UNHCR hands over camp management to govt in quake zone
By Adnan Rafique

ISLAMABAD—The UN refugee agency Thursday closed its field offices in Pakistan’s earthquake-affected areas after local authorities gradually assumed full responsibility for the management of relief camps.
The offices were located in Mansehra in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (AJK). The United Nations Resident Coordinator’s (UNRC) Office, supported by staff from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and UNHCR experts, will provide advice and support to the camp management institutions of the Government of Pakistan.
“This was part of an overall framework for the transition of camp management responsibilities to the authorities, in line with the ERRA/UN Early Recovery Plan that was adopted earlier this year,” said Kilian Kleinschmidt, UNHCR’s Senior Emergency Coordinator. “From the outset, we had made it clear that our involvement would be until the end of the winter and that we would phase out as of 1 September 2006 in a responsible, transparent and professional manner.”
With a mandate to help refugees fleeing war and persecution, the UN refugee agency does not normally get involved in natural disasters. The agency’s mandate also covers internally displaced persons (IDPs) in conflict situations. Over the years however UNHCR has been called up n to
assist IDPs in natural disasters. These interventions were primarily on a small scale until the sheer scale of 2004’s tsunami and last October’s earthquake, coupled with the agency’s existing operational capacity in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, resulted in it offering its services in both of these relief efforts.
Immediately after the October 8 earthquake, UNHCR opened its warehouses
in Pakistan and distributed relief items to the quake survivors. It also mobilized thousands of tonnes of emergency supplies from its stockpiles in Afghanistan, Denmark, Dubai, India, Iran, Jordan and Turkey. To date, the agency has distributed more than 21,000 tents, over 115,000 plastic sheets, close to 850,000 blankets, over 38,000 mattresses, and some 25,000 stoves/heaters in the quake zone.
Under the joint UN relief effort, UNHCR was asked to be lead agency for camp management. In the last 11 months, the refugee agency has supported the government of Pakistan in the running of temporary relief c mps for earthquake survivors. UNHCR provided material and technical support to the authorities and coordinated with different UN agencies and NGOs to ensure basic services in the camps. At the peak of the emergency operation, UNHCR was supporting the authorities and NGOs in some 170 relief camps in NWFP and AJK.
“You can measure the success of our activities by what was averted: there were no epidemics in the camps, and few casualties over the course of winter”, Kleinschmidt notes.
Since the start of spring in March, more than 140,088 quake survivors have left the camps for home and over 130 camps in the quake zone are now closed. Some 36,000 people remain in 44 relief camps in AJK and NWFP.
In the months leading up to the handover, UNHCR upgraded and maintained services in the remaining camps. At the same time, it identified partners in the UN and non-governmental community to ensure continuation of basic services in the camps.
From August until the end of this year, UNHCR and its partner, NRC, will second advisors to the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (UNRC), District Coordination Office (DCO), and Camp Management Organisation (CMO) to capacitate the government by providing expertise on camp management for the residual caseload. One additional advisor has already been serving as a protection focal point for AJK under the UN Resident Coordinator structure since 1 August.
“We’ve developed a comprehensive fundable capacity-building project for local administration in AJK and NWFP that would assist these institutions to responsibly and sustainably manage and monitor relief camp operations, returns, reintegration and population movements. UNHCR will contribute financially to this structure until the end of 2006. Donors, NGOs and other UN agencies have joined us in this effort”, explains Kleinschmidt.
This is part of a comprehensive capacity building plan of government counterparts at the federal, provincial and district levels and relevant partners, with clear linkages to the United Nations Country Team (UNCT)’s Recovery Cluster strategy. This plan will also support the objectives of the Pakistan government’s Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA).
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