six and five female teachers in Laghman. The training focused on improving the skills related to effective interaction between the teacher and the students. As a new experience, an interactive classroom produces fear or low confidence in some teachers and students. Therefore, confidence building activities and encouragement toward freedom of expression were an integral part of the training. A message that was reinforced throughout the camp is that learning should be hands on and fun. Role plays, creative writing, storytelling techniques, and games were some of the relevant examples used during the camp.

Between January and February 2012, the mobile knowledge resource center (MKRC) visited remote areas in Thatta District, Sindh with an objective of ‘Reaching the Unreachable.’ The MKRC project team imparted knowledge on disaster risk reduction and helped communities become better prepared for future disasters. By visiting villages and schools, the MKRC enhanced the knowledge of 1,063 individuals.

During an impact study session in mid-April, a panel of community members who benefited from the MKRC activities in Thatta joined the project team to share the achievements and learning from the initiative. The event took place in Karachi where various local and international organizations attended.

Background:

The recent influx of IDPs from Khyber Agency and other tribal agencies in FATA to Peshawar, Kohat, and Nowshera (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Province, Pakistan) is alarming the humanitarian community. The people have suffered due to internal disputes over control between militant leaders, the cross-border war on terror, and the increased operations by the government against non-state armed groups. Over the past several years, the conflict has caused widespread displacement across the vast tribal areas for reasons including life-threatening situations, action and retaliation by various groups against the civilian population, and the loss of property and livelihood opportunities. Peshawar and its surrounding areas have experienced the arrival and return of hundreds of thousands of IDPs. Since January 2012, intensified operations, particularly in Khyber Agency, resulted in the most rapid influx of IDPs since the largest displacement in 2009 that displaced approximately 3 million individuals from KPK and FATA to areas across Pakistan and to which the ACT Forum in Pakistan provided emergency and recovery assistance. The current population of IDPs according to UNHCR is 687,557.

Background:

As the government’s operations in Khyber Agency continue against non-state armed groups, the number of families being displaced to Peshawar, Kohat, and Nowshera continue to rise. The recent influx has brought the total population displaced since January 2012 to 687,557 according to UNHCR, with approximately 10% living in Jalozai Camp, Peshawar.

More than 440,000 people in dire need of emergency humanitarian assistance after being displaced from Khyber Agency in northwest Pakistan

Background:
Over the past three months, ongoing conflict in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have caused large-scale displacements across the region. In mid-April, reports indicated that the total IDP population in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reached 147,329 families.

Additionally, the IDPs have been settling in off-camp locations in the districts of Peshawar, Kohat, and Nowsehra. With increasingly hot weather, the IDPs continue to face many hardships, particularly for those who come from cooler climates and face difficulty in adjusting.

CWS-P/A’s distribution of relief items following the 2011 floods in Sindh benefits approximately 163,000 individuals. Recently, the distribution of 1,075 shelter kits and non-food items (NFI) packages reached 7,525 individuals from Jawariasor Union Council, Mirpurkhas. The distribution is almost complete, with the distribution of hygiene kits to take place over the coming weeks. In the flood-affected district of Mirpurkhas, farmers in some areas still face the challenge of inundated fields. Standing water, the lack of appropriate sanitation and shelter, and the inaccessibility to other basic needs increase concerns of the humanitarian community and continue to plague the flood-affected families, particularly related to health, food security, and protection issues. Due to lack of resources and the dearth of assistance from the Government or aid agencies, majority of the communities will face considerable risks in the upcoming 2012 monsoon season since they are unable to rebuild their homes properly.

CWS-P/A continues to work with communities of various faiths to promote peaceful co-existence, mutual understanding, and respect for diversity within Pakistan. Through its commitment to work with interfaith groups the organization is helping communities engage in open dialogue on common values, human rights, and democratization.

James Goel attended CWS-P/A’s summer camp in 2003 in Mirpurkhas District, Sindh. In 2005, James, who prefers to go by first name, shared that he was elected as the General Consular of the district for minorities. Recalling a childhood incident during which he saw his mother mistreated by her employer he said, “No one wanted to listen to our complaint for her rights.” He added that this incident sparked the enthusiasm in him to work for the minority community.

Sitting under a shade at the distribution site in Mirpurkhas, Achar was found talking with other men from his village. The sixty-two year old immediately stood when asked if he would take some time to share his story. A short distance from the shade in a separate room of the Bachal Khas Khelli School he was interviewed. Shahid Khan, a project officer from CWS-P/A, described how Achar was interested to learn more about who was providing aid to him. “I gave a brief description of CWS-P/A’s work and about myself. Hearing that I came all the way from Karachi to his village, he recalled his young life and his work in Karachi forty years ago. Achar said how he heard from others that Karachi is changed now.”

More than six months passed since the humanitarian community was called upon to respond to the expansive needs of communities afflicted by the 2011 monsoon season. More than 1.2 million displaced individuals have returned to the places they call home. Unfortunately, with damages to homes and agricultural lands and the remnants of standing water still present, communities are far from recovery. With thousands of families still without access to proper sanitation, food, and shelter, the living conditions across the most severely affected districts are alarming.

Statistics and world demography tell us that by the year 2050, 20% of world’s population will be elderly people, and we have to work today in order to scale up and be prepared to face this challenge and address the issue.

Europeans today are living longer than ever before and are expected to live longer and longer. Today, 1 in every 6 citizens is aged 65 or over. In less than 50 years time, almost 1 in every 3 citizens will be 65 or over.

Pakistan has a population of 180 million, but if we look at Pakistan’s demography pyramid we will find only 4.5% of the population in that pyramid to be elderly. Pakistan has a high fertility and high mortality rate whereas in developed countries there is low fertility and low mortality.

Through late January and early February 2012, CWS-P/A continued to engage with adolescents to raise and promote awareness on HIV&AIDS. A total of 183 participants benefited from three one-day workshops and a poster competition, which increased the depth of knowledge on this important health topic. CWS-P/A’s approach strives to address and reduce social stigmas related to HIV&AIDS. At the same time the approach helps youth and adults become agents of change by better understanding its transmission and mechanisms in the human body. The sessions further helped the participants to become aware of community systems in place for testing and treating of HIV&AIDS.

Nearing six months after the floods in Sindh and Balochistan, UN and Government partners launched the Early Recovery Framework during the third week of February. The framework seeks USD 440 million to support affected communities. However, stating that cluster partners have made significant progress of which CWS-P/A is part, more funding is required to help prevent gaps in operations and continue assisting flood affected communities.