PAKISTAN: UN prepares to feed thousands of malnourished
children in Balochistan
Source: IRIN
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
ISLAMABAD, 27 December (IRIN) - The United Nations (UN) is launching an operation to help improve the nutrition of thousands of women
and children in the southern province of Balochistan, officials said on Wednesday. The child nutrition programme, set to start in January, would initially cover communities in the districts of
Quetta, Naseerabad and Ja'afarabad, where 30,000 children had so far been identified as malnourished. It would later spread to Kharan, Awaran, Musakhel and Chaghai.Jan Vandemoortele, the UN's
resident coordinator (UNRC) in Pakistan, said it was working with provincial health authorities to find locations for feeding centres."We'll have other districts as well. So, in total, we'll target
some 100,000 children under this supplementary feeding programme over the next six months," said Vandemoortele.The operation, led by the UN children's agency (UNICEF), would be a combination of
general food distribution and supplementary feeding for malnourished children. Balochistan is the largest but least developed of Pakistan's four provinces, covering about 44 percent of the
country's total area. It is home to eight million people and is the country's main source of oil and gas.However, local tribesmen believe that none of the energy income is invested back in the
region and it has been gripped by violence and lawlessness in recent times.Insurgents regularly attack gas pipelines, powerlines, railways and military and government installations, while clashes
between militants and security forces are frequent. Last week, a UNICEF report said that 84,000 people displaced by the conflict were in need of immediate food aid. It said 26,000 women and 33,000
children were suffering from malnutrition, with 28 percent of children aged under five "acutely malnourished". Shahzada Zulfiqar, a leading political analyst in Balochistan's capital, Quetta,
welcomed the "long-due" humanitarian aid.He said an earlier eight-year drought and the continued fighting had left the "common people in a desperate condition"."They need immediate assistance -
food, shelter and clothing," he said. The provincial government has acknowledged the situation but does not blame the fighting.Raziq Bugti, a Balochistan government spokesman, said there was "no
specific conflict-affected and displaced population". "UN assistance is not only for these three districts, but the provincial health department has identified more districts to assist vulnerable
women and children. Health-related interventions will be expanded to all those potential areas where malnutrition is severe among children," said Bugti. TS/GS/DS
