UNOPS in Pakistan implements projects in the following thematic areas:

• Early recovery and reconstruction of community infrastructure
• Project management and related monitoring and verification
• Community development
• Gender justice and women's empowerment
• Procurement

Building emergency shelters

In 2010, Pakistan experienced the region’s worst flooding in eight decades. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, some provinces received up to ten times their annual rainfall in one week.

After the floods UNOPS post-disaster experts, with experience in post-tsunami areas of Asia and post-earthquake Haiti, set up an office in Islamabad to support the Government of Pakistan and other partners to deliver humanitarian and reconstruction services.

UNOPS is currently implementing a $6 million shelter project funded by the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA).

The project aims to build approximately 4,000 one-room shelters in Dadu district, one of the worst affected areas of Sindh Province. It provides a range of assistance to people affected by the floods, including:

• complete shelters for the most vulnerable people
• materials and technical support for families to construct their own shelters
• a ‘repair package’ for those with less than 40 percent flood damage to their house
• employment generation for the local communities through construction of the shelters

Gender justice

The Gender Justice and Protection (GJP) project aims to bring about a sustainable reduction in violence against women in Pakistan. It is an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented by UNOPS.

So far, the GJP project has funded 41 initiatives to address different areas of violence against women through advocacy, awareness raising, capacity building, action-oriented research, legal aid and support to relevant legislation. The project has helped over 85,000 women in Pakistan through various interventions.

After the floods in 2010, the GJP project contributed to reducing the vulnerability of affected women by identifying their immediate needs and planning relief efforts with local NGOs. Some funding has also been used to support female-headed families through the establishment of relief camps and the provision of basic necessities including food, safe drinking water, medicines and other utilities.

Procurement

On behalf of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Pakistan, UNOPS is implementing a €3.5 million equipment procurement project to help build the capacity of civilian law enforcement agencies in Pakistan. This project supports efforts of the Punjab civil defense force and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police to increase the proficiency and performance of their operations. UNOPS role is to administer the procurement contract and execute the funds allocated by the EU.

Other UNOPS projects in Pakistan

UNOPS also supports projects in Pakistan that are not directly coordinated by our Pakistan office.

For example, as the Local Fund Agent (LFA) for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Pakistan, UNOPS provides independent oversight and evaluation of the implementation of grants as well as advice to the Global Fund on potential risks. The Asia and the Pacific Regional Office coordinates this work.

Through the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP), UNOPS has supported rural communities to build hundreds of low-cost, energy-efficient houses in Pakistan. In 2010, the GEF-SGP in Pakistan designed a sustainable house for people in Sindh Province who were left homeless by the floods. Labour was hired locally to construct the initial houses, which generated income and gave more than 1,000 local masons the skills to replicate the model. The primary grant project was executed by UNOPS on behalf of UNDP. UNOPS coordinates support to the GEF-SGP through the Small Grants Cluster in New York.