Islamabad: Around 50,000 vulnerable Afghan refugee families in Pakistan, hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, have received emergency cash assistance from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
The UNHCR emergency cash programme follows Pakistan Government’s Ehsaas emergency cash programme under which the Pakistani families received a one-off cash grant of Rs12,000 (approximately $77). The government’s $144 billion package covered 12 million families.
The UNHCR programme, which aims to reach 70,000 of the most vulnerable refugee households, is being carried out in close collaboration with the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) and with Pakistan Post - which is disbursing the emergency cash assistance. Pakistan Post is offering a safe environment for male and female refugees to receive cash.
UNHCR’S Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Indrika Ratwatte – who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan – participated in the distribution of cash assistance to refugees at an Islamabad Post Office along with the UNHCR Representative in Pakistan, Noriko Yoshida, and senior officials from the Post Office.
“I hope that efforts will continue to be made to reach the remaining vulnerable families affected by the pandemic,” Ratwatte said while interacting with Afghan refugee elders. Many refugees are daily wage earners who were left without a source of income during the pandemic.
The emergency cash assistance will help those hardest hit by the economic downturn and “enable refugees to meet their most urgent needs,” he said.
He also thanked the Government of Pakistan for providing refugees with access to public services, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ratwatte appreciated the generous support of the international community, particularly Japan, the United States of America and the European Union, and said that donor support has been crucial at a time when refugees were facing immense challenges. During his stay in Pakistan, he will meet with senior Pakistani government officials, donors and UN representatives.
Pakistan hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees and over 1 million unregistered ones.
