TALKING POINTS

UXO destroyed
This morning, four bomblets and one 107mm rocket were covered with 450 sand bags and safely destroyed with 1 kg of plastic explosives on the plot of land immediately north of the UNAMA Compound. The UXOs were unearthed during excavation and clearing of the grounds two days ago. The Mine Action Clearing for Afghanistan (MACA) were responsible for assessing and implementing detonation. Three recoiless rockets remain and will be destroyed tomorrow.

Update on the Loya Jirga Process

As of yesterday, shuras were conducted in 138 districts of Afghanistan. A total of 6,548 people were selected of which 56 are women. These representatives will then proceed to the second phase of the Loya Jirga which will then elect the delegates who will participate in the Loya Jirga in June.

Seven shuras are scheduled for today, in Kabul, Helmand and Kabul Provinces. Khost was the first province to conclude all of its district shuras.

World Food Programme's update on Rapid Emergency Food Need Assessments on the Central Highlands
The Rapid Emergency Food Needs Assessment (REFNA) completed evaluations of 12 villages in Day Kundi, Bamyan. Next week they will be assessing 10 to 15 villages in Sharistan District located in Uruzgan Province. Both areas in the center of the country have a total estimated population of 308,000 people. The people from these areas are mainly Hazara, 60% of which are considered vulnerable. The REFNA helicopter missions are evaluating an average of 3 villages a day. At this pace the assessments will be finished by the end of next week. (Please see attached note prepared by WFP with full details)

On Friday, 10 May 2002, a Joint Team of WFP Security Officers and Swiss Federation of Mine Action Experts found several thousand pieces of ammunition, including mines, rockets, and rocket propelled grenades in 2 caves located 10 Km west of the City of Bamyan. On Saturday afternoon, the combined team started the destruction of 300 of these devices. It will take several days to complete the task.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) New REAP Project in Daralaman
Fifteen hundred to 2000 demobilized Mujahedin fighters will be employed by UNDP along with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to clear up rubble in Daralaman, one of Kabul's most devastated areas. This is part of the REAP (Reconstruction Employment for Afghanistan Programme) Programme, funded by The Government of Japan.

The REAP programme, which began on 1 March, currently employs 13,000 Afghans through the implementation of 56 quick impact projects to address infrastructure and environmental protection in urban and rural Kabul.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) ? National Census
This afternoon the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will begin work with the Afghan Central Statistics Office (CSO) to help that body rebuild its capacity to undertake population surveys and national censuses.

Over the next couple of weeks, two international consultants will prepare a detailed needs assessment and development plan of action for the project for the next six months. The CSO reports directly to the Office of Chairman Hamid Karzai.

Initial funding for the project will be provided by UNFPA through donors who include the Governments of Luxembourg, Italy, Netherlands and Denmark. The Afghanistan Information Management Systems (AIMS), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partner agencies will also be closely involved with the project.