Islamabad, June 2, 2009:  Mobilink,  a private cellular communication company today signed a MoU with the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) to establish an IDP Camp in Kund which will support 1,000 families of IDPs for a period of 3 months. 

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Omar Manzur, Director Public Relations, Mobilink shared, “The Government of NWFP and ERU have been very kind in allowing us to establish an entire camp. The project is estimated at about Rs 80 million or US $ 1 million which has been made possible by Orascom’s continued support for this noble cause.”

Manzur added that while Mobilink will be relying on the expertise of ERU and UN’s implementing partner agencies, Mobilink employees have taken great initiative to take on this immense responsibility. Our teams will remain personally involved in various areas of camp management, procurement of items and other requirements. At Mobilink, we strongly encourage employee volunteerism which remains the key driving force behind this project, he said.

Commenting on this historic move by Mobilink, Provincial Relief Commissioner and Incharge of ERU Muhammad Azam Khan said that this is a significant commitment shown by the private sector for IDPs relief. A great value addition is that the company is providing logistical and procurement support to facilitate speedy deployment of the camp so that the incoming IDPs have a place to go to at the earliest, Khan added. This mass-scale suffering is one of the largest humanitarian crisis in recent years, he said, urging other private sector companies to take Mobilink’s lead in helping their countrymen in this hour of need.

According to latest reports available on ERU's website www.helpidp.org number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has crossed 3 million.

Adnan Zafar, ERU Member Operation and Fawad Hussain, National Humanitarian Affairs Officer UNOCHA and other officials were also present on the occasion along with Mobilink’s CSR team.

This support is in addition to delivery of relief items by Mobilink to families residing in hujras, schools and dispensaries of Mardan and Swabi including far-flung villages bordering Buner. To date, Mobilink’s Security team continues to personally deliver weekly ration packs utilizing the Rs 3.3 million raised via employee donations and Aid collection points and have reached out to more than 1,670 families to date.

Mobilink and Orascom have shown unwavering commitment in the past as well by actively engaging in the relief and rehabilitation of the Oct 2005 earthquake affectees.