TALKING POINTS

SRSG's Visit to Mazar-i-Sharif
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, returned to Kabul late afternoon on Monday 15 April after a two-day visit to Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province and Mordian in Jowzjan province.

The purpose of this trip to the North was to meet with a number of local officials on Sunday; including the Governor of Balkh province as well as Deputy Defence Minister and Special Representative of the Interim Administration, General Abdul Rashid Dostam, and Ustad Atta Muhhammad, Commander of the 7th Brigade. The issues discussed were security, both for the population and for UN personnel, for aid workers and for humanitarian activities in the region. SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi also met with UN personnel, both representatives of UN agencies in the North as well as staff, in particular Afghan national staff working for the UN system.

There was reaffirmation by SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi of his own and the Secretary-General's deep appreciation of the work of the staff throughout the country. There was a frank discussion on security conditions, and the need of improvement. The Head of UN Security in Afghanistan went to Mazar with the SRSG, and he remained there to discuss with authorities and with our colleagues, and present back suggestions and plans.

Another issue discussed with the authorities, in addition to security was the Loya Jirga. There was general support for its running, its objectives. All interlocutors were very supportive of the Loya Jirga process and agreed on the importance of an environment that will allow people to express their will freely. The following day, the SRSG went to Mordian district, Jowzjan province where it was the first day of the election process

Thousands of people from several villages in Mordian district were gathered to choose their delegates for the electoral college, and who will eventually elect their Loya Jirga representatives. They came on foot, by cars, tractors and horses. Children, men and women with the many colours of their traditional dress, traditional dancers and horsemen added to the climate of festivity and hope. The SRSG was greeted very warmly.

In an impromptu address, he told those gathered at that far away location in the North that, "the people in Afghanistan realise that at long last the long night of conflict when Afghan was facing Afghan with a gun is coming to an end. I think that the people of Afghanistan want very much to put that era of conflict behind them, and to start rebuilding their country. The Loya Jirga is the beginning of this new era for Afghanistan." He added, "in Kabul, the Interim Administration and all its members, the Governors, the military officers, everyone has told us (...) that they will not interfere, they will allow the people to choose freely"

General Abdul Rashid Dostam, who had met with the SRSG Lakhdar Brahimi the day before, also went to Mordian to support the process. Addressing the crowd and speaking to journalists, he said it was a day when his hopes would be realised; he had fought for the day when people could freely express themselves and elect their representatives. General Dostam noted that people were tired of fighting. He said he had instructed the relevant authorities to ensure an environment that would allow people to elect their representative freely. He reaffirmed his support for the Loya Jirga Commission.

IOM's Funding Crisis
The International Organisation for Migration is facing a severe funding crisis. The organisation needs approximately US$ 21 million to continue support for the return and reintegration operation and US$ 6.5 million to continue providing assistance to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps.

Update on UNDP's REAP Programme
UNDP's Recovery and Employment Programme (REAP) currently employs 10,000 local workers in urban and rural Kabul in a variety of 36 projects totaling US$ 1.1 million.

Projects include the restoration of Green Park, the Tuberculosis Hospital and Central Forest Plantation, the renovation of Bagrami School as well as repair of the roads in the surrounding areas, clearing of drainage sewage channels and the rehabilitation of the Kabul Dam.

The European Union has committed US$ 1.5 million to duplicate the REAP programme in Jalalabad.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers' Visit to Kabul - Yusuf Hassan
High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers arrived in Afghanistan from Iran on Sunday. Last night he met with Chairman Hamid Karzai and today he continues his meetings with various officials including the Minister for Repatriation, the Minister of Interior, he will also be meeting the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi and his Deputy Nigel Fisher.

Tomorrow he goes onto Jalalabad to continue his visit to returnee/refugee areas. He will cross into Pakistan where he will be visiting refugee camps in and around Peshawar.

The High Commissioner will be holding a press conference before he leaves Kabul, tomorrow, Wednesday 17 April at 8.00am at UNHCR.

The repatriation from Iran and Pakistan continues. We now have nearly 250,000 people returning back to their homes in Afghanistan in the last seven weeks. UNHCR started the repatriation programme on 1 March from Pakistan and have 241,000 returnees from Pakistan. Another repatriation is from Iran from 9 April, and nearly 5,000 people have returned from Iran in that period.

Another repatriation is from Tajikistan, and there are about 4,000 Afghans who are mainly stuck on the two islands on the Piandz River on the border with Afghanistan and Tajikistan, returning home in the last few days. The repatriation programme appears to be in full-swing and many people are opting to return to areas that they perceive are safe.

Figures from Pakistan repatriation indicate that the majority of people are indeed returning to rural areas, about 60 percent of returnees, but the 40 percent coming to urban centres, the majority are going to cities like Kabul. Kabul has received 80,000 new people, mainly from Pakistan in the last seven weeks, but some are going to Kabul province, not necessarily directly to the city, but certainly the majority of people who left this country were rural people. However, in the period they have been in exile in Pakistan and Iran, they have become urbanised, so there is a demographic shift as far as the returnees are concerned. People are returning to places like Kabul because they know it is secure and they know they can send their children to school so there are a lot of attractions to come to Kabul. In addition, there are opportunities for employment here, and that is why the High Commissioner has been emphasising during his visit, UNHCR will spend more effort in creating more opportunities in the rural areas through reintegration programmes, in particular, focusing on shelter and water.

Questions and Answers

Q: Do you have a date and a place for the first selection meeting in Kabul?
Spokesman: No, we do not have a place determined yet. We are having a meeting later with all the Civil Affairs Officers from around the country on the Loya Jirga process, to refine what we gave out at the briefing last Sunday, and also based on the lessons [to be] learned from yesterday.

Q: Do you have further information on the incident when the FAO man was killed?
Spokesman: Yes, that was of course one of the main items in Mr. Brahimi's discussions with the authorities. I think they have been able to identify suspects, I do not think at this point we are in a position to go beyond that. Of course, I should mention that Mr. Brahimi did visit the family and we did go to the house where this all happened. A very sad moment of the visit, but there is great commitment on the part of the authorities to bring to justice the culprits. I should also mention that during General Dostam's visit to [Mordian] yesterday when he was speaking to the crowd, he brought this up and how much that kind of event was an embarrassment for them and for him personally. We indeed hope that the authorities will make good on their commitments, to pursue the investigation and bring to justice the culprits or culprit and really acknowledge and act upon their responsibility to provide security and safety.

Q: Why is the UN official and the Loya Jirga saying the Mordian election would happen today, Tuesday, yet it happened yesterday?
Spokesman: What I had was Monday and in fact some of your colleagues were there.

Q: [Inaudible] Question on lessons learnt from yesterday's elections.
Spokesman: The lessons learned from yesterday, we still need to hear from our colleagues over there. The current plan is to have a first phase which takes place at the local level, similar to what happened yesterday, and that will be happening throughout the country at staggered dates. The first phase is at the local level, and is expected to take five weeks in each region, so once the five-week period is concluded then we move onto the regional level [inaudible].
The second phase takes place in nine regional centres and those people who have been elected or chosen at the local level, will be the ones voting in a secret ballot on who the participants will be in the Loya Jirga. Those 1,051 seats set aside for people elected, that is how it happens.

Q: [Inaudible] Question on Mordian election results.
Spokesman: I do not have results of that, but it has to be communicated to the regional centre which is Mazar [inaudible].

Q: [Inaudible] Question on the High Commissioner for Refugees meeting with Chairman Karzai.
UNHCR: The High Commissioner briefed the Chairman on UNHCR's strategy for repatriation and reintegration of Afghan refugees and internally displaced people. They both agreed that security was indispensable to the repatriation of the refugees and the more people would return when there was more stability in the areas they are going back to. Both of them emphasised the need to do more integration and Mr. Karzai said integration was one of the top priorities for his Administration, and that he sought the support of the assistance of UNHCR. Mr. Karzai also expressed his appreciation for UNHCR's long involvement in assisting Afghans. This is indeed a point that has been raised because many of you have emphasised that the majority of returnees are poor people who are returning back, and many of the people who are in the leadership of the Interim Administration are former refugees and have worked with UNHCR in the various countries they have been in exile, so they do know the involvement of UNHCR over the years here.

Another point the two emphasised was the fact that there was a need for most of the IDPs to return back home. Mr. Karzai emphasised the fact that there was stability in many parts, and that there was some heavy rains. For some of the IDPs who are peasants, the best thing would be to assist them to return back to their villages where they can start clearing their land and once again plant crops so they can self-sufficient rather than take handouts.

Q: When did the High Commissioner meet Chairman Karzai?
UNHCR: Yesterday at 6 o'clock, in the afternoon at the Presidential Palace. It went on for about 40 minutes, and many other issues regarding the role of UNHCR in the future [inaudible]

Q: Question on the High Commissioner's trip to Iran.
UNHCR: I did not accompany the High Commissioner to Iran. I can give you copies of some of the statements that came out from his visit. The High Commissioner's visit is focused on making sure that there is an orderly and voluntary repatriation in both Iran, and in Pakistan the High Commissioner will be emphasising the fact that all repatriation must be voluntary. UNHCR will not be involved in any non-voluntary repatriation of Afghans. Those who wish to return will be assisted, but at the same time the two countries have been requested to continue to provide protection to those who may not be in a position to return at this particular moment.

Q: [Inaudible]
UNCHR: Absolutely not. Many of the people coming back are coming to registration centres on their own, they have their own transport, they come to us and say they would like to go back to a particular place. We provide them with the necessary information about the areas they are returning back to, particularly that area. For example, we are not supporting any returns to Paktya, Khost and places like Nimruz because of the current conflict. Only when we are sure it is a voluntary return do we register. In fact in Pakistan we have had many rejections because we are not convinced that those people who want to return do understand the conditions in the areas they are going back to. Where we are convinced that people know where they are going back to [inaudible], we do assist them to come back.

Q: Question on the return of the former King.
Spokesman: The UN is not involved in the return of the former King because we have no role to play there. As you know, according to the Bonn Agreement the former King opens the Emergency Loya Jirga and that will be our involvement as we support the Commission that is organising the Loya Jirga.