Afghanistan: Aid distributed among families in Jawzjan

MAZAR-E-SHARIF (PAN): Food items, tents and household appliances were distributed to more than 600 displaced and returnee families in Shabarghan, capital of Jawazjan province. Mahbobullah Zari, spokesman of Jawzjan province told Pajhwok Afghan News that the donated items worth 250,000 US dollars included floor, rice, oil, beans, tea, soup, water thermoses and tents donated by China. According to him this was a segment of the a million US dollars assistance of the Chinese government assigned for the returnees and displaced people of Jawzjan, Balkh, Faryab, Sar-e-Pul provinces. Zari adds that the assistance was requested by Jawzjan governor in a meeting of heads of Northern provinces held in Mazar-e-Sharif. Mohammad Rahman, who returned along with his seven family members a year ago from Pakistan, said that he received 75 kg rice, 50 kg, wheat floor, 36 cooking oil, four thermoses and a tent. He added that the received assistance will be sufficient for one month consumption, and that they should also be given assistance for the winter other wise they will face shortage of edibles in the winter. He said that his family was by then living in one small room accommodation, and that they will spread the tent in their veranda and benefit from it. He complained that it was hard to find work and he faced difficulty in feeding his family. Zari said that the province accommodates a total of 65,000 displaced families majority of whom had been displaced by cold weather of last winter. Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) said that due to harsh winter last year in 1700 human beings and tens of thousands animals were lost in Kunduz, Takhar, Faryab, Balkh, Jawzjan, Heart, Ghor, and parts of other provinces.