Although nearly a quarter of a million
Afghans have returned to Afghanistan in the last two months alone, some
40,000 are still trying to enter Pakistan at the Chaman border crossing.
The group has been gathered for months trying to gain entry into the country.
Basic living conditions have been deteriorating and there is a growing
threat of an outbreak of infectious diseases.
Helping Those in Need
To date, nearly $7 million has been supplied for emergency needs in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The funds have come from a variety of sources including CRS commitments, private donors, Caritas agencies and the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. Thanks to this support, CRS has reached hundreds of thousands of people in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In addition, CRS has a major fundraising initiative under way to help refugees in Pakistan and to help the Afghan people in post-war recovery in Afghanistan. The agency is beginning to concentrate its efforts on longer-term projects in accelerated learning for out-of-school youth, agriculture, water management and infrastructure reconstruction. The agency will continue to work with local and international partners in both countries, as well as with a consortium of Caritas agencies to further relief efforts in the region. Activities to date include:
Afghanistan
CRS is providing $1.2 million to rehabilitate six schools in Nahrin after an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter Scale hit the area in late March. The earthquake devastated the area and left many in need of basic supplies. Immediately following the quake, CRS responded by providing families with 1,000 stoves with a month's supply of coal, along with 1,000 kitchen sets of pots, plates, cups and eating utensils for a family of six. CRS also collaborated with local partners to distribute 3,100 tents, 12,000 blankets and 1,500 winter jackets to those most in need
CRS is working with an international partner to provide a three-month supply of food to 89,700 drought-affected people (17,250 families) in the Herat and Bagdis provinces.
CRS and its partners are also working to distribute tents to 2,540 beneficiaries (489 families) in the Tora Bora region whose houses were destroyed during the conflict. CRS also plans to distribute household necessities such as blankets, stoves and kitchen sets to families in the area.
CRS is working with local partner Coordination of Afghan Relief (CoAR) to rehabilitate classrooms and water/sanitation facilities in two schools in Kabul. The schools, though structurally sound, have been seriously damaged by war and neglect.
Pakistan
CRS is supporting local partner, Afghan Foundation For Women in the training of 60 women as hygiene promoters in the Nasir Bagh refugee camp outside Peshawar.
CRS will work with local partner Pak-CDP to provide 2,000 family latrines, 2,000 washstands and health/hygiene training in two refugee camps, Asharo 1 & 2, in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan.
CRS, in conjunction with local partner Pak-CDP, has constructed 600 latrines and 34 water reservoirs in the Old Bagzai refugee camp in the Northwest Frontier Province. Each of the reservoirs holds 2,100 to 2,600 gallons of much needed water. In addition, Pak-CDP recently began construction on 400 communal washrooms. CRS and its local partners began providing water and sanitation to a second camp in early February.
Health hygiene education training for women began in the Old Bagzai camp at the end of February. The goal is to train 100 women who will each be responsible for training 20 families in health and personal hygiene.
Last year, the agency worked in conjunction with local partner Ockenden International to distribute food, clothing and art and educational materials to 3,184 Afghan refugee children in the Shamshatoo refugee camp and sponsored an art contest among the children. The artwork of the contest winners was selected for an exhibit in the Capital Children's Museum in Washington, D.C., which ran from late February to June. Due to the enormous success of last year's competition, CRS and Ockenden have decided to repeat the competition this year.
Background
The people of Afghanistan are deeply suffering from earthquakes, droughts, locusts and years of war. CRS continues to work with Caritas partners and, most recently, has been providing aid through local partners Coordination of Afghan Relief (CoAR), Afghan Relief Committee and others, and through international aid organizations to reach those most in need of help. CRS has been assisting the people of Afghanistan for the last ten years and in 1997 briefly led the newly formed Caritas Organizations for Aid to Afghanistan (COFAA). CRS has been a contributing member ever since and this cooperative effort on the part of CRS, Caritas Germany, Caritas France and Caritas Denmark focuses on humanitarian assistance, health, education and infrastructure rehabilitation.
Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan, is also being challenged by multiple crises ranging from flooding to drought to sheltering Afghan refugees fleeing drought and war. CRS has been working in Pakistan for nearly 50 years. The agency began its work in Pakistan by providing emergency aid, but expanded its activities to include providing small-business loans to women in support of economic self-sufficiency, promoting education, and supporting conflict resolution initiatives aimed at promoting harmony between religious groups. Even during these uncertain times, all of CRS' regular work in Pakistan continues uninterrupted
CRS works in more than 80 countries and territories around the world to promote peace and justice and remains committed to helping those in need wherever they may be regardless of creed. Realizing that the needs of those affected by the current crisis will continue for a long time to come, the agency intends to continue relief efforts and to contribute to long-term reconstruction efforts for as long as necessary.
Your support is needed.
If you would like to make an on-line donation, please click Contribute Now.
Donations can also be made by calling:
1-800-736-3467
or by sending checks to:
P.O. Box 17090
Baltimore, Maryland 21203-7090.
Copyright=A92002 CRS