UN: Pakistan merits priority aid, despite credit crunch

By Nita Bhalla




ISLAMABAD, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Foreign donors, many of whom are slashing funding due to the global downturn, should give priority to helping Pakistan recover from the war against Taliban militants in its northwest, the United Nations said on Wednesday.




Around 2.3 million people were forced from their homes by an army offensive against the militants in the northwest of the country, mostly since April.




In the past month, more than half of them have returned home only to find their schools bombed, hospitals looted, roads damaged and their crops lost.




Martin Mogwanja, the top U.N. official in Pakistan, told Reuters in an interview there was a serious shortfall of funds to help restore basic services to conflict-affected areas, but he believed the donors would respond, despite the economic crisis.




"Given Pakistan's strategic significance and given the direct relevance of stabilisation of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to the stabilisation of the region, I would think that the international community is going to prioritise humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable populations in Pakistan," he said.




Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its battle to crush Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and destroy the al Qaeda network in tribal areas straddling the Afghan-Pakistan border.




The U.N. needs around $58 million for what it calls "early recovery" projects -- the provision of food as well as the restoration of schools, hospitals and water supply systems -- in areas such as the former tourist spot of Swat valley.




While foreign donors have given $300 million for the emergency needs of the people, only 3 percent of the money required for early recovery has materialised.




REHABILITATION




Aid workers say the credit crunch has impacted their ability to work effectively both on development and emergency operations as donors have cut their funding across the world.




The U.N. World Food Program has had to cut food aid rations and shut some operations in eastern Africa and North Korea, while aid agencies in India have been reluctant to respond to cyclones and floods this year due to concerns on funding.




Mogwanja, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator, said restoring basic services to conflict-affected areas would be the first step in a five-year rehabilitation and reconstruction program which would help address the underlying causes of the conflict in NWFP.




"The situation of poverty and lack of services and the deprivation which comes with that certainly provides fertile ground for extremist militants to undertake their recruitment activities," he said.




"There needs to be investment in human development, particularly in education services, vocational training, food security, clean water and functioning health services."




Economic opportunities -- skilled, semi-skilled and manual jobs "should be made available for Pakistanis who are moving into their early working years," he added.




At an international donors meeting in Turkey this week, Pakistan failed to secure funds of $5.7 billion in aid which was pledged four months ago, with some donors wanting more details of where the money will go.