The displacement of an estimated 2.2 million people (over 300,000 households) as a result of intense fighting in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in 2009, created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the region that the Pakistani authorities and international community are still addressing today. The volatile security situation negatively affected communities across huge swaths of KPK province.

Swat and Dir (Upper and Lower) Districts have been particularly hard hit as a result of the conflict. Swat District alone contributed to an estimated 57 % of the total number of IDPs, living in difficult conditions often with limited or no access to basic services and humanitarian aid. In Dir, the situation has been more complex as it is located between two conflict affected areas, Bajaur Agency and Swat District, which have been directly affected, respectively in August 2008 and April/May 2009.

Prior to the escalation of the armed conflict, Swat and Lower Dir had one of the lowest HDI (Human Development Index) rankings in KPK Province with some of the lowest humanitarian indicators not only in KPK but also Pakistan in general. It is clear that this conflict has impacted those least able to shoulder the burden of recovery, significantly increasing the vulnerability of households and entire communities.

Widespread damage to existing water supply schemes severely affected the availability of clean water for sanitation and drinking purposes. Besides the lack of basic sanitation and water facilities, the various assessments conducted by ACTED teams have revealed inadequate access of families to proper water storage systems and basic hygiene items. Moreover, it appeared that target populations rarely treated their drinking water and practical hygiene awareness was low. Lastly, during the field interviews, besides sanitation, water and hygiene, communities identified basic household items as some of their priority needs.

Based on these observations, and with the aim to continue its support to conflict-affected populations in Pakistan, ACTED launched, in October 2009, with the support of the Humanitarian Aid office of the European Commission, a comprehensive intervention aiming at addressing the water and sanitation needs of vulnerable affected families at various levels, both responding to the immediate, short-term needs and supporting the recovery process, following ACTED’s philosophy of linking emergency relief to mid- to longer term rehabilitation and development. Initially planned as a 6-month intervention, this action was later extended , for a greater coverage and deeper impact.

Throughout 2010, which saw unprecedented floods that in August, which hit in particular the districts targeted by this project, ACTED teams have worked to improve living conditions through basic support to vulnerable, conflict affected households via the provision of non-food items, and have distributed household kits to 4,000 households, reaching 33,600 individuals in rural areas of Lower Dir and Swat. On another level, increasing access to safe water for conflict affected communities and improved sanitation for school children has led to the following results:

• 164 schools latrines and WASH facilities have been rehabilitated in 46 schools (including 132 pour flush latrines, 13 water supply schemes, 2 hand-pumps and 17 hand-washing places), benefiting 16,749 school children and teachers

• 54 community collective latrines and WASH facilities have been rehabilitated in 18 communities benefiting 20,706 individuals

• 150 water systems have been rehabilitated, including new hand pumps and drilling (when needed) and spring catchment systems in targeted areas with the least access to potable water (public places & vulnerable communities) benefiting 126,454 individuals (15,054 households) directly.

• 4 electric pumps servicing large number of vulnerable households were restored to working condition with the installation of regulators and/or new electric pumps.

• 10,652 man-days were generated for vulnerable households in targeted areas with 918 households directly benefiting from cash for work

• 2,000 households directly benefited from the distribution of hygiene kits.

• 124,129 school children and community members directly benefited from hygiene promotion.

Although the 2010 floods, which caused serious destruction to water and sanitation infrastructure, have put an additional strain on limited resources and further deteriorated living conditions of populations in KPK, Punjab and Sindh provinces, through this project, ACTED has nonetheless managed to increase availability of clean water and sanitation and improve hygiene practices in nearly a hundred villages.