United Nations - Islamabad

Press Briefing by Manoel de Almeida e Silva
Spokesman for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan
Sunday, 30 June 2002, 10am, UNAMA

TALKING POINTS

-Mission of the SRSG for Afghanistan, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi

The SRSG is leaving Kabul this afternoon for an extended mission through several countries. He is expected to be back in Afghanistan during the last week of July.

First he will go to India. While in New Delhi, he is expected to meet Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and other government officials.

On 3 July he leaves the Indian capital for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he will hold talks with senior Saudi officials.

From Saudi Arabia he goes to Paris, where on the 9th he will participate in a meeting bringing together the G-8 and Afghanistan, the European Union, European Commission and the United Nations. The meeting will follow up on previous discussions on the reform of the Afghan security sector.

On 11 July, Mr. Brahimi will be in Geneva to participate in the Afghanistan Support Group meeting. It is expected that the group will focus on the current immediate assistance needs and the funding requirements to address them.

The Afghanistan Support Group is composed of major donors.

On July 14th the SRSG will be at UN Headquarters in New York where he will hold consultations until 23 July.

-Update on the North

Yesterday morning the SRSG met a group of some 15 Pashtuns from Balkh province who attended the Loya Jirga. They told Mr. Brahimi about the situation of Pashtuns in the north.

As you know this is a matter of great concern to the United Nations. While targeted violence seems to have diminished, it is unacceptable that the Pashtuns are still victims of discrimination and abuse of human rights.

The SRSG has written to General Abdul Rashid Dostum in his capacity as Representative of the Head of State in the North. He is sending a copy this letter to President Karzai.

Mr. Brahimi is in regular contact with President Karzai on a number of issues, including this one. Mr. Brahimi welcomes the announcement that President Karzai is sending his Presidential Advisor for Religious and Tribal Affairs to the north to look into the situation.

-Spin Boldak

This morning in Spin Boldak, approximately 120 km from Kandahar city, the roads have reopened and people slowly resume their routines as shrapnel is gradually cleared away.

Today WFP deminers begin work to clear exploded and un-exploded ordnances from the area surrounding an ammunitions dump following explosions on Friday night.

Just before midnight on Friday 27 June (23.4r hrs) major explosions were heard and felt approximately 100 meters Southwest of UNHCR and WFP offices in Spin Boldak at an ammunitions dump. As a result of these explosions a large quantity of exploded and unexploded ordnances were spread over a 200 meters radius around the ammunition dump and WFP deminers begin work today to clear the area.

A rocket with through the brick wall surrounding UNHCR’s office and through the radio room. The shock shattered all windows of the office building as well damaging two large tents in the WFP compound, northwest of UNHCR.

-IOM - Assisted Voluntary Returns from Asia-Pacific & Return of Qualified Afghans from Finland

Two other returnees on the flight are participants in IOM's Return of Qualified Afghans (RQA) programme, travelling from Vienna and Amsterdam respectively. The RQA programme, which is still facing acute funding problems, received a boost this week, with the announcement of a Euro 500,000 grant from the Finnish government to fund the return of qualified Afghan professionals from Finland over the next 18 months.

More details can be found in a news release that was prepared by IOM and is available at the back of the room.

-FAO - Four Projects

At the back of the room is a press release from the Food and Agriculture Organization, detailing a number of interesting developments. Of note is a USD$ 2.5 million project to distribute wheat seeds, fertilizer and agricultural kits to at least 100,000 farm families across the county. The farmers are mainly internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, widows and disabled people. These are seeds of the right quality for the Afghan environmental conditions.

Also according to the press release farmers in the remote northern province of Badakhshan now have access to irrigation water following the recent completion of a successful cash-for-work project to repair the Sang-i-Mohr canal. According to FAO, the repair work on the canal will provide a short-term solution while plans are drawn up for a major overhaul of Afghanistan’s irrigation systems.

The press release also provides details on upcoming FAO surveys on high value horticulture, national livestock and migratory Kuchi [nomad] communities.

-UNICEF - Update on Auxiliary Midwives Training Programme in Eastern Region

A team from JHPIEGO University (John Hopkins Programme for International Education in Gynecology & Obstetrics) just returned from Jalalabad, where they provided support to the new auxiliary midwife training programme, implemented by HealthNet international. The programme, which began on 20 June and will last one year, will train twenty-five women to become auxiliary midwives.

-Afghan Human Rights Commission ratifies Dr. Sema Samar’s appointment as Chair

Last Friday, 28 June, the newly formed Independent Afghan Human Rights Commission (AHRC), meeting for the second time since its establishment on 6 June, unanimously approved President Hamid Karzai’s appointment of Dr. Sema Samar as its Chair. Members recognized Dr. Samar’s valuable contribution to the cause of human rights and peace in Afghanistan and warmly welcomed her appointment.

Two member of the AHRC who were recently appointed to cabinet positions, Haneef Atmar (Minister of Rural Development) and Masoom Stanekzai (Minister of Telecommunications) tendered their resignations. The two were awarded the titles of “Honorary Advisors” to the AHRC. The two Commissioners resigned because the terms of reference of the Commission do not allow Cabinet members to hold posts as members. This is to ensure that the Commission preserves its independent nature.

The Commission will soon meet with President Karzai to inform him of their decisions and to express grave concern about the deteriorating situation in the north. The AHRC also agreed to consider a list of candidates to fill the vacant position of the 11th commissioner in their next meeting. Dr. Samar was appointed as the 10th member.

-UNESCO

An 800-year old minaret in Afghanistan, threatened by erosion and vandalism, heads a register of nine natural and cultural properties named to the World Heritage List last Friday by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The 65-metre Minaret of Jam, in west-central Afghanistan, is among the sites designated as having outstanding universal value by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, which recently met in Budapest, Hungary for its twenty-sixth session.

The Minaret of Jam is the second tallest in the world (the tallest is Qutb Ninar in New Delhi, India) and the first monument in Afghanistan to be named to the List. It was built in 1194 with elaborate brickwork and geometric as well as floral motifs representing the high point of the artistic and architectural tradition of the Ghurid dynasty, which ruled Afghanistan and Northern India in the 12th and 13th centuries. Because of damage to the structure, the minaret was also placed on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger.

-WHO Appeal

The World Health Organization (WHO), together with the government of Afghanistan and a number of international NGOs, has made an urgent appeal for 1.2 million dollars to tackle cutaneous leishmaniasis, the face disfiguring disease. You will remember back on 5 May, Lorrie Hieber-Giradet, spokesperson for WHO, spoke to you of the joint efforts between the WHO and local health officials to control the spread of the disease which affects 200,000 people in Kabul. This country has witnessed the largest single outbreak of the disease in the world.

WHO estimates that more than a quarter of a million Afghans will be infected with leishmaniasis this year. It is vital that this emergency response is launched as soon as possible to interrupt the transmission in order to avoid a sharp increase in the number of cases over the next year.

-UNHCR - Update on returnees - Yusuf Hassan

The return of Afghans topped the 1.1 million mark yesterday. A total of 1,110,000 Afghans have returned home since the start of the Transitional Authority and UNHCR facilitated programme on 1 March.

More than 1,015,000 have come home from Pakistan, over 85,000 have repatriated from Iran since 9 April, while over 9,000 have returned from mainly Tajikistan but also from Krygyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

The vast majority of the returnees from Pakistan - nearly 700,000 (over 70 per cent) - are urban refugees. Some 250,000 originate from refugee villages - which means only 25 per cent of the rural refugees resident in Pakistan - have come back home. At the same, only 3 per cent (31,000) of the Afghans who fled the country after 9 September have returned home.

There has been a steady increase in the number of Pashtuns returning home. They now account for 52 per cent of the returnees, followed by Tajiks at 33 per cent, Hazaras 7 per cent, Uzbeks 4 per cent and Turkmen 3 per cent. Pashtuns account for 95 per cent of Afghans refugees in Pakistan.

The central region continues to attract the largest number of returnees. Some 40 per cent (470,000) of have returned to Kabul city and province, 26 per cent (250,000) went back to Nangarhar province, the third favoured destination was Parwaan with 6 per cent (63,000), followed by Baghlan (34,000) and Kunduz (32,00).

One of the urgent needs of the returnees is shelter. UNHCR estimates that about 50 per cent of the returnees would find their homes destroyed or damaged. In some areas of the Shomali and Bamyan, the destruction is almost 100 per cent.

UNHCR has signed agreements with some 15 NGOs, which will help build over 38,000 housing units for returnees and IDPs. It plans to assist the construction of some 50,000 shelters, which will benefit more than 300,000 people, by providing them with beams, doors, windows, door and window frames, and hammers and nails.

Tuesday, UNHCR received deliver of the first consignment of 306 bundles of beams, 30,600 total pieces from abroad. The supplies will be dispatched to implementing partners around the country.

In the Central region, implementing partner ZOA has signed contracts with 170 of the 400 beneficiaries who will receive shelter kits in the Khak-i-Jabar district of Kabul province. Another 90-100 agreements with individual returnee families, both former refugees and IDPs, will be signed in the coming days. All of the 176 families have started construction on their houses and have received shelter kits of locally procured material. That number includes 15 female heads of household. Several beneficiaries have already set the lintels in window and door frames and have laid on roof beams. ZOA has set up a carpentry shop in the district where each of the 15 apprentice workers produces a door or window frame for the project every day.

In Shomali, ACTED's began the first distribution of shelter kits in Istalif on Friday. Sub-Office Kabul has signed new sub-agreements with JEN for 1,000 shelters in Charikar and Jabalusaraj, in Parwaan province, and with FOCUS for 200 shelters in Shibar district, Bamyan Province. Additional agreements with CARE and IRC are under discussion.

In Jalalabad, InterSOS has identified 729 families, which will benefit from shelter assistance in Rodat district, Nangarhar province. Selection of beneficiaries continues in Achin district.

In Mazar, projects approved with seven partners provide so far for the construction of 5,140 shelters in the Northern region. Sub-agreements with several other partners are in their final stages and will be completed next week. UNHCR and FOCUS staff, the implementing partner in Dahana-i-Ghuri and Dushi districts, reviewed 131 potential beneficiaries for shelter kits and signed 50 individual contracts. ACTED also began signing contracts with beneficiaries this week in Nahrin and Burka, in Baghlan province.

1.109,394 million Afghans have come home under the Transitional Authorities and UNHCR repatriation programme.

More than 1,014,799 have returned from Pakistan since 1 March and 85,410 from Iran since 9 April, while over 9,000 have repatriated from the Central Asian states.

In addition, 200,000 Afghans have spontaneously returned home since the fall of the Taliban.

170,000 internally displaced persons have been helped to return to their villages of origin, while an estimated 400,000 have gone back on their own since December.

As of 26 June, the top ten returnee receiving provinces were Kabul with over 463,813, Nangarhar with 247,710 and Parwaan - 62,517, followed by Baghlan - 33,346, Kunduz, - 31,619 Jawzjan - 30,062, Kandahar - 26,667, Laghman - 25,965, Faryab - 24, 720 and Kapisa - 23,754.

This year, UNHCR planned to help repatriate 800,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran along with another 400,000 internally displaced people. However, these planning figures were surpassed in the first 15 weeks of the repatriation programme. Some 2 million Afghans are expected to return home in 2002.

Under the assistance programme, refugees who register with UNHCR in Pakistan receive a transportation allowance of between 10 to 30 dollars per person depending on the destination. Returnees from Iran are transported from 10 departure points by the Iranian authorities and in Afghanistan they get an allowance from UNHCR to cover their travel costs to their home villages.

A returnee family also receives a UNHCR aid package containing plastic sheets, jerry cans, blankets, and soap and wheat from the World Food Programme.

UNHCR has signed agreements with some 15 NGOs, which will help build over 38,000 housing units for returnees and IDPs. It plans to assist the construction of some 50,000 shelters, which will benefit more than 300,000 people, by providing them with beams, doors, windows, door and window frames, and hammers and nails.

UNHCR has established 30 offices and field units with more than 602 national and international staff. In addition, it operates 22 relief distribution centres and 10 encashment points.

UNHCR’s budget for 2002 is $271 million. So far, donors have contributed $200 million, some 74 per cent of the total requirement, leaving a shortfall of $71 million.

Afghans are the world’s single largest refugee population. An estimated 4 million are in exile mainly in Pakistan and Iran but also scattered in 70 other countries around the globe.

-WFP - Alejandro Chicheri

Overall situation and ration to refugees
As of 22 June, 1,043,395 individuals (197,249 families) have returned to Afghanistan under the repatriation assistance program. WFP has agreed to allocate food aid for an additional 500,000 returnees in the year 2002. The emergency ration is going to be reduced from 150kg of wheat per family (equivalent to 30kg per member for an average 5-member family) to 100 kg or 2/3 of the original ration.

Due to pipeline constraints, as of June, in some locations the ration has been decreased to 1/3 or 50kg and coupons issued as a top priority for retroactive distribution pending food availability.

Security
Last Friday night June 28th at 12.20 am an explosion took place at an ammunitions depot located 400 m from the WFP warehouse in Spin Boldak (Southwest Afghanistan).

As a result of the explosion, projectiles, rockets, and other unexploded ordinances (UXO), from the depot hit the WFP warehouse. Earlier reports about six Afghan workers injured seem to concern workers near the warehouse but NOT WFP-contracted workers.

Reports are still unclear as to the number of casualties and the causes of the explosion.

There were no major injuries among WFP staff. Only one WFP worker who was at his house nearby was assisted and one WFP-contracted guard needed minor medical attention after the incident.

Regarding the damage caused to WFP facilities, two large storage tents (rub-halls) were bend and the plastic that covered them torn apart. 4 containers used as offices were partially damaged, and the gate was blown up.

All food supplies seem to be intact.

A team of 6 WFP de-miners arrived yesterday at the site. After evaluating the situation they have toady started to clear the warehouse area of unexploded devices.

Resource update

On the resources front as per 24 June, eighteen donors have responded to the funding needs of the current operation. This response, combined with carry-over stocks from the previous operation, covers 64 percent of the requirements or 182 million USD. United States of America remains the largest contributor to WFP Afghanistan Emergency Operation (EMOP) with confirmed total contributions of 116 million USD, providing more than 40 percent of the total amount appealed.

WFP Emergency Operation in Afghanistan currently faces a shortfall of 175,000 tons of food worth approximately 102 million USD or 36 percent of the total requirements.

Questions & Answers

Q: I want to talk about these funding shortfalls. Since last week when the Security Council passed its resolutions supporting the Transitional Authority, what new contributions other than the Finland contribution of 500,000 Eur have been made to the various programmes involved in refugee return programmes that UNHCR is needing.
Spokesman: I don’t have any information on that, but I would just mention to you that a very good forum for this is this meeting I just mentioned that will happen in Geneva on 11 July, the Afghanistan Support Group, but Yusuf can tell you something more specific on UNHCR.
UNHCR: We have received additional contribution from the United States, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Our total needs now in the last week or so, ten days, our contribution has gone up from USD 180 million to USD 215 million. We are now funded up to 75 percent of our requirements but we are still short of USD 61 million to continue our programmes for the rest of the year.

Q: That is on the basis of the original low estimate on returning refugees?
UNHCR: Yes it is.
WFP: On the WFP side, out of the USD 106 million that I just announced, was USD 18 million that were pledged and confirmed last week from United States of America.

Q: How would you describe the nature of Mr. Brahimi’s visit to these countries? What is the purpose? Is it to roundup recalcitrant donors and to remind them of their obligations? How would you describe it?
Spokesman: He is invited by these countries. He is going in response to invitations he has received from these countries. He has many other invitations and he cannot do all of them at the same time. He will be doing these countries now and later in the year he is likely to do other countries. But, of course, the issues on the table are the support to the Afghanistan process. I don’t have details of an agenda to share with you but I have no doubt that the officials from these countries and Mr. Brahimi will be discussing all issues that are important for the continuation of this transition process.

Q: On another topic, the meeting that Mr. Brahimi has with the Pashtuns the other day, what specifically were the issues that the delegation raised, the nature of the discrimination, they say they are receiving?
Spokesman: I think they mentioned cases of property being stolen [and not returned], that includes vehicles, that includes sheep. I think they also mentioned that there is no Pashtun representation or participation in positions in the local and regional administrations. So, around these issues they raised their concerns.

Q: Last week you were talking about the situation with seventeen settlements that were looted; one settlement near Sar-i-pul, 150 families were burnt out. I wanted to ask you if you had any further information about the ethnicity of the 150 families and is there any connection between the Pashtuns that were speaking to Mr. Brahimi and this violence?
Spokesman: These were Pashtuns that were here already for the Loya Jirga and remained in Kabul and as I said they were delegates to the Loya Jirga and participants here so they came to see him [Mr. Brahimi] following the meeting here.

I don’t have details of the ethnicity of the people directly effected by this inter factional fighting in the north. All I can tell you is that we spoke with our office in Mazar last night and they report that in Mazar city, work is proceeding, with a good degree of normalcy. They also reported that in Maimana our staff were there, as you know, three international staff left [relocated to Mazar] but Afghan staff remained as well as NGO staff remained and they continue to do their work normally as well.

Q: Do you have any [new] numbers on refugees in the last few, you didn’t have numbers before, but do you have any numbers now?
Spokesman: No, I don’t. Do you have any numbers of displacement in the north as a result of this inter factional of last week?
UNHCR: No.

Q: Can you just clear up on question? In Spin Boldak, the deminers have gone in and so forth, could you just tell me who is it who is conducting the investigation into that matter? Is it the international coalition? Is it the UN? Is it the Afghan Administration?
Spokesman: To my understanding it is the Afghan Administration. I would have to confirm that for you.

FAO office in Kabul

Press Briefing, June 30

FAO supports rehabilitation of Sang-i-Mohr canal, Badakhshan

Farmers in the remote northern province of Badakhshan have access to irrigation water following a successful cash-for-work project, supported by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, to repair the Sang-i-Mohr canal.

The canal, which irrigates the land around 12 villages, was damaged by recent flooding which caused the Kockhar river to burst its banks and choke the canal with silt, threatening the livelihoods of at least 800 vulnerable farming families. The main waterway runs for 25 km across the Badakhshan plain from the provincial capital of Faizabad with a subsidiary branch extending 12 km.

FAO and the government of Kuwait funded 50% of the costs of cleaning the canal (about US$7000) with the communities covering the remainder as labour.

The national NGO, Pamir Reconstruction Bureau (PRB), was the implementing partner and the work was done through ashars, or community groups. The repair work, says FAO’s programme manager in Afghanistan, Richard China, will provide a short-term solution while plans are drawn up for a major overhaul of Afghanistan’s irrigation systems.

Emergency distribution of wheat seeds and agricultural kits

FAO is preparing a US$2.5 million emergency distribution of (Quality Declared Seed) wheat seeds, fertilizer and agricultural kits for at least 100,000 farm families across the country. The farmers are mainly IDPs and returnees who have been selected in collaboration with UNHCR, and drought-affected and vulnerable people who cannot access quality seeds for the autumn planting season. All recipients, who include widows and disabled people, must have guaranteed access to land - less than 2.5 jeribs of irrigated and 10 jeribs of rainfed land.

The seeds are being procured from some of the 4000 farmers who have been contracted by FAO to produce Quality Declared Seeds. At least 3000MT of seeds will be bought from these farmers, providing a valuable source of income and ensuring that the wheat grown is adapted to local environmental conditions and agricultural systems. A Code of Conduct governing seed production, distribution and importation in emergency situations was drafted by national and international organizations operating in Afghanistan in May and awaits ratification by the new government.

Local artisans will also benefit from the scheme because the tools provided in the 60,000 agricultural kits will be made in Afghanistan. The tools will vary according to the region in which they are to be distributed, but will comprise basic implements such as a hoe, a sickle, watering cans and a shovel. The kits will also contain vegetable seeds - onion, carrot, tomato, okra and pepper.

The seeds and kits will be distributed by national and international NGOs. Seed cleaners, rubb halls, tractors and threshers will be distributed in areas where this equipment was looted during fighting. Donors supporting the initiative are the governments of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway and Switzerland and ECHO.

Focus on high value horticulture

In July/August FAO will start a comprehensive survey of Afghanistan’s commercial fruit and nut industry. This will include a market study of the country’s potential and comparative advantages in this sector and a review of ‘nucleus’ and commercial tree nurseries to see what immediate assistance is required by between 70 and a hundred of the most important ones. The US$730,000 required for the survey, and for emergency rehabilitation and training, is being provided by the government of Italy.

In the 1960s high value horticulture and dried fruit provided Afghanistan with 48 per cent of its export revenue. By-products of orchard fruits, such as pomegranate rind and walnut husks, were used to dye the brightly coloured carpets for which the country is famous, along with madder root, which produces the unique and varied red hues prized by buyers.

Between 1989 and 1998 FAO led the way in the establishment of nurseries and rehabilitation of the traditional irrigation systems. At least two ‘nucleus’ nurseries were established in each province and stocked with high yielding trees that provided saplings for private nurseries. The national survey and the market study will be used to assist the Government to draw up medium and long-term strategies for the future development of this important sector.

National livestock survey

Over the next six months FAO will undertake a US$500,000 national livestock census, including a survey of migratory Kuchi communities. War and drought have decimated livestock populations and accurate data, vital for the rehabilitation and development of the sector, does not yet exist. The government of Italy is funding the survey.

FAO will sub-contract about 230 Veterinary Field Units (VFUs) and experienced NGOs, in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, to carry out the survey and will provide logistical and technical support.

The survey will produce a comprehensive census on numbers, species and classes of livestock as well as information on livestock trade. It will provide an opportunity to explore the constraints and coping strategies of livestock owners, including the vulnerable Kuchi population.

In the 1970s, livestock products made up 16-18 per cent of GNP and about 14 per cent of export revenue, not including 9 per cent GDP for carpets and rugs.

Notes for UN Media Briefing, Kabul
(Sunday, 30 June 2002)

Update on Auxiliary Midwives Training Programme in Eastern Region

A team from JHPIEGO University (John Hopkins Programme for International Education in Gynecology & Obstetrics) just returned from Jalalabad, where they provided support to the new auxiliary midwife training programme, implemented by HealthNet International. The programme, which began on 20 June and will last one year, will train twenty-five women to become auxiliary midwives.

The purpose of the JHPIEGO visit was three-fold: to ensure that the curriculum was comprised of best practices; to deliver to trainees the modern tools necessary for effectively teaching midwifery; and to assess the capacity of the clinical training facilities.

The team found that the quality and commitment of the trainees was very high. Even though the program has just begun, there is already an important demand for the auxiliary midwives upon completion of their training. Urgent needs for the programme include the upgrading of the training sites and the delivery of supplies. UNICEF will be providing items such as delivery beds, autoclaves and vacuumextractors and will be supporting a kindergarten for children of the trainees at Ghani Khan rural hospital.

The auxiliary midwives training programme is implemented by HealthNet International with the support of UNICEF, USAID and the Dutch Government.

WFP AFGHANISTAN TALKING POINTS

Overall situation and ration to refugees

As of 22 June, 1,043,395 individuals (197,249 families) have returned to Afghanistan under the repatriation assistance program. WFP has agreed to allocate food aid for an additional 500,000 returnees in the year 2002. The emergency ration is going to be reduced from 150kg of wheat per family (equivalent to 30kg per member for an average 5-member family) to 100 kg or 2/3 of the original ration.

Due to pipeline constraints, as of June, in some locations the ration has been decreased to 1/3 or 50kg and coupons issued as a top priority for retroactive distribution pending food availability.

Security

Last Friday night June 28th at 12.20 am an explosion took place at an ammunitions depot located 400 m from the WFP warehouse in Spin Boldak (Southwest Afghanistan).

Reports are still unclear as to the number of casualties and the causes of the explosion.

There were no major injuries among WFP staff. Only one WFP worker who was at his house nearby was assisted and one WFP-contracted guard needed minor medical attention after the incident.

All food supplies seem to be intact.

A team of 6 WFP de-miners arrived yesterday at the site. After evaluating the situation they have toady started to clear the warehouse area of unexploded devices.

Assessments to be finalized

Currently, four major WFP assessments or surveys are underway: the Joint WFP-FAO Crop Assessment Mission, the AFSU/VAM Countrywide Vulnerability Assessment, A pastoralist-nomadic study in Kabul and the South, and the Countrywide Education Baseline Survey in cooperation with the Department of Education and Unicef.

Resource update

0n the resources front as per 24th of June, eighteen donors have responded to the funding needs of the current operation. This response, combined with carry-over stocks from the previous operation, covers 64 percent of the requirements or 182 million US$. United States of America remains the largest contributor to WFP Afghanistan Emergency Operation (EMOP) with confirmed total contributions of 116 million US$, providing more than 40% of the total amount appealed.

Because recently confirmed contributions are not expected to arrive until later in the year, and the first three months require over 51 percent of the overall nine-month requirements, food availability has fallen critically short during the pivotal April to June pre-harvest “hunger” period. In addition, WFP has suspended wheat distribution through Food For Work and Food for Assets Creation projects at least for the duration of the harvest, in the areas were the spring crops are being gathered.

Overall, food shortages in the pipeline are still a significant issue and have caused difficulties in the approval of project proposals as well as release of food for ongoing projects. A pipeline break for cereals is expected in August. As of 26 June, the regional stock position is 27,404 MT and the in-country stock is 28,577 MT.

WFP Emergency Operation in Afghanistan currently faces a shortfall of 175,000 tons of food worth approximately 102 million US$ or 36 percent of the total requirements.

Iom News Release

Assisted Voluntary Returns from Asia-Pacific
&
Return of Qualified Afghans from Finland
30th June 2002

An IOM charter flight carrying 70 Afghan returnees flew into Kabul from Dubai yesterday. Of the group, 63 are irregular migrants who became stranded in Indonesia en route to Australia. Another seven came from the migrant processing facility on the Pacific Island of Nauru. All 70 asked IOM for voluntary repatriation to Afghanistan, following the rejection of their asylum claims for refugee status.
Two other returnees on the flight are participants in IOM's Return of Qualified Afghans (RQA) programme, travelling from Vienna and Amsterdam respectively. The RQA programme, which is still facing acute funding problems, received a boost this week, with the announcement of a Euro 500,000 grant from the Finnish government to fund the return of qualified Afghan professionals from Finland over the next 18 months.
Selected candidates will take up professional positions on 6-12 month contracts or start small businesses in key sectors considered essential for the country's reconstruction and sustainable development. The positions will be in socio-economic sectors where existing human resource needs cannot be met through the local labour market.
To encourage the participation of skilled Afghan women in the programme, IOM will provide selected female candidates with skills upgrading and training in such fields as business administration (English and computer skills); health care (first aid training); education (teacher training and psychology); and media (journalism).
To date, IOM's RQA programme has placed 237 people from a database of 5,600 qualified Afghans in key positions in ministries, NGOs and other agencies