Mingora, Monday 25 January 2010 -- An inauguration ceremony was held today for a Maternity and Child Healthcare Centre (MCHC) located in Mingora, the largest city in the conflict-stricken Swat District of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, which was set up with the support of Cargill to assist in the rebuilding efforts in the area. The donation by Cargill will also cover the MCHC's operating cost for a year. A gas powered ambulance donated by The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is also stationed at the MCHC to improve the accessibility of medical services now available to the local community.

This project was jointly managed by Mercy Relief, a Singapore-based humanitarian NGO and its long-standing partner, the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA).

"Corporate responsibility is part of everything we do," said Sohail Bhatti, General Manager of Cargill Pakistan. "For us, corporate responsibility extends not only to our own operations but to our wider communities. Although our footprint in Pakistan is relatively small, we are proud to make a contribution to help those in need and support the long-term rebuilding efforts that lie ahead.

"As a leading financial institution with an international network, RBS recognises that the bank can play an important role in improving the standard of living in global communities. Our collaboration with Mercy Relief forms part of our corporate social responsibility efforts and demonstrates our commitment to Asia and its sustainability. We hope that this ambulance will help to ease the burden on medical supplies and infrastructure in this stricken region, "said Fiona Gibson, Head of Communications for South East Asia and Pakistan, RBS.

Mr Hassan Ahmad, Chief Executive of Mercy Relief, said "There were various challenging conditions present during the implementation of this project inter alia accessibility and security. Whilst the affected communities are located in the rural areas of Mingora, multinationals like Cargill and RBS have come forth to reflect their connectivity to the victims' plight, both emotionally and financially. Once again, Mercy Relief is thankful to our long-standing partner, PIMA for its assistance so that we are able to reach out to the victims effectively."

A major humanitarian crisis unfolded in 2009 in the Swat Valley after the Pakistani Taliban broke a peace deal. The conflict displaced some two million residents of Swat Valley, who have started to return home to find destroyed homes, severely damaged infrastructure, schools and clinics in shambles, and lost livelihoods.

The MCHC located in Mingora not only makes a contribution to restoring the much deteriorated healthcare infrastructure and helping communities rebuild, but will also provide much needed medical services to some of the most vulnerable groups. The facility covers general, pediatric and maternity care. It offers early screening of childhood diseases by providing vaccination and immunization, and is a one stop centre for pregnant women for ante and post natal care. The facility includes living quarters for medical personnel so that the Centre can operate on a 24-hour basis.

The ambulance donated by RBS provides mobility for the healthcare centre, and ensures that medical attention is available for patients residing further afield, especially in emergencies. It is powered by compressed natural gas, an environmentally-friendly propellant fuel.

"With the support of our partners, doctors from the whole of PIMA are dedicated to serve the IDPs. The ambulance service is on road to cater the needs of the patients who are still walking to their camps. We have established a proper referral system whereby referred patients will be shifted to the attached teaching hospitals of Peshawar Medical College (Kuwait Teaching & Mercy Teaching hospitals). Focal persons in these tertiary care hospitals have been identified to guide and help the patients throughout their treatment process. The treatment expenses of all such patients are met with by the PIMA." said Dr Abdul Aziz Zia, President of PIMA.

Cargill and Mercy Relief's co-operation dates back to 2004. Since then they partnered on several occasions to help victims of natural disasters by supporting both immediate relief and long-term re-building efforts including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami; the South Asian earthquake in 2005 and Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

RBS marked its first collaboration with Mercy Relief through a fundraiser held in conjunction with the 2009 FORMULA 1™ SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. More than SG$ 17,000 was raised in less than two weeks by the bank's staff in Singapore to support humanitarian work in less fortunate countries around the region.

Mercy Relief has been in partnership with PIMA since the conflict in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2003, where they worked together to provide humanitarian aid. This partnership continued to serve the afflicted communities during the Muzaffarabad earthquake in 2005, and the Swat Valley conflict in 2009, when Mercy Relief donated medical equipment and supplies to set up a MCHC, and also provided food relief at an Internally-Displaced Persons Camp in Mardan.

For more information, please contact:

Siti Aminah Sayadi
Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs & Innovation
Mercy Relief
Direct: +65 6514 6325 / Mobile: +65 945 77527
Email: siti@mercyrelief.org

Beate Bieniek
Regional Communications Director
Cargill Asia Pacific
Direct: +65-6393 8293 / Mobile: +65-9728 3396
Email: Beate_Bieniek@cargill.com

Tan Ping Ping
Public Relations Manager, RBS
Tel +65 65188497
Email: ping.p.tan@rbs.com

Dr. Abdul Aziz Zia
President PIMA
Mobile: +92 333 9867766
Email: pima@dsl.net.pk

Dr. Muhammad Sharif
Relief Coordinator PIMA Relief
Mobile: +92-333-5128851
Email: pima_swat@yahoo.com

About Mercy Relief

Mercy Relief is an independent non-governmental humanitarian charity, established in response to the human tragedies in Asia. It aims to promote a civic life of compassion, care and volunteerism amongst Man. Its aid programmes include providing timely and effective assistance to disaster-stricken locations; and longer-term development projects to uplift the lives of impoverished and disadvantaged communities, focusing on water & sanitation, shelter, healthcare, basic education and sustainable livelihoods.
Mercy Relief is governed by a Board of Directors comprising multi-racial corporate and social leaders. It was officially launched by then-Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in September 2003, and extends its services to all regardless of country, culture or creed. It is an Institution of Public Character since 2003.

To date, Mercy Relief has touched the lives and hearts in more than 17 countries in Asia, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, the Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Yemen. www.mercyrelief.org

About Cargill

Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. Founded in 1865, the privately held company employs 159,000 people in 68 countries. Cargill helps customers succeed through collaboration and innovation, and is committed to applying its global knowledge and experience to help meet economic, environmental and social challenges wherever it does business.

Cargill's activities in Pakistan started in 1984. Presently the company employs eight people who are engaged in the trading of edible oil and cotton. The company also markets products such as fertilizer, oilseeds, wheat and sugar through locally appointed agents.
For more information, visit www.cargill.com

About The Royal Bank of Scotland

The RBS group is a large international banking and financial services company. Headquartered in Edinburgh, the Group operates in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas and Asia, serving more than 40 million customers. The Group provides a wide range of products and services to personal, commercial and large corporate and institutional customers through its two principal subsidiaries, The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, as well as through a number of other well known brands including, Citizens, Ulster Bank, Coutts, Direct Line and Churchill.

About PIMA

Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) is the largest organization of Muslim doctors of Pakistan. Since its foundation in 1979 PIMA membership has steadily grown and now stands at over 3500 full members. PIMA is a registered NGO with its own Constitution. Currently it has 70 branches.

PIMA is an active member of Federation of Islamic Medical Association (FIMA), an international forum for collaboration of all Islamic medical associations around the globe. In the journey through 25 years, PIMA has emerged as a strong forum for Muslim medical professionals to excel in profession, ethics and provide relief to oppressed humanity in the country and around the globe as well.
PIMA is committed to promote health awareness among the communities and to provide medical aid to the victims of poverty, disease, natural disasters or war. PIMA remained pioneer in managing natural disasters and human atrocities not only in Pakistan but everywhere it deemed necessary.

By the grace of Allah, PIMA has a long and enriched history of serving humanity in disastrous situations, both natural and man-made, in Afghanistan, Palestine (Gaza), Bosnia, Chechnya, Indonesia, Iran, Sudan, Bangladesh, Azad Jammu & Kashmir under control of Pakistan, Federally Administered Northern Areas besides areas in Pakistan affected by floods, cyclones or famine. For the 2005 earthquake affected population in AJK, PIMA is managing two secondary-level health care facilities in Muzaffarabad and Bagh. To serve the IDPs in SWAT, PIMA has set up medical camps in Charsada, Sheikh Maltoon, Sheikh Shehzad, Sheikh Yasin, Katlang, Jalala, Col.Sher Clay, Topi, Shawa Adda, Rustam (Palo Dheri), Sakhakot, Dargai, Bunair and Bakir (Swabi). Mengora and D.I. Khan
For more information, please visit www.pima.org.pk