Draft Minutes of the Federal WASH Cluster Meeting:

Date: 04 March 2010 – 1100 Hrs
Venue: UNICEF COUNTRY OFFICE, ISLAMABAD
The Federal WASH Cluster meeting was held on 04th March, 2010 at 11:00 AM in the UNICEF country office, Islamabad. The Meeting was chaired by Mr. Jamal Shah, Wash Cluster Coordinator NWFP.
Briefing about WASH Coordination Mechanisms:
WASH Cluster Coordinator briefed the forum about the coordination mechanisms in districts Swat, Buner, D.I.Khan and the need for establishment of same field coordination mechanism in Kohat; He informed that in Swat coordination Co-Chairmanship is delegated to Mercy Corps along with Government counterpart Deputy Director PHED;
 in Buner TMO/ TMA Swari is Co-Chairing along with Islamic Relief and in D.I.Khan Deputy Director PHED is chairing the coordination mechanisms; in Kohat TMO/ TMA Kohat will be requested to Chair & host the WASH Field coordination meetings
Updates on IDP’s situation
The WCC informed the meeting about the updated figures of IDP’s in camps and off camps.
DI Khan and Tank:
About provision of WASH services in DI Khan and Tank the WCC informed that UNICEF, OXFAM-GB (through FIDA) and IRC were providing these facilities and services in D. I. Khan. Whereas in Tank due to obvious reasons of security were reluctant; Due to the possible returns of IDP’s it was suggested that agencies working in DI Khan/Tank should not plan for projects which are not having quick outcomes.
Kohat and Hangu:
The meeting was informed that Kohat and Hangu are the hosting districts for Kuram and Orakzai IDP’s; So far only UNICEF is providing services in the camp in Hangu. In Kohat UNICEF (has already started NFI distribution and Water Tankering in Jarma Union Council), Oxfam, Concern Worldwide, IRC are starting their activities. All these agencies to share the details of their activities (with geographical presence) to ensure optimal utilization of resources.
Hangu needs to be given special attention as due to Security concerns so far none of the partners have started any WASH activity for off camp IDP’s in Hangu.
Action Point:
• All WASH agencies to provide information about details of activities and geographic area of their interventions.
• Interested agencies should send their proposals for Hangu to Concern directly.
Peshawar Valley:
Mr. Rahman Ullah of UNICEF informed the meeting that after new influx from Bajour, Jalozai camp has expanded a lot and have 11 sectors on ground; now it has become quite difficult to be monitored easily for the WASH services. He further informed that 22480 families are now residing in Jalozai camp. He also informed that UNICEF IPs are providing WASH services to the entire camp; besides tube well networks 300 water tankering trips also supply water in the camp, more than 8000 latrines/ Wash rooms and washing pads were installed in Jalozai camp.
The meeting was informed that the authorities are planning to close down Palosa Camp Charsadda and shift the IDP’s to Jalozai.
ACTED representative informed the meeting that ACTED was providing assistance to IDPs in host communities of Mardan;
Malakand:
WCC informed the meeting that in Malakand Division basically Community restoration/ early recovery activities are in progress; the major issue identified in last meeting about the region was the fact that NGO’s are still not working in the Upper Swat areas due to fact that their proposals were submitted only for Lower Swat areas as at that time the Upper Swat was not accessible. He also said that the authorities are ready to facilitate NGO’s in traveling to these areas. He offered the WASH cluster services to agencies interested in upper swat areas in supporting their proposals for funding;
Action: Interested agencies can contact Mr. Jamal Shah directly.
McRAM
WCC informed the meeting that WASH has developed the McRAM questionnaire for off camp IDP’s; he said that this provided some very useful results; he also said that McRAM is now proposed for Upper Swat but the situation is different due to early recovery scenario. A working group of the Cluster needs to be formed to develop a Mcram questionnaire focused on early recovery.
AoB:
• IOM/MassComm offered services to the Cluster for development and dissemination of messages as per requirement of the Cluster
• It was informed that against PHRP 2010 funding is still awaited;
• Opportunity for CERF (UN agencies only) could be utilized;
• Meeting frequency in Islamabad could not be ascertained but it was suggested that once a month is a reasonable interval;
• Humanitarian Liaison Officer, INTERNEWS briefed the forum about Humanitarian Information Project (HIP) funded by OFDA specific for Malakand; she also informed that HIP website will be up by this Monday; URL: www.HIP.org.pk; she also informed that field specific stories can be sent to her directly or can contact tel numbers: Peshawar 091-5252311, or Swat 0946-726833. She welcomed the public service announcements (PSA’s) from WASH Cluster for the people of Malakand.