Emergency Winter Aid Reaches Afghan Refugees in PakistanCatholic Relief Services As frigid weather increasingly grips the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, relief efforts are underway to provide Afghan refugees in Pakistan with winter clothing, blankets, improved tents and heating stoves. Less than a week after sub-freezing temperatures killed at least 40 children on the Afghan side of the border, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is distributing winterization materials in refugee camps in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, several miles from the Afghan border.  "The recent tragedy is just one more reminder of the great needs still facing Afghan refugees in Pakistan," said Gul Wali Khan, who heads Catholic Relief Services' office in Peshawar, Pakistan. "Many are simply unable to return to their homes in Afghanistan – it's either too dangerous or too expensive to do so. Their plight is nothing new, but that does not diminish the severity of the crisis." CRS, which has been providing water, sanitation and health hygiene education assistance in several camps since they were established in November 2001, is working in partnership with Save the Children (U.K.) on the distribution. In total, the agencies, working with local partner organizations, will reach more than 42,000 individuals in seven refugee camps, providing blankets, ground sheets, women's shawls, children's clothing and water containers. Other organizations are providing tents and stoves. "This cold spell is not totally unexpected," said Khan. "All of these camps are located on dry, barren terrain, where winter temperatures can drop below freezing. Every year we face this challenge, as undernourished refugees, dealing with all sorts of physical ailments, living in substandard or worn-out tents, face winter." CRS has been providing emergency assistance to both Afghan refugees in Pakistan and vulnerable persons inside of Afghanistan since November 2001, including the distribution of food and material items to nearly 500,000 people in Afghanistan. The agency is also undertaking longer-term rehabilitation projects inside Afghanistan, including school reconstruction, teacher training, accelerated learning and livelihoods projects. CRS has worked in Pakistan since 1954, including providing assistance to Afghan refugees during Afghanistan's war with the Soviet Union. In recent years, CRS increased its emergency activities to respond to the drought and Afghan refugee crisis. Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community. The agency provides assistance to people in more than 87 countries and territories on the basis of need, not race, creed or nationality. To contribute to Catholic Relief Services efforts, send donations to: Catholic Relief Services
For more information, or to contact Catholic Relief Services, see their website at: www.catholicrelief.org |
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