TALKING POINTS
The international community is seeking
to mobilize USD 148 million for the parliamentary elections
A high-level donor conference was held yesterday in Kabul . The tentative operational plan for the parliamentary elections was presented to donors. The United Nations also disclosed that it is seeking to mobilize US $148 million to ensure a fair and transparent electoral process in 2005. In a welcome move to support the process, the United States announced a contribution of US $12 million for the elections.
As explained in the operational plan, the Joint Electoral Management Body ( JEMB) , in charge of implementing the modalities of the elections, estimates that the elections will involve nearly 8,000 national and international staff, with an additional 180,000 people being employed around Election Day. All polling staff will receive extensive training by JEMB Secretariat staff.
The JEMB Secretariat expects to engage directly with up to 10,000 candidates, design 69 different ballots, and print and distribute up to 40 million ballots. The JEMB will also carry out a public outreach campaign that will have many more complex messages than the previous election.
The donor conference follows a meeting held last Tuesday when the JEMB consulted with leaders and members of political parties - representatives of 31 out of 50 invited political parties.
All participants expressed their opinion on the election date. As provided by the Electoral Law, the JEMB will further consult with the government on the issue of the date of the elections. Article 37 of Electoral Law provides that the JEMB has to consult registered political parties and the government prior to any decision related to date of the election.
For more details on the American contribution and the donor conference, you will find a press release on the side table.
Click here for the English version of the UNDP Press Release.
NDI continues training sessions for upcoming elections
The National Democratic Institute's (NDI) continues efforts to train party members and independent candidates for the upcoming Parliamentary Elections.
This week's training, which is being held in Bamyan, Kabul , Kunduz, Jalalabad, Heart , Khost, Kandahar , and Mazar, is entitled "Candidates and Parliamentarians".
The two-day course is based on the responsibilities and tasks candidates can expect during an election campaign. The aim is to provide potential candidates with an understanding of their role - either for a political party or as an independent candidate.
Each of the eight training centers of NDI will be putting up to 35 to 40 participants through the training every two days. This week's course will continue until late April.
Afterwards the next module will begin. It will be entitled "Political Party Organization and Management."
Flood preparation and response update
Yesterday UNAMA received reports of flooding in a number of villages in the Dahana-I Ghori district of Baghlan Province. Early indications from the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) suggest that ten villages and 321 families have been affected.
The Provincial Governor, representatives of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) and of the PRT met with the police in Dahana-I Ghori this morning. The ARCS will be coordinating local NGOs response and has made a list of affected families. The PRT is the focal point for regional aid organizations. All assistance will be brought to Dahana-I Ghori city and distributed from there. The PRT already provided food to affected families last night. Local authorities and the ARCS will continue food distribution today. All efforts are being coordinated with the Provincial Governor.
Last night we also received reports of flooding in the Zurmat district of Paktya Province. At the request of the Governor, a joint assessment team, including UNAMA, has gone to the affected areas to assess the situation.
Floods destroyed six family homes and damaged 30 others in the district of Tamasdy Kamaz near Mazar-e Sharif. UNAMA is liaising with ARCS and the World Food Programme (WFP) to come up with the swift delivery of food and non-food items to the people affected.
In Nimroz Province - in Chakhansur district - where some four hundred houses have been damaged by floods last week, representatives from the Kandahar Department of Public Health have handed over 60 kg of essential medicines to authorities of Nimroz for the health centre. This goes in addition to .the humanitarian assistance already provided by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society last week.
In terms of flood preparations, WFP is currently making plans for potential flooding in the South, in Kandahar , Helmand and Nimroz provinces. Food pre-positioning is underway.
In co-operation with the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), 45 metric tons of food is being distributed to 822 Kuchi families (5,000 people) in the Daman district of Kandahar province. Six hundred twenty-eight metric tons of food for 6,200 families (37,000 people) will be moved to Helmand this week, and 275 metric tons of food for 2500 families (15,000 people) is planned for Nimroz. Similarly, 660 metric tons of food left from the WFP warehouse in Kandahar for delivery to central Uruzgan. In the end a total of 1650 metric tons of food will assist some 90,000 people in the province.
Finally in Kabul , representatives of the Department of Disaster Preparedness (DDP), UN agencies and national and international NGOs, participated in a workshop on flash floods - which are floods happening very quickly and without notice. The workshop, organized by the British NGO Tearfund, reviewed the impact of flash floods, and detailed how NGOs can help prepare communities to respond.
44,087 soldiers have disarmed since the beginning of DDR
44,087 soldiers and officers have disarmed since the start of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process in October 2003.
The Afghan New Beginnings Programme (ANBP) now expects to disarm a further 16,000 military personnel by the end of the disarmament phase in June this year. That would bring the total disarmed to 60,000 officers and soldiers.
Of the more than 44,000 who have handed over their weapons, 40,004 have formally left the military through the demobilization process. This involves swearing an oath never to use weapons against fellow Afghans again and the presentation of a medal of honor from the Government of Afghanistan.
Thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight (38,968) personnel have either graduated from or are still in the reintegration process. This phase prepares individuals for a normal civilian life by providing them with job skills training, or support to start a small business.
Heavy weapons collection remains at a slow pace as poor weather and road conditions make it difficult to pick up the few remaining heavy weapons in Afghanistan . The total number of heavy weapons that have been placed in secure compounds and deactivated is 8,676.
Human Rights Training
In Jalalabad, UNAMA and Save the Children-Sweden will hold a workshop for teachers on the Rights of the Child today. The workshop, the first in a series of four workshops on this subject, will take place in Jalalabad High School .
Also in Nangahar last Sunday, UNAMA and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) delivered a one-day joint human rights training in Batikot district to approximately 175 people. The training, the first of its kind in this area, focused on principles such as in the Universal declaration of human rights as well as women and children's rights. A follow-up workshop specifically on women's rights will take place next month.
In Baghlan province the AIHRC concluded a four-day mission to Kahmard district. The mission was led by the women's rights unit and included training on domestic violence and forced marriage.
Transitional Justice Workshop
Last Tuesday, 18 human rights NGOs attended a one-day workshop on transitional justice jointly organized by the Human Rights Unit of UNAMA and the AIHRC.
The objectives of the workshop were to provide a forum for discussions on the process of transitional justice in Afghanistan and to explore the possible role of civil society.
The AIHRC explained their process of consultation with more than 6000 Afghans on ways to address past human rights abuses, a process which led to the release of the report "A Call for Justice". It also elaborated on recommendations for the involvement of the civil society in the proposed national strategy for transitional justice.
It was decided to continue the series of joint workshops with NGOs to help develop a strategy for their participation in the transitional justice process.
Briefing by Edward Carwardine, UNICEF Public Information Officer
As Afghanistan prepares for its New Year celebrations this weekend, millions of children will also be readying themselves for the start of another academic year, scheduled to begin on 22 March.
The Afghan Ministry of Education and UNICEF expect more than 4 million children to return to school in most parts of the country from next week. Over the last three years more children than ever before in history have enrolled for classes across Afghanistan , and education planners expect student numbers to increase again in 2005.
In preparation for the return, UNICEF and the Ministry of Education have been working to provide basic classroom stationery and materials to schools nationwide. The harsh winter has caused some delays in distribution with some materials held up en route from Pakistan , and classroom kits for northern provinces delayed in transit from Kabul . Despite the difficult conditions, the Ministry of Education's Logistics Centre in the capital has now prepared tens of thousands of student kits , containing materials such as exercise books, pens, pencils and other stationery for more than 2 million children, as well as teacher stationery kits for 94,000 teachers, which have now arrived in the provinces. T he full distribution to an estimated 4.3 million children is expected to be completed by mid-April.
The Ministry's Logistics Centre itself demonstrates major developments in national capacity in the education sector. In 2002 the centre was managed by UNICEF, but over the last two years the operation has been handed over to the Ministry - which now has full responsibility for the packing and distribution effort. At present the Centre is producing 5,000 student and teacher stationery kits per day to meet the demands of schools around the country.
While some 1.2 million girls have enrolled in Afghanistan 's primary schools since 2002, more than 1 million primary school age girls are still not attending classes. In addition to the support being provided for classroom materials and curriculum development, UNICEF and the Ministry of Education are focusing efforts on developing learning opportunities for girls in communities with no formal school, with the aim of providing education for an additional 500,000 girls in 2005.
UNICEF is receiving generous financial assistance from a number of donors to its education programme in Afghanistan , including Japan , the United States , Sweden and Norway amongst other supporters .
Questions & Answers
Question: With regard to the Afghan elections, most Afghan political parties disagree with the electoral system for the elections. What do you think about this? Do you think that in this case we will have a legitimate parliament?
Senior Public Information Officer: I do not think any decision has been taken yet. What is going on is a consultative process, whereby the JEMB has to consult with political parties, with the government, on a certain number of decisions related to the elections. One of them is the electoral system that is going to be chosen. So in the last five days, there were two types of consultations held by the JEMB. One type was about a certain number of issues including the electoral system. The other was about the date of the elections. These are consultations as envisioned by the electoral law. The decision, which is going to be taken, has not been made yet. So I do not think we can speculate on the legitimacy of the elections while we are still in a consultative process, where there are consultations between the different players in the elections.
Question: Will the JEMB or the Independent Electoral Commission promise to pay attention to the ideas and suggestions of political parties?
Senior Public Information Officer: We are talking about a process of consultation. This is not a process of promising or decision-making. This is a process of exchanging views and exchanging ideas, saying why such a process would have this advantage or shortcoming. I think this is where we are - this is something, which is a legal obligation according to the electoral law. But it is also an exchange of information between various players. What decision is going to come out of that is where we are right now. There are discussions about what is the best technical system, the best political system - what are the plusses and minuses for each system, and I do not think we can go any further, they are consultations right now.
Question: What are the reports about the victims or people affected by the floods in Paktya Province ?
Senior Public Information Officer: A joint assessment team is leaving today at the request of the Governor. It is very hard to be precise and that is the reason why we are sending a team down to the affected areas in Paktya to know exactly what happened. Whether we are talking about houses being damaged, houses being destroyed, what type of victims we have, how many there are, what type of assistance they will need, of course. Only when they return will we be able to have a final assessment. We have sent this team as soon as possible. We had a report last night, as I am talking the team is on the road or even in the area. We will get back to you as soon as I know more about it.