Education programme for Fata, FR: Australian government provides $4.5 million to UN-WFP

The Australian government has provided AU $6 million [approximately US $4.5 million] to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on part of its contribution to fund a three-year education programme in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Frontier Regions (FR).
A ceremony in this regard was held at the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) on Wednesday to recognise the Australian contribution to the WFP for its education programme at Fata. The ceremony was attended by Minister for SAFRON Lieutenant General Abdul Qadir Baloch (Retd), Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Margaret Adamson, WFP Country Director ad interim Stephen Gluning and senior officials of the ministry.
Speaking on the occasion, Baloch welcomed the Australian contribution, saying it would play an important role in the ongoing efforts to bringing the tribal areas at par with settled areas. He pointed out that the government under its Fata reforms programme would spend Rs 11 billion over 10 years for socio-economic development of the tribal areas, besides merging the Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
About the rehabilitation of the temporarily displaced persons (TDPs), he said that the government is spending from its own resources on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the TDPs. However, he added that some countries like the US and Germany have voluntarily contributed to these efforts.
The minister commended the support of WFP and said the government of Pakistan extends its gratitude to the Australian government for its unshrinking support. WFP Country Director ad interim Stephen Gluning said that through this programme, which was designed according to government's priorities, WFP also aims to build on existing global and regional models that use cash to support girls' education, thus building the Government's capacity to mainstream such programmes in their development planning in the long run for their ownership and facilitating the future handover of the project.
"We are very grateful to the people and government of Australia for this contribution. The flexibility of this donation has allowed WFP to address the critical education needs in Fata and FR, particularly for the returnee communities," he added. He stated that there are alarming rates of illiteracy owing to high school drop-out ratio among children, especially adolescent girls. "By providing extra incentives for parents to send girls to school, we can take a step towards women empowerment", he added.
Under the programme, he said that WFP will provide over 312,000 children with a mid-morning snack of high energy biscuits (HEBs) during the school day in seven Fata agencies and six frontier regions.
Providing children with snacks at school has proven to significantly increase children's enrolment and retention rates in WFP assisted primary schools of Fata, he added. Furthermore, he stated that WFP gives a monthly supply of vegetable oil fortified with Vitamins A and D to primary grade students who attend class regularly, as an extra incentive for parents to send children to school, he added.
He added that the Australian contribution will be used for food-based assistance in the first year, while cash-based assistance will be added in the subsequent two years. From 13,000 to 15,000 adolescent school girls will receive cash assistance that can be used for school meals, instead of food-based assistance. These are strong incentives for parents to send their children, especially their daughters, to school which help improve the long-term prosperity of these children, he added.
He said that the underlying aim of cash grants is to increase and ensure the retention of girls in schools and thus, it will contribute to an increase in women's literacy rate in Fata. With an overall literacy rate of 33.3 percent (national average 58 percent, 2013-14), and an adult literacy rate of 28.4 percent (national average 57 percent), education indicators in Fata are not only far below the national average, but they also place Fata among one of the least literate areas of the world.
Improving girl's access to education has been shown to prevent early marriage and teenage pregnancy, as well as increasing lifetime income opportunities and improving the health of future children.
Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Margaret Adamson said Australia has a longstanding history of working with the Government of Pakistan to provide humanitarian assistance to people affected by crisis. Since 2010, she said that Australia has provided more than AU $95 million in humanitarian assistance to Pakistan, in partnership with the WFP, to support the victims of earthquakes, floods and displacement.
She stated that Australia's assistance has also helped provide nutrition to acute malnourished women and children, besides providing livelihood support and school feeding programmes. In 2016, she stated, Australia has contributed US $9 million to WFP programmes, placing it in the top five donors to WFP Pakistan.