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 7 March 2002, 10am, UNSMA

We have a short briefing today and I will start with the ISAF development. As you know there were some ISAF peacekeepers from Denmark and Germany, who lost their lives while attempting to destroy a missile in a controlled manner. The SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi is deeply saddened by this [tragic] development and is conveying his condolences to the ISAF Force Commander Major-General John McColl, and will do the same with the Governments of Denmark and Germany; the countries where the deceased were nationals of.

Visit to earthquake site
Still on SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi's activities yesterday, as you know he accompanied Chairman Hamid Karzai to the region affected by the earthquake in Samangan province. They flew from Kabul to Mazar, and from there took a helicopter to overfly the region. They were accompanied by the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Public Health and the Governors of Samangan and Balkh. They spoke with the people on the ground and they saw what is being done. Upon return to Kabul they had a press conference. SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi noted that "…we have seen people who are extremely dignifired, extremely poor, affected but standing up and looking to the future. They need a lot of help."

Support to security
In the press conference there were also many questions on the meeting of the Commanders here in Kabul and the SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi was asked about the support of the international community to the Afghan army, and he said "…we in the United Nations are saying loudly that support for the security sector is the first step in the reconstruction effort. In a country like Afghanistan, in a post-conflict situation like Afghanistan, helping manage the security sector is the first step and a very, very important one in reconstruction."

Update on the earthquake
On the earthquake, we have received late yesterday, a quick update from the Word Food Programme from the region where they say that the Swedish Rescue Services, working with WFP, is on location in the village of Dakhli Ezew, 25 kilometres south of Aibak, the capital of Samangan. They are reporting that the river is rising rapidly due to the dam created by the landslide. One hundred houses were buried or destroyed by the landslide and an additional 50 to 80 houses may soon be submerged. The water flow is running at between 2,000-3,000 litres per minute and the river is 300-400 metres at its widest point. The dam is eight metres tall at its highest point. The lake being formed by the dam is now 200 metres wide and 800 metres long. Exploding the debris is not recommended because it may cause another landslide.

Recovery and Employment Afghanistan Programme (REAP)
Moving onto a more positive note, here in Kabul this coming Saturday, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with the Interim [Administration], will begin the Recovery and Employment Afghanistan Programme (REAP). It is funded by a US$ 3 million contribution from the Government of Japan, the first phase of the programme will carry out 15 projects in rural and urban areas in and around Kabul. The projects include repairs to roads, schools, irrigation channels, and drainage systems, as well as tree planting.

Initially 2,000 workers will be employed, and by the end of the first phase in August, 30,000 workers will have had temporary employment: the chance to earn money while working to improve their communities. The intent is to replicate this programme in other areas of the country as well. I believe there is a hand-out at the back there. Stephanie has been working on this and any details you need, she is the person to follow-up with. Needless to say that UNDP is working with a number of agencies and Ministries of the Interim Administration.

On a separate note on UNDP still, the organisation has just finished basic rehabilitation of 30 Ministries in Kabul, where they winterized buildings and installed toilets. This week they are now assessing needs for more comprehensive rehabilitation of the Ministries. UNDP has also finished rehabilitating the girls' dormitory at Kabul University and this weekend will begin repairing the boys' dormitory, a 1,500 bed structure, at a cost of US$300,000. Again if you want to look at what is happening in those areas, do check with Stephanie. She will be able to guide you through that as well as on Women's Day; she will come here to let you know a little bit about what is happening with the Women's Meeting and Women's Day tomorrow.

Visit of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Talking about Women's Day and human rights, just to remind you that Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights, arrives today in Kabul for a four-day visit to Afghanistan. She will be meeting with Ministers of the Afghan Interim Administration and Chairperson Hamid Karzai. Among the Ministers, the Minister for Women's Affairs, Justice and Education, as well as representatives of civil society and the human rights community here in Afghanistan.

Tomorrow, 8 March 2002, she will attend the International Women's Day celebrations along with 1,000 Afghan women, at a meeting organized by the Ministry of Women's Affairs. On Friday 9 March, she will deliver the keynote speech at the Afghan National Workshop on Human Rights to be attended by the Afghan civil society.

We had originally indicated that Mary Robinson's press conference would be on Sunday morning, but it might be Saturday early evening at 7.00pm following the closing session. The closing session will remain in a pool arrangement which is expected to last for half an hour only and when that is over, the participants leave the room and then the press comes in for the press conference with Mary Robinson. We will send you a note confirming the [time of] the press conference.

UNICEF's Polio Immunisation Drive
Moving on, here with UNICEF, with support from the Ministry of Public Health, is an immunization drive in southern, south-eastern and eastern regions of Afghanistan. By the end of today, it is hoped that two million children across 12 provinces will have been reached. The programme has lasted three days and UNICEF is financing vaccine, cold chain equipment and supporting a social mobilization campaign. Further immunization campaigns are planned for April, August and September. Following a successful campaign last year when only 11 cases of polio were recorded in 2001 in the targeted area, underlining the importance of continued immunization days.

Eddie from UNICEF will follow to tell you a little bit about the Back to School programme. Returnees Yusuf will also follow to tell you more about returning movements of both IDPs and refugees. More than 4,000 Afghans in Pakistan and Kabul returned to their homes in Afghanistan yesterday under a UNHCR and Afghan Interim Administration programme to help refugees and internally displaced people.

Appointment of the Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan Finally, yesterday the Secretary-General announced Jean Arnault as his Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan. Mr. Arnault succeeds Francesc Vendrell who retired from the United Nations at the end of January.

Mr. Arnault, a national of France, will be based here in Kabul and will be the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, in other words, the Deputy for Mr. Brahimi, responsible for political matters. He will be the head of the political pillar of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, and Nigel Fisher, appointed a few weeks ago, is the other Deputy in charge of the humanitarian and developmental pillar.

Mr. Arnault was theSecretary-General's Representative for Burundi from June 2000 to August 2001, and before that he was the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Guatemala.

Let me ask Stephanie to come up here to tell us about Women's day.

Women's Day - Stephanie Bunker
The preparations for Women's Day are well under way. There is a handout at the back of the room. The media is invited. It is going to be an exciting and historical event. It will be starting at 10.00am tomorrow, Friday morning. It is something like the first time in eleven years when it has been officially celebrated here. There will be somewhere between 400-800 Afghan women from all over Afghanistan, present at the Women's Day celebrations, and many distinguished speakers so I encourage you to come.

Today the Afghan Women's National Consultation is ending which is preceding the Women's Day celebrations. From all accounts that I have been hearing the Conference is really going extremely well, there is a handout on that at the back of the room. One indicative story that is coming from the Conference is that there are about 60 women there from about eight provinces, and a few of the women there were unable to read or write. At one point in the Conference they had to put their ideas down on paper and the women who were illiterate, sat there with their heads down, feeling embarrassed that they could not contribute. All the other women noticed that they were unable to contribute, so they all came around and helped them so they could get their ideas down on paper also. So it is very congenial and cooperative endeavour that is going very well. Again, the handout is at the back of the room. Thank you.

Back to School - Eddie Carwardine
Just a quick update on the Back to School campaign that I announced at Tuesday's briefing that this week is the first week of school pupil registration across Afghanistan and a various range of social mobilization activities are taking place. Yesterday we had a meeting with the Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs, Sayed Ahmad Mabarez and we have secured his support for the nationwide campaign, through the Imam community and mosques, to endorse education for all, specifically education for girls which we think is a major achievement. As a first step, Imams from Kabul province will be asked by the Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs to include references to education, and in particular girls education in all Friday worship in the run-up to the week of 23 March, the start of the new school term.

The Deputy Minister reaffirmed his support, specifically for girls education, and respect for girls' and women's rights. For your interest he has expressed a willingness to give interviews to the international media about these issues, and the connection between Islam and girls education, and he has asked UNICEF to arrange those interviews, so anyone who would like to have an interview with the Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs, I will be happy to set that up for you.

Afghan returns - Yusuf Hassan
Good morning. Yesterday we had more than 4,000 Afghans returning back to their homes, 3,450 from Pakistan, mainly from Peshawar and Karachi. We had [850] internally displaced people in Kabul leaving the old Soviet Compound to go back to the Shomali, in a joint initiative carried out by UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). This will continue daily and I encourage you to visit them packing and making preparations for departure. Some of you might have been able to accompany yesterday in the district of Qara Bagh. You can do it in one day and I particularly encourage people to be able to do that by either contacting us directly or IOM, Chris Lom, my colleague is sitting here and can help you with that.

Since 1 March 2002, up to 10,000 Afghans have returned home, assisted in this particular case by UNHCR and other agencies and the Interim Administration. More are expected today, this is a daily thing, Mondays to Thursdays. The main entry point Torkham, which is just on the road between Jalalabad and Peshawar. We are also opening more entry points in the next week or so, and the next one is Chaman in Spin Boldak in southern Afghanistan towards Kandahar. Next month we will begin assisting refugees who are returning from Iran through the Islam Qala entry point to Herat. There is a map that I have distributed which shows all those entry points.

UNHCR provides an assistant package to the refugees of US$ 100 cash, WFP 100 kilograms of wheat, we also give them plastic sheets, kitchen sets, blankets and hygienic kit. This is one package that they get. Upon their return they get another package of assistance which is more or less to help with their reintegration into the community and this includes shelter material, beams, door frames, doors and later, providing them with seeds and implements kits. Thank you

WFP Bakeries
Spokesman: Before we take any questions, on Tuesday we announced that as part of Women's Day celebrations, WFP was organizing at one of the bakeries here in Kabul a meeting with the women who work in the bakeries. Jennifer Abrahamson from WFP is not able to be here this morning but she would like any of you to give her a call if you are interested and she will organize that contact for you. Her number is: +46 7300 44478.

Any questions for any of us?

Q: AS IDPs are returning to the Shomali area, can you tell me more about the assistance that is available for them in Shomali.
UNHCR: Well the first assistance we give them is the emergency assistance which is to help them through, like tents, blankets, plastic sheets, food which is provided by WFP; 150 kilograms to last them for three months. Once they get there we also help them to rebuild their homes, to be able to reintegrate into the communities they go back into. This involves providing them with the tools, the material they can use to rebuild their homes. We would also be providing them with, and again this is an inter-agency activity, many UN agencies and NGOs are involved, it is not just a UNHCR initiative, helping them clear their land and be able to have the seeds and agricultural implements to once again start growing.

Q: So they will be assisted until they can start again?
UNHCR: Indeed, we will be here to give a helping hand until they are self-reliant. But I want to point out that the Shomali area is one of the most devastated areas in this country and was completely destroyed by the continuous civil war, by the Taliban and it was also seriously affected by the U.S. bombings so it was on the front lines, so there is a lot of destruction, and many of the people who were going back yesterday are making an emotional journey back home because many of them will not be able to find their homes, their gardens and so on. One of the people I talked to at the old Soviet Compound said that we used to have lots of beautiful gardens, apples, peaches, vineyards. I said have you been there recently and he said no because it was not safe to return back, "I will be able to see it for the first in three years today." I think he would have a bit of a shock, but he was not deterred and I think when I said "it is a very difficult thing, why do you have to go back,", he said "I'll tell you when I go back because we will start planting again and grow and feed ourselves, so pay us a visit in two or three year's time."

Q: Just wondering how high up are human rights on the agenda. There is some criticism that human rights takes a backseat to pragmatic politics…[inaudible] The Human Rights Commission is mentioned in the Bonn Accords but there has been no mention of it ever since.
Spokesman: Oh yes, this meeting here on 9 March is the beginning of the setting-up of the Human Rights Commission called for in the Bonn Agreement. It is a meeting mostly with Afghans and one of the objectives of this workshop is to get going the Human Rights Commission. As I mentioned on Tuesday, there are two priorities that the SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi is dealing with, two Commissions that need to be established, the Judicial and the Human Rights Commission. For the Human Rights Commission, the Workshop on Friday is the beginning of it.

On the other question of matters happening in the north, of course they are of great concern and the SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi is in contact with the Authorities on these issues.

Q: …[inaudible] Question on a Commander in Kabul, presumably under protection of the Authorities.
Spokesman: I would have to be briefed on that one, I really do not know. I have to find out about it and get back to you.

Q: Does the UN have a policy on war crimes?
Spokesman: Of course people suspected of any crime need to go through the justice system available, and that would be the case. There is no, I do not know if you are referring to an International Tribunal, there is no International Tribunal set up for the violation of human rights in Afghanistan. That is the importance of the judicial system to be fully operational again to deal with what is required.

Q: …[inaudible]
Spokesman: I am saying that the mechanism for bringing to justice the people who need to be brought to justice, needs to be put in place.

Q: A very broad question. Could you tell me more about the reactions that UN personnel have received by the people. Any experiences?
Spokesman: My colleagues have been here longer and have personal experience and contact themselves. I just arrived. I am told there is a very good relationship; the UN is very much welcome and people are looking forward to more being done and faster, I believe, in the reconstruction and rehabilitation. I would invite my colleagues who have been here longer to share their experiences on that.

UNOCHA: Well I think the Afghan people know we have been here for a very long time trying to help them. They have to know that. At the same time it is a recognized fact that we have not always been able to help as many people as need to be helped, so I would say overall people understand that we are here to help and are trying to help, but also recognize that at times we have our shortcomings, either because of our lack of resources or a lack of accessibility to the populations. I think that just about sums it up.

Q: …[inaudible] Question about pride when receiving handouts.
UNOCHA: No I do not think so. What you refer to as handouts are actually essential humanitarian [inaudible] that help people stay alive over the difficult periods.

IOM International Organisation for Migration

Press Briefing Note

Thursday 7 March 2002

The joint IOM-UNHCR operation to return some 2,500 displaced families from the former Soviet compound in Kabul to their homes in the Shomali plain started yesterday.

A convoy of 19 buses and 13 trucks chartered by IOM carried 142 families or 850 people to villages in the Qarabagh district.

The convoy left the former Soviet compound, located in District 7 in the largely destroyed western part of the city, at 12.30 pm and arrived in Qarabagh two hours later.

A second movement carrying a similar number of people is planned for today - Thursday. A further eight movements are planned over the coming two weeks. No movements are planned for Fridays,

The families returning today were part of a larger group of 653 families returning to Qarabagh. They had lived in the squalid former Soviet compound since July 1999.

A total of 15,700 people living in the compound are expected to return home to the Shomali, according to a UNHCR-sponsored survey completed by the NGOs CARE and Save the Children in December.

AFGHAN WOMEN'S CONSULTATION CONCLUDES TODAY IN KABUL

(Kabul: 7 March): Inviting the partnership of Afghan women, UNIFEM, in collaboration with the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA), is leading a common UN system initiative, with UNDP, ILO, UNFPA, UNESCO, Habitat and UNICEF, in organizing an Afghan Women's Consultation. The Consultation was held over a period of three days, 5th - 7th March 2002. It provided a platform for Afghan women in Afghanistan to meet directly with policy-makers, representatives of key ministries, UN agencies and donors. Recognizing that Afghan women are key players in reconstituting and re-building their communities and their country, the consultation provided space for them to articulate their priorities, concerns, perspectives, and needs. It presented an opportunity to include women, their voices and contributions, as active partners in the process of reconstruction and peace building that lies ahead in Afghanistan.

The participants, numbering around 60 women from seven provinces, have discussed security, women's rights, education, health, political participation, the need for representation, protection, governance, capacity building, economic security, and employment. The women participants reiterated that they need to participate in decision making in all of these matters.

The consultation was held at the Ministry of Women's Affairs. It was inaugurated by the Minister of Women's Affairs, Dr. Sima Samar. Dr. Samar highlighted the support of the international community, UN agencies, and NGOs as important players in rebuilding Afghanistan. She said that security is not only about ending the war and silencing the weapons, but it is about ensuring women and girls could live in safety and dignity. She also noted that women's concerns for their families are a universal concern for all women in the world.

She added that she is working with the Interim Authority to make sure that women are issued national identification cards all over the country. This would ensure their right to engage in the political process as voter and representatives. She stressed that women must have the right to vote. She urged the participants to be united and work closely with her, and that she cannot tackle this enormous task single handedly.

UNIFEM Executive Director Noeleen Hezyer said that six months ago she could not have envisioned having such a unique, historical event in Afghanistan. Although Afghanistan has been in crisis for many years, the country now stands at the threshold of opportunity and the international community would continue to support the effort. She added, "Afghans should be in the driving seat." She noted that bringing together a diverse group of people was a critical key for development and that the group should continue to support the efforts of the Ministry of Women's Affairs. "You all have a role to play," she said. She added that she was impressed by the work of Afghan women that continued under the Taliban and said that it was indicative of the strength and skills of Afghan women in Afghanistan.

The Consultation will be the first step towards the full and equal involvement of Afghan women in shaping their country's future and their role in it. The deliberations will play a crucial part in molding and shaping the future directions of reconstruction and their own roles in the process.

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is the women's voice in the UN System. It works to promote women's human rights, political participation, and economic security. Using a rights-based framework and an empowerment strategy, UNIFEM seeks to works to promote gender equality and gender justice, by promoting women's rights, opportunities, and capacities.