The inauguration ceremony of a new irrigation channel in Khazana Payan village was held on Thursday.
The 4,449 feet deep irrigation channel, completed at a cost of Rs1.7 million, was launched by chief of South and West Asia Division of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Elena Tischenko and Country Head Refugee Affected and Hosting Area Programme (RAHA) Marc Andrew.
“Majority of the population in this village is engaged in agricultural activities and an irrigation channel is very important for them so the Women Community Organisation (WCO) under Raha requested the UNDP for its construction,” said Tischenko.
“The new channel will contribute to production of seasonal crops in time and ultimately increase the income of farmers,” she added.
Tischenko also told the audience that separate organisations in villages of six districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and six in Balochistan have been made and they will be given grants for various development schemes.
“All this is for the economic and social uplift of Afghan refugees who have settled in Pakistan after the war,” she said.
Andrew, on the other hand, talked about different capacity-building projects underway to impart training to the youth.
Improving the standard of living of Pakistanis who have, or are still hosting Afghan refugees, is the objective of another project that will be launched, added Andrew.
Since 2009, Raha has been making efforts to provide support to Afghan refugees in Pakistan for health, education, jobs and revival of businesses.
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