Background

In early 2009, the Government of Pakistan launched major military operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of the country to root out the local pockets of militants. Starting from the valley of Swat, bordering the tribal areas, the military operations gradually moved westward. The offensive led to significant damage to physical infrastructure and services while creating a large population of Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) who lost their homes and livelihoods. As a result, approximately 3 million people were displaced in KP and FATA in 2009. The militancy crisis affected not only the TDPs but also those who stayed behind, some of whom being just as poor and vulnerable as the TDPs.

In 2014, the Government of Pakistan led another operation called Zarb-e-Azab against the militants in five agencies of FATA. Since then, the operation in North Waziristan, Kurram, Orakzai, Khyber and South Waziristan Agencies has resulted in a large-scale displacement of the population from FATA reaching up to approximately 336,000 families. Most of the TDP families have settled in district Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Kohat and other parts of the KP province. These families have left behind their homes, properties, livestock and assets, and are currently living under difficult conditions either in camps or in host families.

The current system does not incorporate a systematic response to disasters or emergency situation such as the militancy crisis. In addition, the provincial and local administration of the KPK and FATA regions has little capacity to manage post-disaster safety net response. As a result, the Government requested the World Bank’s support in strengthening the early recovery of TDP returnees, for all the affected areas of FATA, to provide the returnees with a predictable and regular flow of income over the re-settlement period to cover basic needs before livelihoods are restored as well as child health wellness grant linked with the attendance of health awareness session. In addition, the development of ensuring human development outcomes, is particularly critical towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for Pakistan. The FATA region specifically is lagging behind in terms of children’s health outcomes and immunization rates.

Complementing the current initiatives, the Government of Pakistan along with the World Bank, NADRA, EAD and other partners agencies launches “FATA Temporarily Displaced Persons – Emergency Recovery Project (TDP-ERP)” to strengthen the recovery efforts of the government for all recently affected areas of FATA (including North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Khyber, Kurram and Orakzai agencies). The mechanism aims to provide the following grants through a systematic identification of TDPs and population within the affected area for the following grant types:

• Livelihood Support Grant (LSG) – Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) amounting to total of PKR 16,000/ disbursed in installments of 4 months (PKR 4,000 per month) to returning TDPs. These LSGs shall cover basic and subsistence needs of the families after they return to their homes, to ensure consumption smoothing and provision of support for the affected beneficiaries, till they are able to restore their livelihoods.
• Child Wellness Grant (CWG) – These are Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) linked to a comprehensive child wellness package, to encourage long-term improvements in children’s health and support overall human development outcomes for the affected region. A total of PKR 7500/ is disbursed to families having child(ren) under the age of 2 years.