December 14, 2001

For Your Background:
Fact Sheet on AID to Afghanistan, released by USAID December 12, 2001.

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
CENTRAL ASIA TASK FORCE

CENTRAL ASIA REGION - Complex Emergency

December 12, 2001

Numbers Affected
· According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination on Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 7.5 million Afghans are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance including food, shelter, health, education, and demining initiatives.
· On December 12, UNHCR reported that approximately 200,000 Afghan refugees have entered Pakistan since September 11. Although United Nations (UN) and nongovernmental organization (NGO) sources are reporting increased population movements since November 12, it is not clear how many new refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) there are at this time.

Relief Activities
· The World Food Program (WFP) is continuing its general food distribution in Kabul, despite temporary cancellations due to large and unruly crowds. WFP has doubled the number of distribution points and has increased the number of guards at each point in order to better manage the crowds. As of December 12, WFP had distributed food to 648,000 residents of Kabul.
· The Government of Russia has opened a humanitarian liaison center in Kabul, staffed by approximately 100 people from various ministries. The center will coordinate relief supplies arriving from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. A two-man advance team from the Coalition Humanitarian Liaison Center is in Kabul, and additional personnel are expected on December 12.
· On December 9, WFP made the first food shipment to the Bagh-e-Sherkhat IDP camp near Kunduz since early October. WFP representatives report that conditions there are "extremely difficult."
· The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has determined that none of the residents of Maslakh camp are sleeping outdoors, and that approximately 20% of the new tents are unoccupied. IOM has begun the process of re-registering all the residents of the camp. These measures were prompted in part by differing reports about the population of and conditions in Maslakh camp.

Security
· WFP reported on December 12 that the security situation in Kandahar has improved, following a negotiated agreement about political control of the city. WFP also reported that a single tribe has taken control of Spin Buldak, after several days of fighting between rival groups.
· UNHCR and UNOCHA report that the security situation in Mazar-e-Sharif is improving. UN international staff have returned to Mazar-e-Sharif and Bamian, and a UN security assessment of Kunduz is underway. Kandahar and Jalalabad are the only areas that remain off-limits to UN expatriate personnel.
· A truck carrying WFP wheat was destroyed on the Gorband road outside Kabul on December 10 when a landmine exploded underneath it. No one was injured.
· The incidence of banditry and common crime is increasing in eastern and northwestern Afghanistan, according to UN officials. Local UNICEF staff in Mazar-e-Sharif have been accosted, and on December 9 a CARE warehouse in Kabul was looted. Armed groups are still reported to be operating in the area around Kunduz.

Population Movements
· The Iranian Red Crescent is now accepting new residents at the Mile 46 IDP camp that it operates in southwestern Afghanistan. Approximately 2,000 people have been living outside the camp.
· The Government of Pakistan has lifted its restrictions on the inprocessing of refugees at Killi Faizo staging area, near the Chaman border crossing. UNHCR reports that only 30 families remain unregistered outside the staging area.
· UNHCR and IOM report that spontaneous and organized returns of refugees to Afghanistan have begun on a small scale. Large numbers of returns are not expected until spring.

Logistics
· No aid convoys have crossed the Friendship Bridge in Termez since the original shipment of Uzbek aid crossed on December 8. Vehicles from UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP are waiting to cross.
· The border crossing at Nizhny-Pyandzh, Tajikistan has opened, and WFP hopes to develop this site into a major entry point. The Government of Germany plans to procure additional barges and, in the coming months, construct a bridge at the site. The Government of Russia plans to upgrade the access to and facilities in the port. With these modifications, "several thousand MT" of relief supplies could enter Afghanistan at Nizhny-Pyandzh each day, according to planners.
· WFP is making initial preparations to distribute food aid around Kandahar, despite continuing insecurity in the area. A WFP logistics officer is in Quetta to discuss reopening the corridor into Kandahar, and on December 9 WFP issued a tender for transport of food aid into the southern provinces.
· Poor weather grounded the airlift from Kulyab, Tajikistan to Faizabad again on December 10 and 11. A total of 414 MT of wheat has been delivered by this route since the airlift began on November 23. WFP hopes to send 2,000MT by airlift to Faizabad.
· The UN began air services to Mazar-e-Sharif on December 12 and plans to begin flights to Bamian next week. WFP expects that repairs to the Kabul airport should be completed by December 15.

U.S. Government Activities
New Actions
· On December 7, USAID/OFDA funded a $2,525,000 grant to the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA). The funding will support seed multiplication for the spring planting season and will provide technical assistance to Afghan partners enabling them to establish an effective regulatory system and standards for seed procurement. The grant will also facilitate the establishment of a framework for agricultural relief and development activities in Afghanistan.
· A shipment of relief items purchased by the American Red Cross with donations from American children arrived at Ashkabad on December 10. The items, including blankets and tents, will be stored at Turkmenabad until final distribution in the coming days.
· To date, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has airdropped 2,384,460 Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDRs) into Afghanistan. According to DOD, the cost of the airdrop operations to date, including the rations, transport, and fuel expenses, totals approximately $50.1 million.

Disaster Declarations & Background
· On October 4, 2001, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina B. Rocca redeclared a complex humanitarian disaster for Afghanistan for FY 2002.
· On October 10, 2001, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires James A. Boughner declared a disaster for Tajikistan due to drought.

FY 2002 USG Assistance to Afghanistan

Total USAID/OFDA $61,895,186
Total USAID/FFP $40,555,000
Total USAID/OTI $1,687,820
Total State/PRM $32,260,000
Total DOD* $50,147,769
TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance FY 2002 $186,545,775
TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance FY 2001 $183,107,625

TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan FY 2001/2002 $369,653,400

FY 2002 USG Assistance to Tajikistan

Total USAID/OFDA $998,180
Total USAID/FFP $20,000,000
TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan FY 2002 $20,998,180
TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan FY 2001 $67,210,000

TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan FY 2001/2002 $88,208,180

Note: Full details of funding above are available in weekly USAID/OFDA Central Asia Region Situation Reports.

*Note: DOD funding totals are estimates.
USAID/OFDA fact sheets can be obtained from the USAID web site at http://www.usaid.gov/hum_response/ofda/situation.html