Summary and Highlights
Days since October 8th Earthquake: 95

• This year's Pak-Humanitarian Forum will focus on the challenges of the relief operation and winterisation in the earthquake affected areas.
• UNHAS will be strictly implementing all the fixed procedures in regards to the use of its passenger service. Flights cannot be assured to those who do not follow these guidelines.
• The Norwegian funding for logistics operations in the Pakistan earthquake emergency has been disbursed.
• An emergency response team has been established in Muzaffarabad to activate a fast response during times of inclement weather.
  

Contents

1.    Pak-Humanitarian Forum
2.    Winter Update - Muzaffarabad
3.    Winterisation
4.    Norwegian Funding
5.    Jump Teams
6.    Aviation Update: Helicopter Status

1. Pak-Humanitarian Forum

The 23rd meeting of the Pak-Humanitarian Forum (PHF) will take place on January 17, 2006. This year's meeting is called "Snow Lines and Humanitarian Response", and will focus on the challenges of the relief operation and winterisation in the earthquake affected areas. The forum's objectives are to identify those areas which are or will be cut off during the winter months, to determine the response to date in terms of shelter and food in those areas, to discuss logistical challenges and to pinpoint any needs which must still be addressed. The target audience of the forum includes NGOs, donors, UN representatives and government officials. UNJLC will be present to speak on logistical issues including the impact of snow on the operation, road status, and the winterisation of helicopter landing zones (HLZ) and warehousing.

2. Winter Update - Muzaffarabad

The recent spate of bad weather has affected operations in all of the earthquake-hit areas. Many of the roads around Muzaffarabad were cut off by snow and rain has been causing major problems in the IDP camps. Capacity on the key Jheelum valley road has been decreased to 1 MT trucks and the Neelum valley route has been largely blocked. An emergency response team has now been established to formulate and activate a fast response to periods of inclement weather. This involves maintenance programs and weather warnings. Cargo should be brought in as fast as possible before the weather deteriorates in preparation for those times in which transport is shut down. Coordination is being established with the Pakistan Military, who do the majority of road clearing alongside maintenance and winterisation projects on the HLZs. Versions of HLZ and winterisation procedures are also being produced in Urdu. The need for more advanced communication on flying visibility in the form of radio contact is being addressed so that UNHAS and other air operations can get more accurate and timely news from the valleys. These combined efforts will address the need to efficiently highlight the pockets of need and bring into focus UN / Pakistan Military cooperation.

3. Winterisation

The process of winterisation for all logistical facilities in the humanitarian response is essential for the smooth running of the operation. There have been some problems with heavy mud at the Abbottabad HLZ but gravel is now being laid to alleviate this problem. Another issue has been melting snow and mud around warehouses. Trucks have been getting stuck during the loading and unloading process and this has caused some delays in the operation. All those in charge of warehouses are requested to lay gravel and incorporate drainage systems in areas prone to these difficulties.

4. Jump Teams

As mentioned in previous bulletins, high altitude programs have been established in the Pakistan relief operation by WFP, IOM, UNOps and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). These "jump teams" are providing assessment, monitoring, road clearing and search and rescue programs for communities living in altitudes of over 5,000 feet. WFP and IOM teams are now collaborating to do "call forwards" for essential food and Non Food Items (NFIs). UNOps is working on avalanche control in the affected areas and is also looking at bringing in heavy equipment to enable cargo movement along roads with limited accessibility. A process is underway to coordinate assessment information between these groups and channel requirements for specific tasking.

In order to meet the need for efficient and safe relief operations as the winter conditions become more difficult, the NRC Alpine Support Team has developed a winter survival training aimed at humanitarian workers in Pakistan. The workshops will be provided in the field in or close to the snow covered areas. The tentative start date for this program is January 15th in Allai. It will then cover the identified areas in NWFP and AJK during the following week. Interested parties should contact the Norwegian Refugee Council at emergency.alpineteams@nrcafpk.org

5. Norwegian Funding

The Norwegian funding for logistic use in the Pakistan earthquake emergency response has been released. Of this, 10 million dollars US will be shared between Atlas logistique, IOM and UNOps. The final contracts are being signed today.

6. Aviation Update

The relief operation's air capacity has remained stable over this last week. (see bulletin 27, item 6)

The Bhedi Valley WFP operation began on January 6th and WFP have hired more ground staff to maximize aircraft availability. It will be an eleven-day mission with a break for Eid Al-Adha on January 11 and 12. Currently the operation is using a combination of internal loading and slings with the goal of moving to slings only after the break.

Due to certain recent issues, effective immediately, UNHAS will be strictly implementing all of the standard operating procedures in regards to the usage of passenger flights. From now on, no last-minute passengers without bookings will be accepted on UNHAS aircraft. The UNJLC Bagh office has dedicated a computer for people to use for online bookings and ticket checks. The UNHAS booking procedures and passenger request form can be found on the UNJLC website at www.unjlc.org/pakistan/air/unhas/. Agencies and NGOs requesting air transport are asked to complete all of the necessary procedures before they need to fly.

UNHAS has now received one hundred additional nets from the US military. These will be used to facilitate sling loads out of Chatterplain, Abbottabad and Bagh. Meanwhile, UNHAS will be fully operational during the Eid Al-Adha period and will be picking up any transport requirements which cannot be met by ground transport due to the holiday. However, agencies and NGOs are asked to ensure that they have people ready on the ground to load and receive this cargo.

UNHAS funding currently stands at 56% thanks to a donation from DFID. However, if additional support is not forthcoming, it will no longer be able to sustain its current operating rate after mid-March.

UNJLC cargo movement figures as of January 10rd, 2006.