Pakistan: Winter Relief and Health Services for Rehabilitation of Returning IDPs

Registration of Repatriating Families

Helping Those Most in Need

Beneficiary families were selected by following an intensive 3-step protocol based on four criteria:

1. Preferable female-headed household
2. Repatriation from IDP host site within the previous 2–3 months
3. Family members include young children and elderly
4. Single source income of ₨15,000/(USD 150/) or less

Each registered family was designated a case number and a means of communication was established via mobile phone, either directly with the head of household or via a proxy so that each family could be contacted with the timetable of our distribution days.

Supply Chain Management

Procurement, Quality Checks, and Storage

RMF staff finalized different vendors for the relief goods and established MOUs with them at the start of the project. All vendors are from the local markets in the city of Mingora, the capital of District Swat. Procured goods were transported by hired local transport vehicles to the RMF Health Project Hub clinic compound, where the project staff packed the relief items according to family requirements and labeled each box with the family case number.

Prior to each distribution, a second quality check was carried out by M&E officers. Prior to distribution, goods having cleared quality checks were transported to storage facilities in each UC. Each storage facility had its own security guard.

Beneficiary Families Receive Goods

5 Monthly Distributions

Five monthly distributions took place from December 2017 to April 2018. The distributions, carried out by the RMF field staff, were scheduled during the first week of every month and took an average of 4–5 days to complete. Beneficiary families were informed well in advance to ensure their presence on distribution day.

Our protocol was to hand over goods only to the designated head of family who would present his or her original identity card to tally with our records. We did not give packages to substitute representatives. By our third distribution, we had begun recognizing their faces.

Shelter Improvements, Food, and Clothing

Helping Families During Winter Months

Fortunately, during our beneficiary selections and assessments stage, it was clear that shelter was not required, as most families had made their homes habitable. However, the floor surfaces required waterproof plastic floor mats and carpets for insulation.

• 167 waterproof plastic mats and 167 carpets were donated to families.

A monthly food ration package for a family of 5–6 members included the following uncooked items: flour, rice, cooking oil, tea, powdered milk, sugar, lentils, spices/salt, and matchboxes.

• 777 food ration packages were distributed.
• Total coal distributed during project period was 11,655 kg.

RMF chose the more tedious path of taking the sizes of every member of each family and purchasing clothing accordingly. This meant that not a single piece of clothing went to waste.

• Jackets, socks, gloves, caps and shawls were provided.

Family and Menstrual Hygiene Kits

Meeting Basic Needs

777 family hygiene kits were distributed. The components of the family kit were as follows:

• Towels (large size, 2 per family of 4, increased according to the family size)
• One kg laundry soap (per family of 4, increased according to family size)
• Antibacterial body soap (4 bars of soap per family of 6, increased according to family size)
• One hairbrush and comb
• One nail clipper
• One 100 ml toothpaste (per family of 4, increased according to family size)
• Toothbrushes (one for each family member)

Total MHM (Menstrual Hygiene Management) kits distributed during the project period were 1,050. The composition of each MHM kit was as follows:

• Two pieces of cotton underwear
• One packet of disposable sanitary napkins (pack of 12)
• One bar of soap for handwashing
• Green tea (250 grams)

Outreach Satellite Clinics

Providing Primary Healthcare

Staffed by a Lady Health Visitor (LHV) and a Medical Technician, this clinic operates 3 OPD days a week on-site and conducts 12 monthly outreach OPD visits at the other three UCs of the project sites, thus providing the requisite healthcare services. Beneficiaries included registered families and other vulnerable populations from UCs Madyan, Bashigran, Bahrain, and Beha.

Over 5 months of the project period, December 2017 to April 2018, the health center provided healthcare services to 3,256 community members. Primary health care consisted of 2,972 consultations. Maternal and reproductive health services consisted of 1,273 consultations.