Refugee Affected & Hosting Areas (RAHA)  

Under the Framework of the One UN in Pakistan, Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) is a Joint Programme Component within the UN Delivering as One. The inception of RAHA, in 2009, owes to the presence of three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan in the preceding three decades, resulting in social, economic and environmental consequences. Almost 1.7 million Afghans refugees still remain in Pakistan following their large-scale repatriation in 2002.

RAHA, which is currently being implemented in six districts each of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as Khyber Agency of FATA, is in line with the Government of Pakistan's repatriation strategy for Afghan refugees. The programme was conceived on the basis of two needs assessment studies jointly conducted by UNDP and UNHCR, the administrative and convening agents of the programme, respectively, in the target areas.

This project aims at ensuring peaceful coexistence of Afghan refugees, who are well documented, with the local communities until the situation in Afghanistan becomes conducive to their return. The programme, which also aims at strengthening the Government of Pakistan's governance and public service delivery, has been primarily developed to improve the living standard of more than one million Pakistanis who have hosted or are still hosting Afghan refugees. The specific objectives of the programme include the following:

1. Greater social cohesion through community development;

2. Improved livelihoods and local economies;

3. Restoration of social services and infrastructure;

4. Improved social protection for co-existing Pakistani and Afghan communities;

5. Restoration and improvement of the environment; and

6. Return of IDPs anchored and absorption capacity created by small-scale community-based reintegration initiatives.