Programs in Pakistan
HEALTH CARE: IRC has worked in the health sector in Pakistan for over 27 years. Initially providing direct service delivery, the program has expanded into capacity development to the Government of Pakistan health departments in refugee and earthquake affected areas.
Primary Health Care - The oldest IRC intervention in Pakistan, the health care program offers curative and preventive health services to 97,000 Afghan refugees living in camps, of whom 85% are women and children. IRC teams operate a network of nine basic health units, eight clinical labs, one dental clinic and two emergency obstetric care centers in the Hangu and Thal areas of NWFP. IRC facilities provide diagnosis and treatment of common diseases, including leishmania, immunizations, and reproductive health care services for women. Emphasis on health education is raising awareness of how to prevent common diseases and encourage good hygiene practices. In 2006, IRC began a three year EC funded Malaria and HIV/AIDS prevention program in partnership with the Government of NWFP in district Hangu.
PRIDE - Building on its decade old expertise, IRC healthcare program has added a major program for the Pakistani communities struck by October 8th earthquake. Over a four year period beginning in August 2006, the USAID-funded PRIDE program will strengthen the financial and human resource management capacities of district health authorities as well as primary health providers. PRIDE will also improve access to and quality of primary healthcare services through an essential package of health services and improved skills of primary health personnel. PRIDE will also increase community demand for quality services through an innovative social mobilization process aimed at increasing knowledge for informed decision-making.
Revitalizing Healthcare in Mansehra - The Revitalizing Healthcare in Mansehra project funded by CECP addresses critical health needs through a combination of replacement of earthquake-damaged infrastructure and targeted training and capacity building. The IRC will directly reconstruct and repair destroyed and damaged health facilities, construct environmental health infrastructure, and improve hygiene and sanitation practices. This program will leverage the PRIDE capacity building initiatives to ensure that the newly provided facilities are properly used. Through this combined and mutually reinforcing effort the IRC will measurably improve primary healthcare in Mansehra District.
WATER SUPPLY & SANITATION: The IRC ensures access to clean drinking water to an estimated 152,000 Afghan refugees by developing, upgrading and maintaining communal water sources in 19 camps in southern NWFP. The program improves health and hygiene by constructing boreholes, shallow wells, gravity springs, tube wells and latrines. Local community members are trained to form water management committees to maintain their new facilities. The IRC also supports regular monitoring, analysis, and chlorination of water sources to ensure standards defined by SPHERE and World Health Organization.
EDUCATION: IRC has worked extensively in education in Pakistan for more than 20 years. Initial program focus was on providing Afghan curriculum education, but recent programs focus on developing the capacity of the Government of Pakistan education system in NWFP, including a ground breaking early childhood education program for NWFP.
Refugee and Host Community Education Program - The Refugee Education Program (REP) provides about 12,000 Afghan schoolchildren – of which 62% are girls - with access to primary and secondary education. The program has trained more than 8,000 teachers in subjects from basic methodology to psychosocial approaches, as well as supporting school management committees and parent teachers associations. REP supports 16 schools in NWFP which are recognized by the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan, thereby ensuring easy reintegration for both pupils and teachers into the Afghan system. REP currently provides teachers’ salaries, text books, training manuals, stationery, lab kits, mobile libraries and other supplies.
RISE - The IRC is bringing sweeping changes to the education sector through the Revitalizing, Innovating and Strengthening Education (RISE) program. The IRC works in the Mansehra, Bagh, Muzaffarabad and Poonch districts to improve the quality of classroom instruction and student learning through community mobilization efforts. This is achieved by forming/reactivating and strengthening School Management Committees (SMCs) by means of training, technical assistance and advocacy so they can independently and effectively manage their own schools. The program envisions the formation of 2300 SMCs/PTAs by 2010.
ECED - The IRC is implementing the Promoting Early Childhood Education Project in Pakistan. Through this project, the IRC will collaborate with the Provincial Institute of Teachers Education (PITE) and government schools in the NWFP to build the capacity of public sector teachers to provide sustainable, quality early childhood education to children in refugee impacted communities.
LIVELIHOODS: IRC has provided vocational training in NWFP for several years with beneficiaries including Afghan refugees and Pakistanis. Current programming includes livelihood development for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and initiation of cross-border livelihoods programs.
Federally Administered Tribal Areas Development Program – Livelihoods Program IRC is also supporting the government in developing livelihoods opportunities for young people in the southern Federally-Administered Tribal Areas and Frontier Regions. Our work includes assistance in improving the quality and quantity of vocational training, apprenticeship opportunities, scholarship opportunities, and promotion of youth group exchanges and activities.
PROTECTION
Protection is a cross-cutting theme across all IRC programs; the IRC Pakistan’s protection team ensures all IRC interventions promote and protect human rights, especially those of the most vulnerable groups like women, children and the elderly. As part of this effort, the protection department: monitors conditions for refugees and disaster-affected communities; harnesses the data gathered for program development and advocacy purposes; and hosts protection trainings for both IRC staff, local communities and partner organizations.
