Afghanistan Weekly Update No. 418

Statement of the Emergency Relief Coordinator
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Kenzo Oshima, is relieved to learn that four Afghan women working with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Kabul, Afghanistan, have been released from custody on 23 June after a three-day detention by Taliban authorities. The USG is however concerned about the increasing harassment and abuse of Afghan national staff of the UN and NGO community and restrictions against programmes that attempt to help women as well as men.

Humanitarian aid currently reaches well over four million people in Afghanistan, one of the world's worst crisis areas. Yet the recent pattern of harassment represents a general narrowing of space available for humanitarian agencies to operate effectively. Such behavior may limit the ability of aid agencies to continue helping Afghans in need. He called upon the Taliban to take immediate steps to improve the working environment of the humanitarian community.

IDP Situation in Northeast

The number of the IDPs in the Khoja Bahauddin camps has increased. Approximately 300 new families from Khwagaghar, Dasht-I-Archi, and southern Dasht-I-Qala, and Shar-I-Buzurg have arrived. Most of the families are without shelter. Displacement from Rustaq and Chah Ab because of the weather has also been noted.

WFP screened the IDP list for Faizabad and identified 1,400 out of 2,051 who constituted genuine IDPs. After agreement with the authorities, WFP will conduct a food distribution and move on to Keshem, Argu, Rustaq and Chah Ab districts. An al-location for 5,000 families is available of 100 kilos per family. In addition, 1,000 IDP children in schools in Faizabad will receive wheat through the Food-for- Education project.

ICRC has implemented an ongoing distribution in Yangi Qala, Khoja Bahauddin and Dasht-I Qala. It is expected that the distribution will be concluded by the end of June.

SNI is completing their last round of food distribution for host families supporting IDPs in Dasht-I-Qala for 4,000 families and 1,100 host families. This includes oil, beans, sandalis (stoves), latrine construction (home repairs for host families). In Rustaq SNI will assist 800 families. SNI also in-tends to set up irrigation projects in Dasht-I Qala and Shar-I-Buzurg, which will benefit IDPs and the local population. Moreover, the Faizabad bakery may continue, if the funds are available. In addition, plans to build semi-permanent shelters for 50 families in the Amniyat camp in Faizabad have been made, and IDP schools in Rustaq and Dasht-I Qala have been set up and provided with supplies received from UNICEF.

The NGO Concern has completed their last food distribution in April for 200 families in Rustaq and 400 families in Dasht-I-Qala. They plan to conduct a nutritional survey of IDPs in Dasht-I-Qala. They also plan for autumn food distributions of complimentary half rations from August to November for 1,000 families in Dasht-I Qala and 300 families in Rustaq, and to provide 500 winterized tents for the families in Nawabad district.

UNICEF Supports Disability Programme in Afghanistan

The protection and promotion of rights programme of UNICEF Afghanistan supports a number of local initiatives for disabled children and women in Afghanistan. UNICEF provides financial, material and technical assistance to various disability agencies. Technical support is provided to share information and information materials on disability, to build technical capacity, and to strengthen the monitoring and reporting capacity of the agencies. Increased outreach and inter-sectoral coordination are also supported. In addition, UNICEF supports Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal (SGAA), the Afghan Amputee Bicyclists for Rehabilitation and Recreation (AABRAR) in Jalalabad, the Hearing Impaired Foundation of Afghanistan (HIFA) and Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Support for Afghanistan (SGAA, AABRAR, PARSA) in Kabul, Visually Impaired Services in Afghanistan (IAM, VISA) in Mazar, and the Comprehensive Disabled Afghans' Programme (CDAP) in Herat and Kandahar.

UNICEF also supports community based rehabilitation, vocational training and literacy interventions for disabled children and women. The above mentioned partners reach over 11,000 children and women directly and indirectly on a yearly basis.

UNICEF advocates with its partners for the principle of non-discrimination, and supports only programmes, which reach girls and boys and women and men.

USA Donates Food Aid for Afghan Refugees

The World Food Programme (WFP) received 3,500 tons of wheat to feed 65,000 newly arrived Afghan refugees in camps near Peshawar.

This year the USA also pledged 1,000 tons of pulses worth over US$ 400,000 to WFP's emergency operation to assist refugees who fled Afghanistan.

Aside from helping the refugees in Pakistan, the USA is also the largest donor to WFP's humanitarian operations within Afghanistan.

IDP Registration in Herat

The temporary registration liaison unit (RLU) is working to assess the registration of new IDPs. This unit consists of the representatives of four UN agencies (WFP, IOM, UNICEF, and UNHCR), representative of the governor's office, the Ministry of Martyrs and Repatriation (MMR) and the NGO HRS.

According to the registration unit, a total of 2,079 families arrived at Maslakh camp last week. It has been decided that Maslakh camp would be closed in the next two months. In order to improve registration and determine the real figures of new IDPs, three check posts in three different directions outside of Herat City are being established. These would be located about 50 to 70 km away from the city in Adraskan, Karukh and Koshk Robat Sangi districts of Herat province. The posts will certify IDPs and forward them to the reception area in Herat where they will be registered before being settled in the camps.

The sixth round of free food distribution at the rate of 7 kilos per person was completed for five of the six IDP camps in Herat. In Maslakh camp, due to the greater number of people, the fifth round of distribution is still in progress. The distribution of wheat soya blend porridge for children under fifteen and lactating and pregnant women (averaging 50,053 recipients per day) continues in the camps along with Food-for-Work (FFW) and institutional feeding projects for malnourished children.

WHO Conducts Workshop

WHO conducted a one-week workshop for 17 provincial health directors on primary health care at the district level with the involvement of community participation in Jalalabad City. The health directors were from remote provinces of the north, south and west such as Badghis, Ghor, Nimroz, Farah, Urozgan, Samangan and Saripul provinces. The participants who were all non-medical professionals appreciated the insight into primary health care.

Chlorination of Water Sources in Kabul

WHO initiated a water chlorination project in collaboration with MoPH, WFP, UNI-CEF and the community in Kabul, as a life saving measure against cholera and other diarrhea diseases. The project is to contribute towards decreasing mortality rates due to water-borne diseases like cholera and other diarrhea diseases. About 1.5 million inhabitants of Kabul City will benefit from the project.

A project implementation team was formed to co-ordinate the project activities that includes chlorination of water distribution reservoirs door to door hygienic education, and analysis of water samples. The sanitation section of WHO will provide continuous monitoring of the project. The demonstration chlorination has been installed and tested, and the water distribution reservoirs to be chlorinated have been identified.