HIGHLIGHTS
Summer monsoon forecast to bring rainfall 10–20 percent above average
Drought and limited health care access in Sindh have resulted in poor health outcomes, particularly for children
Approximately half of all people displaced from FATA had returned as of June 23
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
A UN assessment of humanitarian conditions in Sindh Province’s Tharparkar District conducted in May revealed that drought conditions since 2008 have resulted in reduced agricultural outputs, including the loss of between 65 and 70 percent of livestock in many communities. Due to drought, the population has increasingly resorted to negative coping mechanisms, the UN reports.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued its 2016 July–September summer monsoon forecast, which predicts rainfall 10–20 percent above average in many areas of Pakistan, including northeastern Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPk), Punjab, and Sindh provinces. According to the PMD, above-average rainfall may produce flooding in urban areas and landslides and flooding in northern Pakistan.
Clashes that erupted between Afghan and Pakistani forces on June 12 at the Torkham border crossing in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) resulted in the closure of the border point for five days, impeding access to health care services and the flow of commodities, according to international media. The Torkham crossing reopened on June 18 following the establishment of a ceasefire between the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan.