PRESS BRIEFING BY THE U.N. OFFICES FOR PAKISTAN AND
AFGHANISTAN ( 02 January 2002)

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s UN briefing by U.N. Spokesperson Stephanie Bunker (excluding question and answer session).

** Stephanie Bunker, UN Spokesperson

Yesterday, the Special Representative Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi met with Mr. Mirwais Sadeq, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs and with Mr. Shaker Kargar, Minister for Water and Electricity. These were his first meetings with these two ministers. He also met with the Minister of Irrigation.

Today, the Special Representative met with the Minister of Defense, Muhammad Qassem Fahim, and with H.E. Mr. Aminzadeh, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran. Tonight he will meet with H.E. Mr. Karzai in one of the routine weekly meetings we have referred to before.

While the security conditions on several roads in southern Afghanistan have improved, the situation in and around Kandahar and Jalalabad is still volatile. The movement of armed elements and weaponry, bombing raids and fear of Taliban elements continue to restrict access to several areas in southern and eastern Afghanistan. The United Nations is currently conducting ongoing security assessment in both places.

According to the new Health Director in Kandahar, there is a shortage of health workers as most of the doctors are outside the city. The health situation is of great concern, because hospitals and health facilities in the southern region are in dire need of
medical supplies and equipment. There is also a need for short- term training for health workers. WHO, in collaboration with the health sector workers, are working to meet the needs in the southern region.

In the north, administrative procedures in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have been changed to further facilitate cross-border deliveries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan has issued an official note providing that international staff will be issued
multiple crossing permits valid for three months for the crossings of Farkhor and Nizhni Pyanj. Clearance has also been given for Uzbek drivers working for the United Nations to cross from Termez to Hairaton. Afghan IDP families remain stranded on the flood plains of the river Pyanj and international organizations have continued their assistance efforts from Tajikistan. Schooling in the settlements is organized in tents supplied by UNHCR, while UNICEF and an NGO manage educational activities. WFP has begun providing a one-month food ration to 11,600 beneficiaries on Island no. 9. Other NGOs are continuing the distribution of fresh food. UNICEF distributed the first of two shipments of American Red Cross funded non-food items at the Karoul settlement on Island no. 9 along with a second round of immunizations by an NGO.

In Central region, the measles immunizations campaign that aims to vaccinate up to 9 million children in Afghanistan is on going in Kabul. It seems that mothers are very enthusiastic and committed to immunize their children. There was a great rush as the
campaign posts opened for vaccination. In the past days, 36 trainers, 29 supervisors and 1,000 service providers received full training in Kabul. There are some 200 vaccination centers set up at mosques and hospitals, to vaccinate 1.2 million children in the area. The Ministry of Public Health, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and a number of NGOs support the campaign.

Also in Central Region, the assisted return from the Panjshir Valley to the Shomali plain is well underway. In two days 218 families returned on IOM buses to their home villages in Bagram district. UNHCR hopes to complete the voluntary returns to Bagram today transporting another 100 families or so to more than ten villages in Bagram. Tomorrow UHCR plans to move on
to Istalif district. UNHCR and the aid community will begin the distribution of return packages and shelter kits as soon as return movements settle in each district.

The returnees are happy to be back home, even though much of their villages had been destroyed by years of war and neglect. Many are however concerned about their livelihood back in their destroyed communities. UNHCR is also planning to expand quick impact projects to help returnee communities such as improving communal facilities and small income generating projects. It is hoped that such projects will eventually tie into a larger development program so that returnees can begin to cultivate land and begin to make their own living again.

In the west, the snow still currently blocks the route to Chagcharan in Ghor and thus access is presently constrained. However, with the arrival of the Swedish Rescue Services Agency (SRSA) team, the snow problem will be dealt with shortly and more traffic into Ghor would then be expected. Access to those in need in some northern districts of Badghis may also soon be impeded due to bad weather conditions. Moreover, on the southern route beyond Shindand, banditries are regularly reported and hence, movement of the UN staff in this area is not possible. The currently prevailing security situation in the southern parts of Farah Province is disrupting seed distribution in some seed deficit areas in preparation for the spring cropping season.

With the on-going program of destruction of the cluster bombs and continuous awareness raising, casualties are now declining. Since we expect some IDPs to return towards the end of the winter, an intensified cluster bomb awareness-raising program
will be launched in all the camps. Children will be reached through camp-based awareness campaigns, and broadcasting of messages through local TV, radio channels and mosques.

Preparations for a citywide food distribution in Heart by the World Food Programme are ongoing. The registration process has been finalized last week and WFP is now selecting the most vulnerable among the 60,000 families living in Herat (the population of the town is estimated to be close to 450,000 people).

The distribution is scheduled to start on Sunday. It is a one-off food distribution. Each family will receive a 50 kg bag of wheat. WFP has already pre-positioned 5,000 metric tons of wheat. The NGO World Vision International will carry out the distribution.

This is the second large-scale food aid distribution in an urban center in Afghanistan. Last month, some 1.3 million people received WFP food rations in Kabul.

Also in the west, an NGO team has reported alarming levels of malnutrition in Qadis, a district of Badghis province in northwestern Afghanistan. Records from a children's nutritional program in the district, which had registered 3,000 children but had to be abandoned after 11 September, show that about 50% of the children were suffering from severe malnutrition. The
NGO plans to begin a feeding program in western Afghanistan that will cover the provinces of Badghis, Farah, Herat and Ghor. The program first provides a blanket distribution of corn soy blend, sugar and oil to all pregnant and lactating mothers and children under five. Later distributions will target only malnourished children and mothers.

Several NGOs have warned that there is now an urgent need to diversify the food supplies, particularly in remote areas in the northwest where commercial supplies are insufficient or families have no means to acquire food. Pulses, oil and Corn Soya Blend (CSB) are needed to meet the requirements of malnourished populations for protein, fat, vitamins and other micronutrient intake.

In the camps in the west: There are visible incidents of tuberculosis in Maslakh camp and the health partners are requesting WHO to look into this issue. Health educators are now active in Maslakh Camp (one for 1,000 people). In addition, there are 40 active health mobilizers who are conducting house-to-house surveys. In Maslakh Camp, wells are being both upgraded and new wells developed. New well will also be put in the new camp in Amir Daoud, and UNICEF would contribute hand pumps and other equipment. Wells are also being deepened. Hygiene education will soon start in Maslakh, and more latrines are being built.

Meanwhile, UNHCR is sending in non-food items to Heart from Iran, carrying items such as mattresses, blankets, etc. The convoy is expected to arrive today. However, a shortage of trucks in Islam Qala, an Afghan district near the Iranian border, for onward transport of the aid to Herat, may delay the convoy. This is the third UNHCR humanitarian aid convoy from Iran to western Afghanistan and will help some 7,500 persons.

Still in Iran, since the 24th of December an average of 900 persons cross the border at Dogharoun daily, down from a recent high of nearly 8,000 returns in one day from Iran to Afghanistan at the same crossing point. UNHCR is investigating the reasons for this dramatic drop in spontaneous returns.

This weekend, meanwhile, UNHCR re-opened the Islam Qala office to monitor returns from Iran. Since the fall of the Taliban, over 45,000 Afghans originally from the north of Afghanistan, have returned from Iran through the Dogharoun crossing point, adjacent to Islam Qala. Some 58% of those UNHCR interviewed planned to live in Herat. Like most Afghans, they are
farmers. Regarding their intentions to remain in Afghanistan now that they have returned they told UNHCR that it all depends on the employment and security situations inside Afghanistan.

On the refugee issue: In the last two months an estimated 60,000 refugees returned home from Pakistan and Iran, while over 30,000 internally displaced Afghans have moved back to Kabul since late November. At the Chaman border crossing, the number of returns has been fluctuating between 1,500 and 4,000 per day over the past week.

However, yesterday at the Chaman border, in southern Pakistan, 4,000 to 5,000 individuals are waiting in no man's land to be admitted into Pakistan at the Killi Faizo camp. They arrived yesterday from southern Afghanistan. This is the first time in several weeks that we are seeing such a large number of arrivals from Afghanistan. On the contrary, as noted above, the trend has been one of returns by the thousands daily.

There are likely to be confronted with space problems if such influx continues into the Chaman area where camps are nearing full capacity. The UNHCR camp in Roghani is full with 17,000 refugees and that of Landi Kareze has space left for only 3,000 more refugees out of the 10,000 spaces that were available. The United Arab Emirates-run camp at Roghani is also nearing full capacity with 9,000 refugees on the site out of 10,000 available spaces. Managers of the UAE camp are willing to do an extension of the camp, but this could prove time consuming. Moreover, the Killi Faizo staging camp also has some 3,000 refugees already on
site despite the ongoing transfers. UNHCR is holding meetings today with government and key operational partners to discuss possible alternatives to accommodate these new arrivals. An NGO coming from Kandahar at about 1:00 p.m. today informed UNHCR in Chaman about the intention of many residents of the southern Afghanistan city to head for Pakistan.

In NWFP refugees continue to be shifted out of Jalozai to Bajaur and Kurram Agencies. There are now over 16,000 refugees in the Kotkai camp, which has a capacity for 20,000 refugees. UNHCR is however prepared to open seven new sites in NWFP in the coming weeks in Khyber, Kurram and Mohmand Agencies.