ISLAMABAD, April 26: Observing that the situation in Pakistan requires additional aid funding, the European Union has allocated 20 million euros for its humanitarian plan for the country for 2012.

The EU’s humanitarian aid department said on Thursday the recent security operations in Khyber Agency had displaced a large number of people, hence the need for additional funds.

A high proportion of the displaced families appear to be households headed by women. Most of these families are being prioritised for registration, tent allocation and provision of humanitarian assistance.

Although UN agencies, international partners and the provincial disaster management authority have rapidly scaled up activities to register and provide assistance to these families the process has been hampered by the sheer scale and speed of the displacement.

It is now crucial to provide assistance as quickly as possible with a clear priority for shelter and non-food items, food, health, and water and sanitation. It is also important to ensure that the off-camp population receives the right level of attention compared to those who may choose to stay in Jalozai camp.

Nearly 160,000 individuals have reached the registration facility in Jalozai camp, 80 per cent of the IDPs have chosen to stay outside the camp with host families. The influx of IDPs from Khyber is still going on, while occurrence of further new displacements cannot be excluded.

An amount of 10 million euros is being allocated to increase the amount available for humanitarian response while the remaining 10 million euros will be allocated to address new humanitarian needs resulting from the displacement.

The EU’s humanitarian aid department has listed protection, health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, food assistance and livelihood recovery and emergency shelter as most acute humanitarian needs.

Meanwhile, a senior UN official commended the ongoing efforts to help some 7.2 million people hit by last year’s floods and insecurity in the tribal region, while urging donors to step up support to sustain the response.