Large Cache of UNICEF-Provided Soap Bars Seizes in City
FIA stated that the scale of the diversion suggests that such misappropriation could not have occurred without the alleged involvement
By M. Ilyas Mullakhel
PESHAWAR: In a major development, more than 20,000 soap bars supplied by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for the ongoing polio eradication campaign have been recovered during a raid conducted in the provincial capital, Peshawar.
According to official sources, a raiding team from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) carried out a targeted operation on Wednesday at the city’s vegetable market, where the contraband soap was found being stored. Each soap bar bore labels indicating it was specifically meant for distribution during the polio campaign.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the soaps were being sold illegally in the open market, exposing serious irregularities in the distribution of humanitarian aid.The recovery of such a large quantity of essential hygiene items , intended for public health outreach has raised concerns about systemic mismanagement and possible collusion.
Sources within the FIA stated that the scale of the diversion suggests that such misappropriation could not have occurred without the alleged involvement or gross negligence of senior officers either from the provincial health department or UNICEF’s local or national-level representatives.
The investigation is now focused on uncovering how such a significant quantity of aid-managed supplies exited the government distribution system and ended up for commercial sale. Authorities are also looking into the potential roles of middlemen and contractors involved in handling and transporting aid materials.
This incident highlights alarming loopholes in the mechanisms of transparency, oversight, and accountability in humanitarian aid management , particularly in sensitive public health initiatives like the anti-polio campaign,” said a source familiar with the investigation.
Officials have vowed to take strict action against those found responsible for this breach and to implement stronger controls to safeguard future aid-based distributions.
