PAKISTAN: WFP welcomes US $2 million quake contribution from Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD, 9 March 2006 (IRIN) - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a US $2 million cash contribution from Saudi Arabia to help the survivors of the massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit northern Pakistan last October.

"We are very grateful to Saudi Arabia. This donation will enable us to assist the most vulnerable people for several months after the emergency,” Michael Jones, WFP country director for Pakistan, said in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday.

More than 80,000 people were killed and 3.5 million people left homeless after the quake ripped through parts of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, just weeks before the start of the harsh Himalayan winter, creating one of the most challenging humanitarian operations ever.

The earthquake has exacerbated existing poverty: six out of nine quake-affected districts, according to WFP, were already in the most food-insecure parts of the South Asian nation. In addition, the quake has created new vulnerable groups, including thousands of orphans, disabled people and single parent households.

Since October, WFP has provided food assistance to almost one million people across the quake-hit region.

The agency plans to help 670,000 people returning to their highland valleys in coming months through food-for-work and food-for-training projects under its two-year recovery operation that will cost an estimated $68 million.

According to WFP, quake survivors will receive family rations in exchange for work in repairing community infrastructure, particularly secondary and tertiary roads to facilitate access to markets. These measures will operate until the next harvest in October.

“The donation from Saudi Arabia will allow us to buy equipment and goods for recovery projects such as fertilizers, seeds, tools, saplings. Without them, no recovery is possible,” Jones said.

Saudi Arabia is one of WFP’s biggest donors in Pakistan, having contributed a total of $5.3 million, including $3.3 million for the emergency phase of the earthquake and $2.0 million for the recovery operation.