Standard Project Report 2016
activity as designed. Efforts are underway to increase familiarity with the beneficiary feedback mechanism by focusing on the areas and programmes with the weakest responses in 2016.
The assessment and design stages of the programme cycle focused on positive and potentially negative effects or harm that may result from any WFP intervention. Women, children, elderly and persons with special needs were prioritised during food distributions for internally displaced persons( IDPs) and Afghan refugees.
In the case of IDPs, WFP worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees( UNHCR) to address the protection concerns of the beneficiaries related to non-food issues, such as beneficiaries ' computerised national identity cards or other documentation, and ensured UNHCR partner presence at the hubs. In addition to this coordinated effort, food management committees, parent-teacher committees, and other community-based mechanisms were also used to address grievances related to WFP assistance.
WFP continued inter-agency coordination on protection and gender and remained part of the protection cluster at the provincial level.
WFP staff were trained in the prevention of harassment, sexual harassment and abuse of authority in the workplace, and most were trained on the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse( PSEA).
WFP welcomed observations and complaints through the beneficiary feedback mechanism which operated as a dedicated hotline with female responders and through e-mail and postal addresses. In 2016, a total of 3,117 contacts, mostly phone calls, were logged of which 368 cases( 12 percent of contacts) were registered for verification.
Eighty-five percent of contacts originated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where most of the programme was located. Sixteen percent of cases were of a serious nature and 83 percent ranked medium on the severity scale. Compared to 2015, the number of serious cases reduced from 23 percent to 18 percent, but the number of medium-severity cases increased from 59 percent to 83 percent. The majority of complaints( 66 percent) related to the frequency of service delivery issues and irregularities, an increase compared to 50 percent in 2015. Complaints and queries which were not addressed immediately were registered in the online database for further assessment and validation. All registered calls and contacts were responded to, thereby closing the feedback loop. A ten-day resolution standard for uncomplicated cases prevailed, while more complex complaints required visits to the complainant’ s residence, which required additional time. Delicate cases were reported to the WFP head of unit and senior management, particularly when government or WFP staff were implicated.
Focus on Fortification
In an effort to improve the nutrition situation of Pakistan’ s population in 2016, WFP supported government initiatives to reduce different forms of undernutrition with a special focus on the most vulnerable groups— pregnant and lactating women( PLW) and children under 5, prioritising the first 1,000 days of a child ' s life, from conception to two years of age. WFP worked in partnership with other United Nations agencies, nutrition development partners, non-governmental organizations( NGOs), civil society, academia and the private sector through different nutrition initiatives to prevent and treat undernutrition.
Food fortification is considered one of the most cost-effective public health interventions. Micronutrient supplementation and fortification represent two of the top three investments for addressing undernutrition. The prevention of micronutrient deficiencies through large-scale food fortification was a key component of WFP ' s nutrition programme.
WFP has an extensive experience in the fortification of wheat flour in Pakistan as it routinely fortifies and distributes wheat flour used in its emergency and relief programmes in the country. WFP has provided technical support for wheat flour fortification since 2005, engaging as many as 71 local flour mills for WFP operations, as was the case in 2009. WFP has established comprehensive quality assurance mechanisms covering all steps of the fortification process, including parameters for mills shortlisting, rigorous process monitoring, and stringent quality checks of the final product.
In addition to the fortification of wheat flour utilised in relief programmes in the country, WFP supported the fortification of commercial wheat flour in Azad Jammu and Kashmir( AJK) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa( KP), in partnership with the Micronutrient Initiative( MI), Pakistan Flour Mills Association KP, and AJK Food Department. Over the past year, WFP Pakistan reinvigorated efforts to support wheat flour fortification in the country through the provision of technical assistance and advocacy at the federal and provincial levels. In coordination with federal, regional and provincial level governments, the wheat flour fortification initiative in the AJK region was implemented with technical support from WFP and MI, benefiting 2.6 million people( 65 percent of the total population). The
Pakistan, Islamic Republic of( PK) 23 Single Country PRRO- 200867