IOM is to set up an information and communication cell in Peshawar
to provide accurate and timely information for people displaced by
the conflict in Swat, Buner and Dir districts.

The unit, which will protect people's rights by helping them to
access available assistance and make informed decisions, will work
closely with the Provincial Relief Commissioner, the Special
Support Group set up by the federal government and the various
"clusters" of relief agencies responding to the crisis, which has
displaced some 2.5 million people.

"Our experience after the 2005 earthquake was that many families
displaced by the disaster lacked key information about developments
likely to affect them. They needed timely, accurate information to
make informed decisions about their future and this unit will
provide that," says Brian Kelly, head of IOM Pakistan's Emergency
and Stabilization Programme.

The cell will disseminate messages identified by the government
and the humanitarian community through a variety of formal and
informal communication networks, including radio, leaflets and
other mediums accessible to displaced people living in camps and
with host families.

"The project will also support the development of a
government-led strategy to ensure eventual safe and sustainable
returns, in line with the international Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement, including return and alternative solutions
planning," says IOM Emergency Officer Mutya Maskun.

For further information, please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

IOM Islamabad

Tel: +92 300 856 03 41

E-mail: "mailto:srehmat@iom.int">srehmat@iom.int