Amid harsh winter and flooding, UNHCR provides emergency supplies to hundreds of people in Balochistan

QUETTA: As temperatures plummeted – blanketing part of Balochistan province with snow, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency delivered emergency supplies to hundreds of people affected by the unprecedented weather this month. After conducting a rapid assessment to identify the most in need, UNHCR provided tents, plastic sheeting, blankets, jerrycans, sleeping mates, kitchen sets, and buckets, to 122 vulnerable refugees and Pakistani host families in the Chaman district. “With this support amid harsh winter coupled with snow and rains, we hope that these vulnerable Afghan refugees and Pakistani communities will meet their urgent needs,” said Mr. Erwin Policar, the Head of UNHCR’s Sub-Office in Quetta. Policar said that UNHCR will continue to work with local Pakistani authorities in responding to urgent humanitarian needs of vulnerable people. “Our support is always with Pakistan and Pakistanis who have extended great hospitality to Afghan refugees for over four decades,” he said. Late last year, UNHCR provided 1,000 emergency tents and hundreds of packages with life-saving core relief items to Balochistan’s provincial government for families affected by the earthquake that struck the region on 7 October. UNHCR’s work in Balochistan aims to support refugees and the host community, and the agency’s projects continue to support schools, clinics, and livelihoods shared by refugees and the host community. END.