Pakistan's Displaced Children Face Uncertainty

Pakistan's Displaced Children Face Increasing Uncertainty and Diminishing Prospects of Returning Home Soon

For immediate release
9 June 2009

The vast majority of families displaced by conflict in northwestern Pakistan do not expect to return home in the near future, further straining family resources required for survival and increasing risks to children, according to a recent field survey by Save the Children.

The current humanitarian crisis is the result of a mass exodus of more than 2 million people from Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) over the last month. Over half of those fleeing the violence are children.

Save the Children surveyed more than 300 households in two districts heavily affected by the recent exodus. Agency staff found that few families - only 17 percent - were planning to move within the next month, and only slightly more then half of them were planning to return home.

"Families are not yet secure in the idea that they can go home and get back to their lives. But the choice to remain where they are for now is stretching meager family finances and jeopardizing the health and well-being of children," said Ned Olney, Save the Children's vice president for global humanitarian response. "General living conditions are putting families, particularly children, at risk of disease and potential harm as displaced families crowd into limited spaces with insufficient sanitation or resources."

Most families who have sought refuge are staying with relatives, creating extreme overcrowding and depleting host families' meager assets. Other displaced children and adults are staying in school buildings or temporary camps where clean water, food and medical care are lacking.

Save the Children is working to assist families living outside of established camps, providing essential household items, health services and child-friendly spaces.

Save the Children found that the stresses of displacement and overcrowding are contributing to health issues. Nearly 80 percent of households reported facing some health problems after displacement, with over half of families reporting diarrhea as the most common illness suffered. Diarrhea, if left untreated, is a leading killer of children in the developing world.

Other key findings include:
• While the displaced family size averages more than 10 people, they have fewer than two rooms in which to live
• More than one-third of displaced people are school-age children
• Some 50 percent of households reported no access to adequate toilet facilities for males, and 29 percent reported no access to adequate toilet facilities for females
• Most families (78.5 percent) reported leaving their homes without any savings. Currently, the vast majority of households - 96.2 percent - said they have no income at all.
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"Our discussions with displaced parents and children highlight the increasingly vulnerable position they find themselves in with regard to health, livelihoods, protection and educational opportunities," said Olney. "The fact that they cannot return home soon is also putting their often-impoverished hosts at risk as well and may lead to a less supportive environment in the villages that have received them. Outside assistance is critical for helping families through this displacement and the long journey home."

Copies of the survey are available at: www.savethechildren.org

Save the Children, which has been working in Pakistan for three decades, plans to reach 280,000 displaced people, including 168,000 children. To date, the agency has reached more than 39,600 people (23,700 children) with emergency healthcare, relief goods and child protection programming. Our efforts are focused on assisting displaced families living in remote, scattered villages of two NWFP districts where few other agencies are providing support.

ENDS

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