wfn.org | Pakistan situation worsening says humanitarian agency CWS as aid is delivered

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Pakistan situation worsening says humanitarian agency CWS as aid is  delivered

NEW YORK, May 12, 2009--International humanitarian agency Church World
Service is warning of a worsening humanitarian disaster in northern
Pakistan and is calling on the United Nations and governments to
increase their assistance to the affected region, where some 200,000
persons have been displaced in recent days.

"The people of this part of the world need long-term solutions to their
problems," said Marvin Parvez, director of the CWS Pakistan/Afghanistan
program, who had to cancel meetings in Washington, DC, with government
and humanitarian officials this week in order to help coordinate the
response in Pakistan.

Parvez made his call as Church World Service staff on the ground are
moving response teams and relief items into the affected areas to meet
the needs of those who are in makeshift camps--thousands in small
refuges where no sustainable food, shelter, water or hygiene is
available.

CWS already has distributed 250 food packages and 190 shelter kits.
Further distributions are planned, with a total of 400 food packages and
shelter kits planned for distribution in the coming days. CWS is
appealing for funds to buy more family-sized tents and monthly food
packages of lentils, oil, water, tea, sugar, rice and flour, as well as
provide health and hygiene facilities.
Fighting between the Pakistan Army and Taliban in the northwest of
Pakistan has intensified in recent days in an area where as many as
500,000 civilians already have been displaced since October 2008.

"This situation is a very serious threat to the people of Pakistan,â??
Parvez said. "We want a quick end to this crisis so people can return to
their homes. We call on all parties to the conflict to avoid civilian
deaths and give safe passage for those civilians who are trapped.â??

Parvez warned that the movement of residents of Pakistan's Swat Valley
could quickly become of the one of the world's worst displacement crises
and that the international community needs to both respond immediately
to humanitarian needs in the affected area and help find a permanent
solution to the political, social and economic problems of Pakistan and
neighboring Afghanistan.

"Further commitment is needed," he said. "We can't leave people in
limbo, facing hopelessness."
Church World Service programs in Pakistan in disaster management,
capacity building, development and assistance for displaced people. The
agency's Pakistan offices served as a lead agency in recovery following
the country's massive 2005 earthquake.

Shama Mall, a deputy director of CWS P/A, said those affected "are
under the open sky in a very insecure and unstable environment."

"People have been forced to leave at short notice and their immediate
needs are not being met. Many have never had to leave their communities
before and are afraid to do so,â?? Mall said in New Zealand last week,
while meeting with government, community and  humanitarian partner
groups.
In responding, Church World Service is a member of the Pakistan
Humanitarian Forum, a grouping of aid groups that belong to the Action
by Churches Together (ACT) alliance.

Contributions to support CWS relief efforts may be made online at
www.churchworldservice.org/donate, sent to Church World Service, P.O.
Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515, or made by phoning 800-297-1516.