IOM has this month distributed over 4,500 toolkits to vulnerable
families affected by flash floods, snowfall and war damage in
Pakistan's northern Swat and Dir districts.

A further 350 kits, which include a shovel, pickaxe, adze,
hammer, nails, pliers, pincers, chisel, wrench, trowel, hand saw,
gloves, nylon rope, binding wire and a packing bag will be
distributed in Dir this weekend, to allow returning families to
repair their damaged houses and plant their kitchen gardens at the
start of the spring season.

"These toolkits will help vulnerable families, some of them
headed by women and elderly people, to restart their lives and
generate some income through small-scale farming activities," says
Hassan Abdel Moneim Mostafa, IOM Regional Representative for West
and Central Asia.

In early March some 2,500 toolkits were distributed in Swat
district's Charbagh and Kabal union councils. A further 2,000 were
handed out in Dir district's Adenzai and Balambat tehsils this
week. Beneficiaries were identified by local government and NGO
partners.

"My eldest son is a mason and our only source of income. These
tools will really help us," says Amelat Bibi, who has just returned
to Ouch village in Dir from Mardan. She says that her family was
forced to leave their home in early 2009, following military
operations against militants in the region.

Over 3 million people from North West Frontier Province (NWFP)
and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were displaced
by the 2009 conflict. Some 1.95 million have now returned to their
places of origin, mainly in NWFP, and 1.21 million remain
displaced, according to the provincial government. Aid agencies,
including IOM, are currently appealing for USD 537 million to help
the displaced, returnees, families hosting homeless returnees and
conflict-affected communities.

For more information, please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

IOM Islamabad

Tel. +92-300-856-0341

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