Shelter Cluster Assessment Report for the Areas of Displacement and Returns (FATA & KP)

Shelter Cluster Assessment Report for the Areas of Displacement and Returns (FATA & KP)

Contents Introduction and Background Information:... 3 Objective of the assessment:... 4 Process & Methodology:... 5 Sample Size:... 6 Findings of assessment at the place of displacement... 6 Family Size:... 7 Vulnerability:... 7 Trends of settlements in Displacement... 7 Number of persons per room:... 8 Top concerns and needs:... 8 NFIs Received:... 9 Findings of the assessment at the place of return:... 10 House Typology:... 10 Damage to the Houses:... 11 Living Conditions:... 11 Vulnerability:... 12 Recommendation on humanitarian priorities:... 12

Introduction and Background Information: Pakistan is prone to natural and man mad disasters due to its geographic location, political and law and order situation. Pakistan has faced many disasters over the past years and recently is going through turmoil of militancy which forced military operation in various parts of FATA. The military offensive to combat the militancy and to establish the writ of the government resulted in huge displacement from various FATA agencies at different points of time in the past. The current statistics show that about 161072 families are living in the state of displacement as a result of military operation or due to sectarian violence, at various locations at KP. According to the statistics 5% of the total displaced families are living inside the camps while the remaining 95% are living within the host community at various locations. These statistics Off-Camp Population District Origin Agency Total F.R. Kurram Orakzai S. W. Khyber Tank Agency Agency Agency Agency Families Families Families Families Families Families Ind D.I Khan 376 0 0 24,955 0 25,331 121,220 Hangu 0 74 991 0 140 1,205 5,072 Khyber 0 0 0 0 2,082 2,082 11,630 Agency Kohat 0 3,489 17,615 35 531 21,670 105,018 Kurram 0 8,260 0 0 1,510 9,770 41,902 Agency Peshawar 0 15,150 1,079 93 55,146 71,468 324,752 Tank 0 0 0 11,684 0 11,684 54,002 Nowshera 0 1 0 0 9,053 9,054 39,802 Total 376 26,974 19,685 36,767 68,462 152,264 703,398 are only for the NADRA verified registered IDP families and there are hundreds of families who could not get registered due to various reasons which are not included in the statistics. The families which had some resources or had extended family members in other areas opted to stay out of the camp due the relatively difficult living conditions in the camps. The families which opted to stay inside the camp are really vulnerable families who could not live in the

host community due to low financial means and the resources and non-existent social networking outside their area of origin. The agencies (areas under conflict) suffered heavy losses in terms of infrastructure and housing due to the year s long conflict. Now after the stabilization of the situation the families are returning or have returned to their places of origin. The first problem they face at their places of origin is their destroyed houses. Most of the families left empty handed at the time of conflict having minimum or no resources. Now after the returns they find their property lost and houses destroyed and all they see is the ruins of their homes. Shelter is a basic human need and nobody can live without shelter especially in the context of FATA where harsh weather conditions and culture make it impossible for the families to cop up with the situation. In winter the average temperature is in the range of 0 to -4 degrees and in such temperature the families having little children and women and the elderly population who cannot sustain such harsh weather conditions. Shelter cluster had been actively involved in humanitarian coordination for the relief and assistance activities targeting the displaced population at the areas of displacement as well as the returns through coordinated efforts to facilitate these families. The cluster had been actively involved in providing strategic guidance through formulation of strategies, mapping of the activities and formulation of response plans with active participation of the member agencies of the cluster. In order to improve the services provision and effective response, shelter cluster initiated a campaign to assess the needs of the families living in displacement along with the families who has returned to their places of origin. The major objective of the assessment was to assess the current status of the families and to identify the gaps that need attention on immediate basis. Objective of the assessment: The main objective of the assessment was to identify the gaps in the current services delivery and to identify any pressing needs that need to be incorporated in the shelter strategy for the families living in displacement and those who have returned to their places of the origin. The assessment was carried out through the involvement of all the relevant cluster members which are currently actively involved in the cluster and who have willingly volunteered for the activity. Proper orientation was planned and executed prior to the start of the assessment where the methodology and time frame and resources needed for the assessment were finalized along with the Questionnaires for the assessment. The teams were deployed on ground in accordance with the work plan at all the locations specified for assessment at both the areas of returns as well as the areas of displacement. The following table reflects the resource allocation for each District/Agency for conducting the survey; S. No Location Organizations Enumerators Logistics 1 Peshawar NRC/Acted/FRD/EHSAR 2/2/2/2 1/1 FRD 2 D.I Khan BEST/SRSP 1/05 02 SRSP Lead Organization

3 Kohat Acted/FRD/SHED/JEN 2/02/02/01 1/1 FRD 4 Tank SRSP 06 02 SRSP 5 Nowshera Acted/FRD/SRSP 2/02/02 1/01 Acted 6 Hangu HRDS/SHED/Islamic Help/EHSAR/BEST 2/02/01/1 1 EHSAR 7 Kurram Agency NRC/BEST/SRSP/EHSAR/UN-Habitat 2/2/04/2/2 1/1/1/1 NRC 8 Khyber Agency Acted/PRDS 2/4 1/2 PRDS 9 SWA NRC/BEST/SRSP 2/01/3 2 SRSP 10 Orakzai SRSP 04 01 SRSP 11 Bajaur NRC/FRD 4/01 2 NRC 12 Mohmand HRDS/FRD 02/02 2 HRDS Total 12 Organizations 76 25 Process & Methodology: Prior to the assessment the member organizations were informed about the proposed activity and were asked for the resource allocation for the activity on volunteer basis. In response to the request by the shelter cluster organizations expressed their willingness and devoted resources which included the human and logistic support for the assessment. After the resources allocation the areas were divided and assigned to organization which expressed willingness to work in the areas and had presence in the locality. The assessment was based on acquisition of primary data for the accuracy and was carried out with the two way approach of individual assessment at the house hold level along with the focused group discussion in order to get the most appropriate and authentic data. Since the population of the assessment was homogeneous in nature therefore the selection of the respondents was carried out on random sampling technique. Individual data was collected through the structured questionnaire keeping in view the need at both the areas of returns as well as the displacement and therefore separate questionnaire was developed for both the population. Focus Group Discussions were carried out at village level. The questionnaire was designed in such way that it should cover all the possible aspects of the assessment. The questioner was divided into a number of sections; the respondents were mostly the head of house hold while in some cases in the absence of the head of the house hold other family members responses were recorded. Numerators were deployed in accordance with the sample size and the geographic spread of the area. The unit of analysis for the assessment was house hold while the data was analysed after cleaning which was performed through manual observation and review of the questions.the data from questionnaires was converted to a database which was further analysed by applying different variables.

Sample Size: The sample size was determined on the basis of the number of families in displacement or which have returned to different agencies. Therefore the sample size is different for different locations. Following table shows the details of population and the sample size for each location both for the area of return and displacement. The sample size was calculated on the basis of 10% interval with 95% confidence level. S. No Location IDPs (families) Returnees (families) IDPs (sample size) 1 Peshawar 71,468 382 2 D.I Khan 25,331 378 3 Kohat 21,670 377 4 Tank 11,684 372 5 Nowshera 9,054 369 6 Hangu 1,205 291 Returnees (sample size) 7 Kurram Agency 9,770 18,493 370 376 8 Khyber Agency 2,082 6,187 324 362 9 SWA 11,899 372 10 Orakzai 8,660 368 11 Bajaur 72,895 382 12 Mohmand 36,759 380 Total 152,264 154,893 2,863 2,240 The focus of assistance was on the existing status of the families living conditions with attention to the existing facilities in terms of quality and quantity of the dwelling and thus addressing both the qualitative and quantitative aspects through the questionnaire supported by the focused group discussions. Findings of assessment at the place of displacement The areas of assessment where data collection was carried out included 6 districts of the province. The districts were selected on the basis of the case load of the IDP families in these districts. Following are the main features of findings of the assessment:

Family Size: The analysis of the average family in each Distract of displacement is shown in the bar graph. The analysis of the average family size for all the six districts for the IDP families is between 5-10 members which is almost 58 % of the total number of families assessed and about 33 % of the families have the family size of less than 5 while 6% families have a family size of 11-15 members. Vulnerability: The survey result shows that 526 individuals were found vulnerable out of the total 15,267 individuals. The total percentage of the vulnerable population is 3.4 percent. The number shows that out of 526 vulnerable, 404 individuals are chronically ill which is 77% while 68 persons are reported elderly and make about 13% of the vulnerable population. The needs of these vulnerable persons are of utmost important and to bring about an improvement in their lives. In terms of cost while catering to the shelter needs for these persons will increase the cost by 15-30% as compared to the conventional shelter needs. Trends of settlements in Displacement The current settlement trends of the displaced population in KP shows that the families are mostly living in rented houses. This means that most of the available houses have been rented out by the host community. The data also reflects that rented spaces especially in Tank, DI Khan, Nowshera and Peshawar have been exhausted. Hangu which is a small town and prior to the displacement of IDP s to KP there was very little or no trend of renting out houses among the house owners. The large influx to these areas and the protracted stay of the displaced families have either compelled or presented an opportunity to the house owners to ask for rental money. This has further added to the sufferings of the IDP s who already have very low income

and they have less opportunities of employment, as the local market is already saturated. The areas which are nearer to the places of displacement the ratio of families living within the host community with their extended family members or relatives is slightly higher while for the places which are at distance or in the cities most of the families are living in rented houses. The living pattern in displacement is segregated as, 83 per cent of the families are living within the host community in rented houses followed by 8 per cent of the families which are living with their relatives. One of the very alarming finding of the assessment is that about 7 % of the families are living in tents and specifically in the district of Hangu where about 146 families are living in tents. Number of persons per room: As per the statistics of the assessment 64% of the families have less than 3 persons per room while about 34 % of the families have 5 or more persons per room. The average family size falls between 6 and 7 which reflects that the finding of the survey is correct and in accordance with the similar surveys conducted among the IDP s at different times for different reasons. The survey also reflects that space available is per persons is less and overcrowding has been reported as a predominant issue. Although the family size is not that large but the places in which these families are living are small and because of this a number of other issues arise as well. Top concerns and needs: According to the data gathered from all the respondents, overcrowding and congestion in the houses turned out to be the major concern for the families followed by harsh weather conditions and water and sanitation needs. The data analysis showed that 32% of the families reported overcrowding as the most prominent issue. Harsh weather was reported by 22% of the respondent, 18% reported lack of water and sanitation facilities, 10% reported privacy while 7% cited security as their major concern. In total 71% of the respondent showed

concerns about overcrowding, security, privacy and harsh weather conditions. This shows that in most of the buildings where the IDP s are living are not adequate and needs intervention to protect them against inclement weather, ensure their privacy, security and assist them in decongestion of their dwelling places. NFIs Received: The following table shows the NFI assistance received by the displaced people. Districts Winterized Standard NFI Kits Summer NFI Kits any other NFI DIK 322 248 Hangu 384 384 70 Kohat 380 325 382 Nowshera 375 312 6 Peshawar 478 79 291 Tank 2494 1447 Grand Total 4433 2795 749 Although it was observed during the assessment that for most of the families it was difficult to differentiate between types of NFIs and needed descriptive probing from the respondents. Most of the families received some sort of assistance in terms of NFIs during their stay in the areas of displacement.

Findings of the assessment at the place of return: In order to identify gaps in the services provision and to identify the needs of the families which remained in displacement and returned to their areas of origin after the De notification of the areas inside FATA, the assessment was carried out concomitantly with the assessment at place of displacement. Following is the summery of the findings which focused on the needs of the families in the areas of returns. Since the families returned to the areas which faced conflict and the infrastructure and the housing suffered damages either directly as an effect of the conflict or due to lack of maintenance as the families remained in displacement for the long duration therefore the questionnaire was designed to cover all the relevant needs and the current status of these families. According to the UNHCR statistics the total number of returnee families stands at 154,893. S.No FATA (Agencies) Returnee population (Families ) 1 Kurram Agency (Central) 18,493 2 Khyber Agency (Bara) 6,187 3 South Waziristan 11,899 4 Mohmand 36,759 5 Bajaur 72,895 6 Orakzai 8,660 Total 154,893 House Typology: Almost 80 % of the respondent families are living in the Kacha houses while 18 % in semi Kacha houses. Only 1.5 % of the families are living in pakka Houses. It is worth mentioning that traditionally the construction pattern of the families living at FATA is predominantly katcha houses with mud construction and therefore the finding is uniform with the trends, but on the other hand these mud houses needs regular maintenance and care which in the case of absence of the families due to conflict could not be performed. The non-maintenance of these houses has resulted in degradation of these houses.

Damage to the Houses: As mentioned above the traditional houses in FATA are mostly Katcha houses. These houses need regular and maintenance and because the people have to move out of their houses because of militancy and subsequent military offensive. All these factors add to the damages incurred on the shelters and as such a large number of shelter are reported as damaged. According to the data 52% of the families have completely damages houses, while 32% have partially damaged houses only 16% of the responders informed to have negligible or no damage to their houses. Living Conditions: One of the main focus of the assessment was to determine the current living conditions of the families which returned after the conflict. The statistics show that about 53 % of the families are still living in completely damaged houses. About 10 % of the families are still living in tents while about 16 % of the families are still living with the relatives or in rented houses. The people who are in need of shelters are those who are living a damaged house, a tent, with relatives or on rent. If the percentage of this group is added up from the available data it reflects that 79% of the returnees are in need of shelter assistance. The shelter assistance provided by all the humanitarian agencies adds up to 8% of the total need of shelters in FATA. The gap is so huge and needs to be filled so as to save lives of those who are suffering because of the inadequate shelters. Government has announced a compensatory allowance for those whose houses are either fully or partially damaged. The compensatory allowance for a fully damaged house is PKR 450,000 and PKR 160,000 for partially damaged house. So far the survey has been conduct in Bajaur and

in Mohmand only and assistance has been provided to some of the families while others are still to be assisted. The rest of the FATA has not been assessed and the concerned authorities have not even started the official assessment of the damages to shelters. Vulnerability: The survey statistics shows that among the returnees the disable, Female Headed Households and old age (60+) are the most. The most number of disable person (149) was reported in Khyber Agency along with 181 elderly persons. South Waziristan agency is second on the list with 99 disables and 212 elderly persons. The vulnerability data reveals that in the disability was reported at 33%, Female HOH 14% and elderly 53% of the total vulnerable population. Recommendation on humanitarian priorities: Based on the findings of the assessment following are the recommendations for the cluster for future strategies and planning. Harsh weather conditions prevails in most part of the FATA, especially in winter sever cold weather is observed in most of the agencies, it is therefore recommended that there should be strategy focused on permanent shelter solutions for the families in need to held them cop up with the extreme weather. FATA has rigid culture and strong beliefs and thus privacy and Pardha is a very sensitive issue. Non availability of shelter compromises the privacy of the families and may result in loss of dignity and self-esteem while on the other may cause conflicts within the society. Therefore secure permanent solutions to their shelter need will cater the protection issue and help in restoration of the self-esteem. Shelter is a basic human need and it not only provides physical protection but also provide peace of mind and comfort. Families living without shelter need immediate attention which will help Head of house hold to search for better livelihood means which is not possible without the safety and security of the families within the confines of shelter. Since most of the families have returned to their areas of origin where basic infrastructure is disrupted and livelihoods means vanished, it is therefore not possible for the families to construct shelters as they don t have any resources, it is therefore recommended that the families be provided shelter assistance in the interim period between the early recovery till sustainable solutions to their livelihood needs.

Although the assessment report indicates provision of NFIs to the families but at the places of returns it is highly recommended to provide winterized NFIs to the families to cop up with the cold weather. Priority should be given to the vulnerable population in shelter assistance due to their specific needs and vulnerability. Any intervention strategy should be formulated in consistency with the local building techniques to maximize acceptability and cost effectiveness. The designing should take in to account the weather conditions and the DRR measures should be incorporated for DRR resilient structures. As most part of the Return areas is going through the interim period of recovery therefore it is recommended to have some sort of cash for work assistance included in the shelter strategy. Secondly the material used in the construction should be chosen keeping in view the local market which will help in booting up the local economy and will help in creating jobs within the community. Shelter provides physical and mental sense of protection, protection from health hazards, emotional and psychological satisfaction and peace and will help healing the wounds of the community which faced many hardships in displacement and even after the returns. Shelter intervention swill help in building their confidence on the humanitarian community and will help in restoration of their dignity and pride.