TALKING POINTS

Disarmament in Sholgareh

A disarmament exercise involving Jamiat, Jumbesh, and Hizb-e-Wahdat factions began at 8:00 a.m. yesterday and continues today in Sholgareh, a district south west of Mazar-e-Sharif. The area has been the scene of four separate conflicts over the last six months.

This is the first disarmament in Afghanistan that has been carried out voluntarily by factions. It is taking place under the auspices of the multi-party Security Commission in Mazar-e-Sharif, which is observed and facilitated by UNAMA. Both senior leaders of the Jamiat and Jumbish parties have also approved the exercise.

Commanders of the various factions have been instructed to bring their weapons to three collections points with elders supervising the process. Once collected the arms will be transported to military depots outside of Mazar-e-Sharif belonging to the various parties. There the weapons will be registered and kept under guard by Jamiat and Jumbesh forces. UNAMA, however, has the right to monitor the safekeeping of the arms.

UNAMA officials in Mazar report that so far, there has been unanimous support for the exercise by the people of the district, and that there has been widespread agreement that disarmament should continue and be expanded in the region.

Civil Service Commission

Work began yesterday on the rehabilitation of the identified premises of the Afghan Civil Service Commission office, which is located in the Prime Minister’s office.

The project, which should be completed by early August, is part of support by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to the Government to re-establish the Civil Service Commission.

UNDP, through the Afghan Interim Administration Fund (AIAF), has paid the salaries of Afghan public servants, including those located in the regions across the country. This programme of support has provided a major boost to getting the public service back to work.

During the past four months, UNDP has been working closely with an Expert Working Group of Afghan civil service specialists to lay the foundations for the re-establishment of the Civil Service Commission.

The Agency will develop a major program of support to the Commission. This will include dissemination of information on the role of the Commission with key civil service stakeholders and the public and providing initial inputs so this body can operate.

Justice sector

UNDP will also provide support to the recently established Afghan Judicial Commission. An initial project document, with Italian funding, was signed on 14 July. It will provide the Commission with an opportunity to develop a detailed plan of action to carry out its mandate over the next two years.

The key activities will include the physical establishment and equipping of the Commission and the commencement of a range discussions and workshops with other components of Afghanistan’s justice sector.

Special Representative of the Secretary-General of Afghanistan in New York

In New York, last Tuesday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan (SRSG), Lakhdar Brahimi, called on donors to take a more proactive role in support strategies, as he addressed a high level panel discussion on reaching vulnerable groups in complex humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters as well as in the transition from relief to development.

Mr. Brahimi was highlighting United Nations efforts to support Afghanistan’s transition in remarks to the panel discussion, which is part of the humanitarian segment of the Economic and Social Council’s 2002 substantive session.

The SRSG went on to say that in addition to pledging and providing funds, donors should agree on broad strategies, move towards support to Government, decide on donor coordination mechanisms, and encourage individual agencies to adopt a more comprehensive approach. He underlined that greater attention should be given to the critical role of NGOs in situations like Afghanistan adding that, “We will do our best to work out ways to more fully engage NGOs in strategic and operational planning”.

Mr. Brahimi also said there was also a growing congruence between the Afghan Government, the United Nations and other partners. The appointment of program groups last May was an essential element in the efforts to bring agencies and donors together.

Report of the Secretary-General

Due to its unavailability at the time of the briefing we were not able to provide a note on the latest report of United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on “The Situation in Afghanistan and its implication for international peace and security”. The note that follows is therefore an addition to the briefing.

The report describes the continued implementation of the Bonn Agreement, including the successful conclusion of the Emergency Loya Jirga held from 11 to 19 June 2002. According to the Secretary-General, despite some imperfections, it is noteworthy that such an enormous logistical undertaking as the Loya Jirga was carried out within a very tight schedule and accomplished the tasks of electing the Head of State and approving the structures and appointment of the Transitional Authority.

Mr. Annan also outlines the continuing challenges faced by both the Transitional Authority and the international community. One of the most important tasks ahead, he notes is to ensure sufficient funding for humanitarian and recovery activities. The report describes the organizational and operational progress made by the United Nations system in the areas of humanitarian relief, recovery and reconstruction. It notes, however, that donor funding has slowed dramatically, affecting the United Nations capacity to process the return of refugees as well as the Government’s ability to fund its basic services and extend its presence beyond Kabul.

The Secretary-General states that another major cause for concern continues to the issue of security. While the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has made a very positive impact on the security situation in Kabul, he points out that continuing insecurity in many parts of the country can impede and even set back progress on the political front and affect humanitarian activities. The Secretary-General therefore strongly advocates a limited expansion of ISAF beyond Kabul.

WHO Update - Loretta Hieber Girardet

The World Health Organization is concerned over unsubstantiated media reports of a cholera outbreak in Kabul. In our last press briefing we stated quite clearly that we had a serious problem of diarrhoeal disease here in Kabul with 6,000 cases. I also said quite clearly that there were only three cases of cholera and because of the fact that cholera can spread quite rapidly, the health measures that were being put in to place were designed to prevent the spread of disease. I mentioned chlorination of water as well as health education measures.

Unfortunately one of the international press agencies reported 6,000 cases of cholera in Kabul and this has resulted in widespread panic. I would really urge caution on the part of the media in reporting information like that as it can have very serious consequences in the country. Nowhere and at no time did any organization say that there was a cholera outbreak effecting 6,000 people in Kabul. If there are any questions about this information I would really request that you contact WHO, the United Nations or any other agency/authority on health issues before making this type of mistake. I cannot reiterate enough what problems and what panic one false media report has caused.

I have sent out some documents today once again saying that there is no cholera outbreak in Kabul and that there has been a high level of diarrhoeal disease due to the fact there is very warm weather and very poor water and sanitation in the city. I think it is really important to get that information straight so that we do not have the type of a panic and international reaction that have been caused one by false report.

UNHCR Update - Maki Shinohara

Good morning. First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Maki Shinohara and I am replacing Yusuf Hassan’s with whom you are very much familiar. I have officially been relocated from the Balkans, so I will be looking forward to working with you from here on.

First of all the figures; we expect assisted refugee return to reach 1.3 million by the end of today. These of course are the figures from Pakistan and Iran. And there are copies of maps available at the side of the room for you to take. They are provincial maps. The vast majorities of returnees are from urban areas in Pakistan, mainly those who had fled Afghanistan around the mid nineties.
To boost our continuing efforts to assist the initial reintegration stage of these returnees, we are making efforts to expedite our shelter program. This week we have agreed with a partner agency to deliver an additional 3,500 shelters, which brings the total number of contracted shelters to over 31,000 countrywide. The breakdown for your information is 9,200 in the west, 8,000 in the north, 8,000 in the central regions, 2,000 in east and 200 in the south. Over in Kandahar, construction is underway for a relocation site at Zara Dasht, west of Kandahar. Some of you might know that this is mainly a very temporary site to relocate those people who are stuck along the border area at Spin Boldak and Chaman. This site is designed to eventually accommodate up to 60,000 people. We hope of this relocation will start around the beginning of August and that it will be voluntary.

We are also taking measures to minimize the possibility that this new site might become a magnet especially for the local population. As much as possible, we are hiring, during this construction, local workers for the site construction and also installing wells and hand pumps in the surrounding communities that are hosting displaced people. Shelter assistance will be limited to the provision of tents and we will only be providing limited life-sustaining assistance at this site.

IOM Update - Iain Patterson

The International Organization of Migration (IOM) continues to provide transport assistance to IDPs seeking to return to their home communities across the Northern, Central and Western regions of Afghanistan.

Over the last 10 days, IOM has assisted over 10,000 IDPs to return to their communities, including 5,737 in the Northern region to villages in Balkh and Sar-i-Pul. From Herat, IOM has further assisted 4,256 to return to various destinations across the country.

Returns numbers from Kabul remain low, however, with only a fraction of those registering for assistance actually joining scheduled movements. Only 344 individuals have returned in the last week, compared with expectations of 4,420.

Slow funding of international agencies, however, continues to threaten new delays in the return process. IOM estimates there are some 440,000 IDPs in the Northern, Central and Western Regions of Afghanistan.

Current funding will allow IOM to assist a projected 108,000 of these individuals back to their home communities by the end of September. With assistance for so many still outstanding, the positive social and economic achievements associated with the return of some 200,000 IDPs across Afghanistan are being threatened.

WFP Update - Alejandro Chicheri

Today we have some talking points for you. The first is on a pastoralist (Kuchi) assessment that we are conducting in the southeast of the country. One expert has been recruited by the World Food Programme (WFP) and has given us preliminary information showing that the pastoralist community in Afghanistan has been heavily affected by the drought as well. The Kuchi groups are now concentrated in villages, towns, and camps for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) with insufficient or no livestock left to meet their food needs. The most severely affected areas that have been identified are in the Ghazni and Zabul provinces. The preliminary finding shows that it is difficult to provide a comprehensive overview of the situation. The total numbers and locations of Kuchis in Afghanistan are not known. They have adopted different livelihood strategies and migration patterns in different areas. Furthermore, communities are relatively isolated and grazing areas are often inaccessible

To end I have other news. Yesterday the Government of Luxembourg confirmed a donation of $490,678 towards the WFP Afghanistan Emergency Operation. This response, combined with carry-over stocks from the previous operations, covers 64 percent of the requirements or $183 million. We still face a shortfall of almost 175,000 metric tonnes of food worth approximately $102 million. This is all for now. I have more details in a press release, which I will give to you later on.

Conference on the Mine Ban Convention - David Singh

From 28-31 July a Conference on the International Convention to ban landmines will take place here in Kabul at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Here to tell you more about the upcoming event is Mr. Dan Kelly, Programme Manager of the Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan (MAPA)

Maca Update - Dan Kelly

Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning.

Together with the Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines (ACBL) and the International Campaign to Ban landmines (ICBL), we at the UN Mine Action Centre have been waiting with the Afghan administration and now the Transitional Government to hold a meeting in Kabul on banning land mines and mine action in Afghanistan.

That meeting/conference/ workshop will be held from 28 to 31 July. It will open with a ceremony at the Foreign Ministry on 28 July and special guests will include, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, who is the patron and honorary Chair of the Landmine Survivors Network; Jody Williams who is a noble peace prize winner; United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu; as well as Mr. Brahimi. They will all be part of the opening ceremony, along with many other top officials from both the Afghan Government and the United Nations.

It is important to understand the aim of this meeting workshop or conference or however you would like to call it. It is to assist the Afghan Administration in its analysis of the Landmine Convention - the legal framework that supports the creation of the global ban on landmines. In addition, at the meeting we will examine the practical aspects of mine action globally but specifically in the context over Afghanistan. These meetings or workshops will also provide the government representatives taking part with an opportunity to meet many international people employed in the mine action community and express Afghanistan’s needs for the future so as to help them to accede to the mine ban treaty.

In addition, government officials, donor countries and representatives from mine action-implementing organizations can also address resource mobilization. From the media point of view, media accreditation will be done through UNAMA’s, public information office. While media participation at the event will be only for the opening day and the opening ceremony, there will be daily press briefings.

Other media contacts are Fazal Karim, who is in charge of the ACBL. He will be available to speak at any time between now and the end of the month as will Sue Wixley, who is the media officer for the ICBL. She will be available to provide any information regarding ICBL and its work related to this conference. She will also help you with interviews with Jody Williams. This is probably enough information for now. There are some handouts available and also an agenda for the complete period 28-31 July.