ISLAMABAD: Three United Nations agencies in Pakistan have forged a partnership aimed at im­­proving protective environment for refugee and host communities affected by unprecedented floods, especially children and women.

The UNHCR, the UN’s Refugee Agency, signed two agreements with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Unicef at the time when swathes of Pakistan remain under water.

The agreement is expected to continue in 2023 and is aimed to facilitate the transfer of resources from one UN entity to another to reach the most affected communities under the “One-UN” arrangement, said an announcement by the UN, on Monday.

Thousands of people have been displaced, while others have retur­ned to their homes and towns to find their homes destroyed and key water, sanitation and health infrastructure non-existent.

UNHCR, UNFPA & Unicef sign agreement for ‘One-UN’ arrangement

In Sindh, some affected communities can only be reached by boat, their continued isolation compounding their needs, forcing families to make impossible choices.

Both child marriage and violence against children have increased in some of the most affected districts. As the climate crisis is ratcheting up, extreme weather is wearing down the resilience of communities in the country hit by repeated disasters, including in terms of protection.

Findings from assessments indicate that in Sindh, the most affected province, 85 per cent of key informants indicated that their community members did not have knowledge of gender-based violence services, more than 50pc are experiencing psycho-social distress and 60pc were not accessing treatment.

“The scale of destruction after the floods is huge, and protection needs among children and women are still growing,” said UNHCR Represen­tative to Pakistan, Noriko Yoshida.

“Together our partnership with UNFPA and Unicef will strengthen the collective response, as part of UN-wide efforts,” she said.

Planned joint activities with Unicef include distribution of 250,000 dignity kits for women and girls of reproductive age, child protection activities and mental health awareness campaigns and community-based activities, bolstering the capacity of District Child Pr­­o­tection Units with caseworkers and psychologists, in addition to mapping available services in affected communities with a particular focus on survivors of violence for case referrals and adequate response.

The UNFPA activities include the distribution of 20,000 dignity kits, establishing and strengthening Gender-Based Violence (GBV) referral mechanisms of cases, setting up and operating women and girls’ friendly spaces to reduce risks and prevent further harm during and after the emergency, community mo­­bilisation and outreach campaigns for GBV awareness and sensitisation among community members, mapping of available services for survivors, enhancing skills of front-line GBV staff assisting communities, as well as lifesaving GBV response services such as health, psycho-social support, case management and referrals for GBV survivors.

“After the devastating floods, women and girls continue to be at risk of violence, exploitation, and abuse. They must be able to access services critical to their health and survival.

The UNFPA’s priority is to ensure women and girls have access to lifesaving reproductive health and protection services even in the midst of an emergency, said Dr Luay Shabaneh, the UNFPA representative in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2023