Afghanistan: Floods - May 2007

Year by year hundreds of family homes, household plots and large agricultural areas used to be threatened by flood waves on the Darya-Baghlan river in Baghlani Jadid District, Afghanistan. For example, in the spring of this year, when the flood hit two villages, namely Qarabaraq and Balucha, local people had to use boats to move around.

This report covers the period 01/01/2006 to 31/12/2007 of a two-year planning and appeal process.

In brief

Programme summary

The security situation in the country has deteriorated steadily over the two years, leading to some decreased implementation rate of the programmes, and consequently support from the partners also declined over the two years in some areas.

Due principally to these factors, the disaster management (DM) programme budget was revised down almost 40 per cent in 2006-2007.

This report covers the period 01/01/06 to 31/12/07 of a two-year planning and appeal process.

In brief

Programme summary:

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Following the fall of the Taliban in November 2001 the international community made a huge commitment to Afghanistan. Donors pledged considerable amounts for reconstruction at international conferences in Tokyo (2002), Berlin (2004) and at the London conference in January 2006. With the increasing impact of this post-emergency aid DG ECHO progressively scaled down the amount and range of its funding, from 73,000,000 EUR in 2002 to 22,500,000 EUR in 2006.

• Flash floods, heavy snow fall, landslides, disease outbreaks and armed conflict have affected thousands of Afghan children and their families since the beginning of this year.

  - Some parts of the country in Northern and Western regions still suffer from the effects of the drought.

  - The deteriorating security situation hampers humanitarian operations and access to affected populations

  - UNICEF urgently requires US$ 7 million to respond to the needs of children and women

  1.

22/2007

July 23, 2007, Vienna, Austria - The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has approved a grant of US$1 million to provide essential relief supplies and support emergency operation for victims of a spate of natural disasters in South Asia.

Introduction

In regions wracked by violence or submerged by floods, the first emergency is how to deliver enough food as quickly and efficiently as possible. Here are some of the crises counted among WFP's "global hotspots".

Afghanistan

Food movement from Spinboldak to Hirat route (through Kandahar-Farah province) continues to be suspended due to the increasing security concerns over the last weeks.

WFP's office in Hirat has not received any food since the beginning of June; stocks of wheat are critically low at 550 mt.

Introduction

Introduction

Hungry people across the globe in desperate situations are reliant on WFP food.

HUMANITARIAN ISSUES & EMERGENCY RESPONSE

IN THIS ISSUE:

- 91 people killed or injured in suicide attacks

- Hostages released

- NGO staff member shot dead

- Mullah Dadullah is killed

- Meshrano Jirga calls for "direct negotiations" with the Taliban

- Iran deports over 85,000 Afghans

- 83 civilians reported killed in operations by the US military

Security

Terrorist attacks carried out during May, in the context of the ongoing insurgency, would appear to have been targeted at the full cross-section of those associated with the international presence, including government officials, police and …

From Afghanistan to Sudan, WFP is on the frontline of crises across the globe.

Kabul, Afghanistan - The Dutch Ambassador to Kabul H.E. Hans Blankenberg, signed a contribution agreement providing humanitarian assistance to the families recently affected by flooding in the Deh Rawood District of Uruzgan Province. The agreement was signed with the Secretary General of the Afghan Red Crescent Society Mr.

TALKING POINTS

Welcome, all, to this weeks's UNAMA press briefing. As usual we have a few updates on UN activities from around the country, before we go to your questions.

UPDATE ON IRAN RETURNEES

Over the last few days, IOM, in coordination with representatives from UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF and UNAMA led an assessment mission to the transit centre in Farah province, where Afghan migrants recently deported from Iran are being helped before returning to their places of origin around the country.

KABUL, May 16 (Reuters) - Floods triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 24 people and destroyed more than 800 homes in Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan province, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

Several other people have gone missing since the downpour started overnight and hit various parts of the remote and impoverished province on the border with China, Pakistan and Tajikistan, the ministry said.

It urged local and foreign aid groups to help the victims.

After years of successive harsh drought, Afghanistan had heavy snow and rainfall this …

FAIZABAD, 16 May 2007 (IRIN) - Flash floods and heavy rainfall have killed more than 24 people and damaged over 530 houses in several districts of the northeastern Afghan province of Badakhshan, the country's Interior Ministry reported on Wednesday.

Flooding also inflicted serious agricultural damage and killed dozens of farm animals in the isolated and impoverished province.

"We call upon all national and international relief organisations to dispatch urgent humanitarian assistance to the victims of Tuesday's flash floods in Badakhshan," read a press release issued …

The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in 185 countries.

In Brief

This Bulletin (no. 01/2007) is being issued for information only, and reflects the status of the situation and information available at this time.

HIGHLIGHTS

World cereal production in 2007 remains on course to reach a record level of 2 095 million tonnes, but with some major crops yet to be planted, the forecast is still tentative.

Based on the current 2007 production outlook, global cereal supplies are forecast to increase in the new 2007/08 marketing season.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, May 6 (Reuters) - Floods killed at least 12 people in Afghanistan's Samangan province, the governor said on Sunday, raising the death toll from flooding in the mountainous north of the country to 36 in the past week.

Dozens of houses were destroyed when the Samangan River burst its banks on Saturday and government help was needed to prevent further flooding, provincial governor Abdul Haq Shafaq told Reuters.

Further east in remote Badakhshan province, 23 Afghans and a Czech soldier serving with NATO were killed on Thursday in flooding and …

FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, May 4 (Reuters) - Floods triggered by heavy rain killed 23 Afghans and a NATO soldier, and destroyed scores of houses in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Badakhshan, officials said on Friday.

Authorities were searching for some missing people after the flooding, which hit on Thursday night in an area of the impoverished and mountainous province near the border with Tajikistan, China and Pakistan, the provincial governor said.

"The people are in a very bad state," Munshi Abdul Majid said.

A soldier with the NATO-led forces died in another …