Near Verbatim Transcript of the Press Briefing by Manoel de Almeida e Silva Spokesman for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi
Tuesday 5 March 2002, 10am, UNSMA

Good morning everyone, thank you very much for coming. Sorry for us being delayed. Above all thank you very much for coming at such short notice as we were only able to inform you yesterday. I hope you are all comfortable, if there are changes we should make to the set-up do let us know. We hope to move to the lectern in the coming days and to make easier the movement of microphones.

My name is Manoel de Almeida e Silva. I just arrived last Monday to work here with the UN in Afghanistan as Spokesman and Director of Communication. We are very happy to resume the briefings as of today after a small interruption period. We are hoping to have them initially three times a week, which will be on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 10.00 o'clock. Of course as we are starting them we are prepared to make adjustments in response to developments here as well as your own needs as we go along if we notice this is not the best time or days of the week. The most important thing is that we will try and keep these briefings very short. However, I will tell you today we will break our commitment because as we try to resume, first of all there is this introduction which is already longer than we would normally do, and as we try to catch up, there is a lot of things that we want to tell you and we hope you will be patient for this first time.

Together with me there are UN colleagues that you know very well. To the extreme left is Stephanie Bunker form UNOCHA, to my right Yusuf Hassan from UNHCR, Eddie Carwardine from UNICEF and Jennifer Abrahamson from WFP. Chris Lom is sitting back there from IOM. Some of them will come in to add information but in any case all of us will be available to answer your questions at the end of our presentations, be it here or afterwards by email, telephone or personal contact.

So let me start the briefing. Some of you have been asking us what is the SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi up to. As you know he went to New York for a bit over two weeks, he came back last Monday and since his return he has been in contact with officials from the Administration and Civil Society, all of this in pursuit of the mandate to support this transition here. Of course he and his office continue the active support of the Special Independent Commission for the convening of the Loya Jirga. I will not go into that, you all had a briefing last week by the Commissioners themselves who told you what they are doing in the field. Of course the next two elements of this process that are very important are the establishment of the two other commissions foreseen in the Bonn Agreement: justice and human rights.

Today SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi is holding a working lunch with Chairman Hamid Karzai and they will of course be reviewing a number of issues as they have not seen each other for some time. Both of them have been away and SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi will be conveying the Secretary-General's and his own condolences to the families who lost their beloved ones in Sunday's earthquake. SRSG Lahkdar Brahimi will in addition reiterate the availability of all UN resources in support of the relief of the victims and the areas affected by this earthquake. The Secretary-General of the United Nations issued a statement where he said he was "...deeply saddened by the loss of life as a result of a strong earthquake and severe landslides which struck Afghanistan on Sunday, 3 March. This is the newest in a series of devastating natural disasters to befall the long-suffering Afghan people, as they struggle to piece back their country and restart their shattered lives."
The Secretary-General extended his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and to the Interim Authority of the country.

Earthquake
I will now have some information on the earthquake itself, put together by UNOCHA and the UN agencies involved in this effort. We will be able to give you a note on part of this as I hope you will understand we are trying to piece together all this information that is coming in from different places in the country.

In Kabul, the affected districts are districts 1, 3, and 8. Thirty-two families have reportedly lost their houses; 100 have been damaged. In the suburbs of Kabul, in Bagrami district, three houses were destroyed. Six persons seem to have been injured and one person killed. Separate unconfirmed reports are that 20 persons were injured and six persons were killed. Reports are being verified. Yesterday UN officials met with authorities who will give this morning a list of people who might need assistance in district 8 of Kabul city. Reports differ on the number of patients brought to hospitals for injury due to the collapse of houses. In Gulbahar, 30 houses have been destroyed due to a landslide caused by the tremor. No casualties have been reported.

In Badakhshan, in Jurm district, Khostak village (I apologise for my pronunciation): 340 houses were destroyed and in Keshem, 50 houses were destroyed. Reports about some houses destroyed in Rustaq village remain unconfirmed. A coordination meeting yesterday morning evaluated the non-food items available in the zone for distribution.

In Surkunda village, Khulm district of Samangan Province, 30 kilometres north of Aybak City, mountains collapsed in a landslide into a river, causing a flood. The governor has reported 50 deaths and 100 people missing. So far, after an assessment mission yesterday by UN agencies and NGOs, (land-mission integrated OCHA, ICRC, IFRC, ARCS, HCR, UNICEF, WFP, MSF, GOAL and the Interim Authorities) 70 casualties have been confirmed. Today, 400 families who had already been evacuated from the area, and who are sheltered in a safe place, will be assisted with tents, blankets and food. The supplies left early this morning. 300 families are sheltered on an island surrounded by the river and will need assistance in the next days. 1000 families are still in the area. While they are not at immediate risk they will need to be assisted within the next few days.

A technical mission will go to the area today to bring equipment from the authorities and from Halo Trust in order to remove the30,000 cubic metres of debris (rocks, trees, mud) that are blocking the flow of the river. It must be removed as soon as possible because it is preventing the river from flowing back into its riverbed and preventing three districts from getting enough water. The UN is also contacting Halo Trust, part of the United Nations mine action Programme for Afghanistan, to obtain information on possible mine sites in the area afftected by the earthquake.

Also, today a second assessment mission (UNOCHA, UNICEF and GOAL) will go to the area to estimate the quantity of assistance to be provided to the 400 families who have moved out of their houses. The duration of the displacement is difficult to estimate, but families will need to be assisted until their shelters have been rebuilt.

UNOCHA also has contacted organizations and has coordinated pre-positioning of emergency assistance, including 30,000 blankets, 1000 tents and 10 trucks from IOM, 22 tons of food from WFP, emergency medical assistance from ICRC, MSF and IFRC, winter clothing from UNICEF and other non-food items from HCR.

UN agencies, ICRC, IFRC and NGOs are pre-positioning supplies including blankets, tents, food, medical supplies, clothing and other items.

I would like to add information we have just received from WFP, that is why Jennifer and I were slightly late. WFP has deployed two helicopters, based in Mazar-i-Sharif to Dakhli Ezew village, located in the Akhti Rustum area in the Samangan province 25 kilometres south of Aibak, this happened yesterday. Along with WFP personnel, the mission included staff from UNICEF, UNHCR, MSF and ICRC. The village is located 130 kilometres south-east of Mazar. We are told that 8 bodies were recovered from the river which runs through the village, and 15 people were injured, and we are talking about the village of Dahni Zwa. As I mentioned in last report, the landslide has created a dam blocking the flow of the river. In addition to people that were killed, people in the village, those who were alive were found to be in a state of shock, and according to the villagers 500 animals were also killed. I already mentioned to you the 22 tons of food that WFP have made available, in addition to that two WFP C130 planes are on standby in Dushanbe to deliver vital relief supplies such as medicines and tents.

Afghan Women's Consultation
I will now move onto happier events and that is to tell you that the Minister of Women's Affairs and the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), in cooperation with a host of other UN agencies are organizing the Afghan Women's Consultation here in Kabul. It starts today and will go onto March 7 and will be taking place at the Ministry for Women's Affairs. The Consultation will bring Afghan women together to develop a common vision of the role of women in peace-building and reconstruction and will make recommendations on those issues. Participants will include representatives from both rural and urban areas from different areas, professional women, representatives from the civil administration and representatives from the media. They will discuss such diverse issues such as security, peace, economic, livelihood, employment, education, training and capacity-building. Political decision-making, health, culture and human rights will also be discussed. This precedes March 8 which as you know is International Women's Day, and on that day they will present, the women who participated in this consultation, their vision and agenda for action at the Women's Day ceremony. We have a note at the back which gives you more details of what will happen on March 8 at this event at the Ministry of Women's Affairs. Also in celebration of International Women's Day, women who work at the 21 WFP sponsored Kabul Women's bakeries will tell their stories on March 8 at 2.30pm. In the days to come between now and March 8, Jennifer will be able to confirm which bakery exactly where that will be taking place. As you know, these bakeries have employed more than 300 widows who have continued to work throughout the Taliban period, throughout all the pressures they went through in this country.

In Herat, WFP is working with other aid agencies to celebrate Women's Day by organizing a competition amongst school girls to write poems and draw pictures of what it means to be back in school. [Back to school is one of the topics we will talk about with Eddie from UNICEF]

National Workshop on Human Rights
Before we do that I would like to talk about another major event here in this very room on Saturday March 9. It is the National Workshop on Human Rights. The participants will be Afghan specialists, and representatives drawn from national NGOs, academia, the Special Commission for the convening of the Loya Jirga, and relevant Ministries of the Interim Administration.

The meeting is to be opened by Chairman Hamid Karzai and a number of Afghan civil society leaders and Government Ministers will also address the Workshop. The meeting which has technical, financial and logistical support from the UN will also have a keynote address from Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and also a statement by SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi. Expected ouputs include the establishment of Afghan working groups on independent human rights commission so this is sort of the first step towards the establishment of the human rights commission as called for in the Bonn Agreement. Another output is the national programme on human rights education and on human rights monitoring, investigation and remedial action. At the back of the room is the programme of that workshop.

Now some housekeeping with you here on this matter. Both the opening and closing sessions of the Workshop will be open to the press. However, that event will be taking place in this room and as you can see it is not very big and we are expecting a lot of participants. The room will be set up in workshop format so we will have a very small area for the press which will be at the back. We will have platforms for the cameras. With a small space we think there will be a need for a media pool to be put together for those who are interested in covering the opening and closing sessions. We think there is room for seven media outlets and given the importance of this event for the Afghan people and society, we hope you will agree that out of this seven, we would reserve three for Afghan media which would be Afghan TV, Afghan Radio and Afghan News Agency. The other four slots, we hope you will agree, will be for international media, one TV, one news agency, one radio and one photo. You yourselves would let us know on Thursday who those would be. I hope you agree with that and we can discuss this further after the briefing.

I want to let you know that the texts of the speeches in the opening session will be made available. The following day, Sunday 10 March, Mary Robinson will be holding a press conference here in this room which of course will be open to everyone.

Back to School
Talking about human rights and the right to education, the official pupil school registration will begin tomorrow March 6 and will continue until March 23 when schools start again in Afghanistan. The actual registration is being preceded by a massive community mobilization campaign spearheaded by the Afghan Interim Administration and supported by UNICEF. Eddie will provide more details later.

Refugee Return
More than 3,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan crossed the border into Afghanistan yesterday on the second day of a programme by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help returnees. Yusuf will tell you more about it, but before he does so, let me tell you about another organized return movement. This time it is internally displaced people.

UNHCR and the Ministry of Repatriation will on Wednesday tomorrow, begin helping
more than 15,000 internally displaced people from Kabul city to return to
their homes in the Shomali region of central Afghanistan. This process is expected to go on for two weeks.

UNHCR is providing an aid package consisting of tents, plastic sheets, blankets, buckets, shawls, soap, clothing and charcoal, as well as shelter materials. WFP will distribute 150 kilogrammes of wheat to each family and IOM will transport them to their villages. CARE, ACTED and the Japanese NGO, JEN are also offering assistance. The returnees will also receive a seed and implements kit to help them cultivate the land and once again start growing crops.

Rapid Helicopter Assessment
Jennifer, from WFP, will tell you in a little bit about the Rapid Helicopter Assessment missions in northern Afghanistan. So far they have done it in 12 vulnerable and isolated locations in the Samagan province and this week they are going to new areas.

Health Workshop
I am reaching the end of my portion of this briefing. In terms of planning ahead, the major National Health Sector Planning Workshop will be held here in Kabul from March 16 - 19. The meeting has been called by the Minister of Health and will bring together delegates from all regions in Afghanistan, donors and representatives from national and international health NGOs as well as the UN agencies. WHO is the sponsor for this workshop and more details are available at the back of the room.

Kabul Airport Rehabilitation
IOM will begin work today (Tuesday) to rehabilitate the main terminal of Kabul Airport, damaged by a rocket attack in September 2001.

The $20,000 project, funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID), will renovate the third and fourth floors of the building, including the control tower, which suffered a direct hit.

In addition to repairing the control tower and providing office space, the project will also provide a day care centre for the children of the airport's 200 employees.

UNFPA Ships Medical Equipment
Finally there is a press release from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) with details of their shipment of medical and other equipment to 3 different hospitals in Kabul. UNFPA will follow up with training of medical personnel including nurses and midwives from all over Afghanistan.

We will now go to Eddie on the Back to School Programme

UNICEF - Eddie Carwardine
As we just said, tomorrow is the start of official pupil registration across Afghanistan, and to support this effort, UNICEF is working very closely with the Interim Administration on a major community mobilization campaign which aims to address the fact that about 32% of school age boys and just 8% of school age girls are officially involved in school. Today the provincial Directors are meeting alongside NGO partners, with the Minister of Education and UNICEF to talk about how we can mobilize communities to register children for the start of the new school term on March 23 and we envisage a whole range of activities using local community networks, piggy-backing on existing networks such as the landmine awareness activities, outreach health activities etc, working with local Imams, working with community leaders, health officials and women's groups to spread the message that children can now start registering for the start of the new school term. The key message that is incorporated into this campaign include the fact that education has a value in all forms and not just in formal school, but also in home schools and in informal learning environments, that all children have a right to good quality education, and particularly that registration of pupils should be non-discriminatory. Both the Ministry of Education and UNICEF are taking a strong commitment to ensure girls are registered for school as well as boys to try and address the gender balance in schools that I mentioned before. There is a press release at the back of the room.

UNHCR - Yusuf Hassan

…(inaudible due to technical difficulties)

The Afghans fled their homes three years ago and have been squatting in filthy conditions at the old Soviet Compound in Kabul. Their villages and farms on the frontline of the Afghan civil war were pillaged and destroyed by the Taliban and much of the once fertile and prosperous Shomali plain reduced to a barren wasteland. We hope many of the people will be able to take advantage of the programme being concluded in 2 weeks time. If you are interested in covering this event, we suggest you go over to the old Soviet Compound at 9.00am tomorrow, where you will be able to see them packing and ready to leave for their various villages, and maybe the opportunity to see them go out of the city in convoys organized by IOM.

WFP - Jennifer Abrahamson

Rapid Assessment Mission
I have some information on the Rapid Assessment Mission that is going on.

Rapid Helicopter Assessment missions in northern Afghanistan are ongoing. To date, WFP has completed assessments in 12 vulnerable and isolated locations in Dar-e-Suf district of Samangan province.

This week, WFP assessment teams are moving into two locations in Faryab province located in Belcheragh district, some 220 kilometers southwest of Mazar, to investigate food security and health conditions of families living in hard-to-reach mountain villages. Assessments in Saripul province will begin this week.

Two additional helicopters arrived in Mazar last week. They made reconnaissance flights to Bamian and Chaghcharan to investigate locations for the expansion of the rapid assessment mission into vulnerable western and central regions of the country.

The assessments provide a mixed picture of the situation. In some village, the winter food aid distributions have been enough, in others more food is being sent. Relatively poorer villagers have resorted to selling off very young daughters into marriage after having sold their houses and lands. In some villages, more pressure is applied to the poor peasants as local commanders are imposing exorbitant taxes pushing men to join the militias or pay very high fines.

Civil Servants
I have one more thing I would like to announce regarding the paying of civil servants with food as part of their salaries. The World Food Programme and Afghanistan's Interim Administration signed a letter of agreement on 20 February. This will provide urgently needed food rations for members of Afghanistan's civil service.

WFP will provide a monthly ration of 12.5 kilograms of pulses and one can of cooking oil for roughly tens of thousands of employees in Kabul. The ration is worth roughly fifty percent of the average cash salary. Up to 200,000 will benefit from this project in the provinces down the line. Deliveries to the Department for Rations will begin tomorrow and should end by the end of this week and distribution should begin next week.

World Health Organization

Afghanistan Health Update
March 4, 2002

Preparations are underway for a major national health sector planning workshop to be held in Kabul from March 16th to 19th. The meeting has been called by Dr. Suheila Sidiq, the Afghan Minister of Health and will bring together delegates from all regions of Afghanistan, donors and representatives from national and international health NGOs as well as United Nations agencies. This is the first major national event on health in Afghanistan and the outcome is expected to provide direction for reconstruction in the years to come. WHO is sponsoring the workshop.

The agenda includes presentations by officials from the Afghan Ministry of Health on the new policy and structure established for the ministry. This will be followed by an opportunity for provincial health officials to update participants on the health situation in their regions. These presentations will reveal the number and status of hospitals, and health facilities, available health personnel and support requirements for each of Afghanistan's regions and provinces. A following session will set health priorities for Afghan provinces and districts. Group work will focus on developing strategies for management, coordination and community involvement.

The national planning workshop will be preceded by a regional and provincial training workshop bringing together provincial health officials. The training will focus on providing participants with a substantive overview of managing health care systems at the regional level. Courses include how to develop planning and policies, communication, leadership, logistics and management. This training workshop is funded and facilitated by WHO.

Both workshops are crucial components of the health sector recovery process. According to Dr. Abdi Momin, Who Medical Officer for the Afghanistan, "this forum is designed to promote trust, transparency and confidence among the partners in the health sector." The planning workshop is the first national gathering bringing together all of the stakeholders in the health sector following the recent change of authorities in Afghanistan.

United Nations Population Fund ,UNFPA

(Kabul, March 5, 2002): Over the weekend the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) began airlifting medical and other equipment to Kabul. Two planes arrived on 2 March and today the third plane is arriving. Another planeload of equipment is due in two weeks. The equipment includes 2 ambulances, other transport equipment, and audio-visual materials for Malalai Maternity Hospital, Rabia Balkhy Maternity Hospital, and Khair Khana 52 Beds Hospital. The total value of the equipment is $950,000. UNFPA is also rebuilding the girls' school and vocational school facilities located on the grounds of the Ministry of Women Affairs.

During the Taliban regime UNFPA continued to work in Afghanistan and with Afghan refugees. The focus of the work was on basic training of service providers and emergency reproductive health kits with emphasis on safe delivery. UNFPA's principle partners were international and Afghan NGOs. Partners included UNHCR, Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, IFRC, Ibn Sina and BBC radio. With the fall of the Taliban, significant contributions from Luxemburg, Netherlands, Italy and USA permit an increase in UNFPA's involvement. A total of $8 million are currently available. UNFPA estimates that an additional $3 million are needed to address short- and medium term needs in reproductive health.

Priorities identified together with the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Women Affairs is strengthening of maternal health services and girls' education. With significant devastation and destruction caused by twenty years of warfare, capacity building will concentrate at first on rebuilding health and educational infrastructure.

UNFPA will also focus on training of service providers, including nurses and midwives, from all over Afghanistan. In consultation with the Ministry of Public Health and Ministry of Women Affairs, UNFPA will recruit international expertise for capacity building with emphasis on reproductive health, gender, information-education-communication, logistics management, and population and development issues. With the situation in Afghanistan continuing to improve, UNFPA expects in due time to develop and implement a national programme for reproductive health and population issues.

Key UN partners for UNFPA are WHO and UNICEF, who are already working together on the areas outlined above.

For more information please contact: Kastydis Kaleda, UNFPA, UNFPA Office, next to the Italian Embassy

WOMEN'S DAY, 8 MARCH 2002

For the first time in 11 years, the Afghan authorities will officially celebrate International Women's Day in Kabul. The event will be jointly hosted by the Ministry of Women's Affairs and UNIFEM. The theme for this year's International Women's Day is "Afghan Women Today: Reality and Opportunity."

Hundreds of Afghan women from all over the country will be present. The Afghan Women's Consultation group will present their vision and agenda for action at the ceremony. Addressing the function will be the Minister for Women's Affairs, Dr. Sima Samar, Chair of the Interim Authority Hamid Karzai, and Special Representative of the Secretary General Lakhdar Brahimi. The ceremony will be followed by a press conference.

Media representatives who wish to cover the event are requested to register with Stephanie Bunker at UNOCHA, phone 00 46 730044483.

The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. at the Ministry of Women's Affairs. Journalists are requested to arrive at 9:15 a.m. for security reasons. The event will last until 12 noon. Lunch will be served.

Journalists who wish to attend ONLY the press conference, to be held at 1 p.m. at the Ministry of Women's Affairs are requested to be present at 12:15. The press conference will be addressed by Dr. Sima Samar, Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM, and others.

At 3 p.m., about 100 Afghan women will celebrate Women's Day at a World Food Programme widows' bakery. WFP women's bakery staff will celebrate this event on 8 March 2002, starting at 2:30pm on the site of one of the women's bakeries. Invitations to attend are available from Ms. Aqila Asdaque, WFP Kabul Ext.242

Afghan National Workshop on Human Rights:
Toward Implementation of the Human Rights Provisions of the Bonn Agreement

UNAMA Conference Room, UNSMA Compound
Kabul, 9 March 2002

Workshop Chairperson: Sema Samar

8:30 - 10.00 am: Session One: Opening Statements

• A Vision of Human Rights in the New Afghanistan: Opening statement by Hamid Karzai, President of the Interim Authority
• The Challenge of Bonn: Restoring Human Rights to Afghanistan: Statement by Lakhdar Brahimi, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan
• In Solidarity with the Afghan People: Human Rights After Bonn: Keynote Address by Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Towards implementation of the human rights provisions of the Bonn Agreement: Overview by the Chair, Sema Samar, Vice-President and Minister of Women's Affairs

Break for Refreshments

10:15 - 1:00: Session Two: Panel Discussion: independent human rights commissions: Applicable Standards and Practice

• Introduction by Session Facilitator, Abdul Salam Rahimy
• International standards for the establishment and functioning of an Afghan independent human rights commission: Mona Rishmawi, Special Advisor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Regional Experiences of independent human rights commissions: Faisz Mustapha, Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Commissions
• International best practice of independent human rights commissions: Zainah Anwar, Malaysian Human Rights Commission
• Elements for Afghanistan's human rights commission: Plenary discussion

Break for Lunch

2:30 - 3:30: Session Three: Plenary Discussion: A National Programme of Human Rights Education

• Introduction by Session Facilitator, Sherazuddin Siddiqi.
• The role of education in human rights in Afghanistan: Rasoul Amin, Minister of Education
• Plenary Discussion: Human Rights Education in Afghanistan: Actors, elements, target groups, and objectives

Break for Refreshments

3:45 - 4:45: Session Four: Plenary Discussion: Monitoring, Investigating and Remedying Violations

• Introduction by Session Facilitator, Haneef Atmar
• Plenary Discussion: Monitoring, Investigations, and Remedies: Partnerships and Processes

4:45 - 6:00: Session Five: Working Groups: Preparation and adoption of Conclusions and Next Steps

• Working Group One: Drafting of conclusions and next steps for planning a national human rights commission
• Working Group Two: Drafting of conclusions and next steps for planning a national programme of human rights education
• Working Group Three: Drafting of conclusions and next steps for addressing monitoring and investigations.

6:00 - 6:30: Closing Session

• Report back by Working Groups
• Adoption of Conclusions and Next Steps
• Closing of Workshop