U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
Note: This Situation Report updates previous Central Asia Task Force Situation Reports and Fact Sheets. New information is italicized.
BACKGROUND
Two decades of war in Afghanistan, including a decade-long Soviet occupation and ensuing civil strife, left Afghanistan impoverished and mired in an extended humanitarian crisis. Government infrastructure, including the ability to deliver the most basic health, education, and other social services, collapsed. Severe restrictions by the Taliban, including a restriction on women working outside the home, added to the impact of poverty, particularly on the many households lacking able-bodied adult men. A devastating regional drought compounded the crisis, drying up wells, parching agricultural land, killing off livestock, collapsing rural economies, and eventually exhausting the coping mechanisms of many ordinary Afghans, forcing them to leave their homes in search of food and water.
International relief agencies, with support from the United States (U.S.), have long been active in providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, even during the restrictive years of the Taliban. On October 7, 2001, a Coalition-led military campaign against al Qaeda and Taliban forces began, and by December 2001, the Taliban had collapsed. The new Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) was sworn in on December 22, 2001, increasing humanitarian access to the country and beginning the process of reconstruction. Hundreds of thousands of refugee and internally displaced families have returned to their homes to assist in the rebuilding. The U.S. Agency for International Development's Disaster Assistance Response Team (USAID/DART) began its emergency coordination work in response to the regional drought in June 2001, and a USAID/OFDA Program Office in Kabul continues to assess the humanitarian needs of vulnerable Afghans, and to monitor the relief programs of its implementing partners.
Afghanistan: Numbers at a Glance
Total population (CIA Factbook): 26,813,057
Refugees Since January 1, 2002 (UNHCR)
Pakistan: 60,000
Iran: unknown
Old Caseload Refugees (UNHCR)
Pakistan: 2,000,000
Iran: 1,500,000
Refugee Returns Since January 1, 2002 (UNHCR)
Pakistan (voluntary assisted since March
1): 923,638
Pakistan (spontaneous): 180,000
Iran (voluntary assisted since April 9): 77,399
Iran (spontaneous): 61,000
Tajikistan: Pyandj River (voluntary assisted): 8,952
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan: 1,000
Kyrgyzstan: 33
Internally Displaced (UNDP/OCHA)
Total as of February 20, 2002: 920,000
north and northeast: 500,000
south and west: 420,000
Internally Displaced Returns Since January 1, 2002 (IOM)
To Kabul (spontaneous): 64,750
To northeast (spontaneous): 117,000
To Shomali Plain
from Panjshir Valley (voluntary assisted):
8,000
from Kabul (voluntary assisted): 14,625
To Bamiyan (voluntary assisted): 1,300
From Herat (voluntary assisted): 55,000
From Mazar-e-Sharif (voluntary assisted): 48,000
From Bamiyan (voluntary assisted): 8,200
From Jalalabad (voluntary assisted): 15,538
From Spin Boldak (voluntary assisted): 1,255
FY 2001/2002 U.S. Government (USG)
Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan*: $609,477,015
FY 2001/2002 USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan: $88,208,180
CURRENT SITUATION
Overview. The Loya Jirga ended this week with Hamid Karzai sworn in as president of the new transitional government. Rising insecurity in the north threatened relief operations, and a rocket exploded near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Locust eradication efforts neared completion, with estimates indicating minimal locust damage to crops. Refugee returns declined in recent weeks, though overall returns passed the one million mark. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) began returns for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from camps in the north and west.
Political/Military. The Loya Jirga, a council of 1,650 Afghan delegates, met from June 11-19 to determine a two-year transitional government. On June 13, the Loya Jirga elected Hamid Karzai, the interim leader in Afghanistan since December 2001, to serve as president. Karzai was sworn in as president on June 19 after naming 14 ministers of his Executive Cabinet, three deputy presidents, and a chief justice, which the Loya Jirga approved.
Karzai changed one of the top three cabinet posts (defense, interior, and foreign ministers), which were held in the interim government by ethnic Tajiks from the Panjshir Valley. Karzai reappointed Mohammed Fahim as defense minister and Abdullah Abdullah as foreign minister, but chose a Pashtun (Afghanistan's largest ethnic group), Taj Mohammed Wardak, as the new interior minister. Yunus Qanooni, the former interior minister, was named education minister. Karzai's Cabinet selections did not include any of the major warlords, who continue to exercise power in their respective regions. The new transition government assumes power on June 22.
The Loya Jirga ended without selecting a new legislature due to intensive debates about the procedure for choosing legislative representatives. Karzai has proposed that a smaller group of Loya Jirga members continue working on legislative appointments.
On June 20, Turkey assumed control of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a multinational peacekeeping force enhancing security in Kabul. Britain had led the ISAF for the past six months.
Security. Four rockets were fired in Kabul on June 18, one of which exploded near the U.S. Embassy. Another rocket reportedly landed near former king Zahir Shah's residence. According to the ISAF, none of the rockets caused injuries.
Rising insecurity has been reported in the Khost area, and shopkeepers have closed their stores in protest. Factional fighting in the Zaranj area continues to keep the Milak-Zaranj border crossing on the Afghanistan-Iran border closed. Factional fighting was also reported last week near Bamiyan.
A series of violent incidents in northern Afghanistan has a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the area considering withdrawal. On June 16, a clearly marked NGO vehicle was fired on near Rostaq City, Takhar Province. Two NGO staff were injured and received medical treatment. On June 14, a vehicle belonging to a U.S. NGO was attacked while delivering food to IDPs. The NGO has since pulled out of Afghanistan. On June 13, gunmen from rival factions fired on a health clinic run by an NGO in Sholgara in northern Balkh Province. A female international aid worker was raped on June 8 when her vehicle and the Afghan staff accompanying her were attacked in northern Afghanistan. Local authorities in the northern area, which is controlled by three warlords, did not take action once informed of the incidents. U.N. Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has raised the issue of rising violence against aid workers with Hamid Karzai.
Locusts. USAID/OFDA program staff in Kabul met with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for an update on locust control efforts. FAO, with USAID/OFDA and British Department for International Development (DFID) support, and in cooperation with the AIA, local authorities, and international organizations, has been coordinating a program of manual and chemical eradication since the early spring. FAO reported that the crop protection segment of the locust program is finished, except for the high altitude areas. A campaign against Sunn Pest continues at higher elevations.
A comprehensive survey of crop damage has not been conducted since a survey of egg laying beds, which is already underway, is more useful for protection efforts next year. The survey area is also too large to cover during the short harvest time. Locust damage to crops is estimated to be low in Takhar and Kunduz provinces. Samangan Province experienced an estimated five to seven percent damage to crops due to the volume of locusts and rain fed crops requiring a longer period of protection. In Baghlan Province, irrigated areas experienced minimal damage, while rain fed areas are estimated to have five percent damage.
FAO indicated that next year's locust problem could be worse because of the high numbers of locusts laying eggs, and the likely increase in crops that will be planted and require protection. However, the crop protection response should improve with the survey information on egg bed locations and a longer preparation period.
Food Aid and Logistics. Since September 11, 2001, WFP, with support from USAID, has delivered 519,604 MT of food into Afghanistan, assisting some 9.8 million Afghans. In early June, WFP dispatched 8,600 MT of food to its implementing partners throughout Afghanistan. About 2,800 MT of food went to the Central area of Afghanistan, which had experienced a drastic reduction in food dispatches.
WFP continues to experience constraints in their food pipeline due to insufficient supply. WFP has managed to significantly reduce the impact of pipeline lags on key programs, and has reallocated existing stocks and incoming commodities through July to reflect changing requirements in each of the regions. WFP has also carefully prioritized allocation of stocks to drought-affected, displaced and returning populations. Expansion of Food For Work, Food For Education, and urban vulnerable programs will be delayed until the pipeline improves.
IDPs and Refugees. More than a million Afghan refugees have been assisted in returning home since the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the AIA began their voluntary repatriation program on March 1 in coordination with neighboring governments. The majority of returnees are coming from Pakistan, and exceeded initial yearly planning figures of 400,000 for Pakistan in the first two months of the program. UNHCR has since tripled its planning figures for Pakistan, but is maintaining its original estimate of 400,000 returns from Iran.
The number of returns steadily rose in May, with 100,000 Afghans returning in a single week for three weeks in a row. In early June, assisted returns decreased significantly for the first time since the March 1 start of repatriation. Some 72,000 returnees were recorded between June 4 and June 10, and there were 56,851 returns from June 11 to June 17. The decrease may in part be attributed to refugees waiting on the outcome of the Loya Jirga before deciding to return. UNHCR staff in Pakistan have also cited rumors circulating among refugees of reduced humanitarian assistance inside Afghanistan.
Although returns from Pakistan have declined recently, the number of Afghans repatriating from Islamabad and Rawalpindi has increased due to police harassment in Pakistan. UNHCR has raised the issue with authorities in Islamabad. Overall, more than 923,638 Afghans have voluntarily returned from Pakistan since March 1, with ninety percent of the returnees passing through the Takhtabaig voluntary repatriation center near Peshawar, Pakistan. An estimated 40 percent are destined for urban centers in Afghanistan, with roughly three in every four returnees going back to Nangarhar and Kabul provinces.
According to UNHCR, more than 77,399 Afghans have returned home from Iran since its program began on April 9. The Milak-Zaranj border crossing for returnees in the south remains closed due to factional fighting in the city of Zaranj in Nimruz Province, the second closure since April 9. Afghans are continuing to cross from Iran at the northern Islam Qala border at Dogharun, and have gone on to areas outside Herat Province, mainly to Kabul and other urban centers.
UNHCR protection staff have discovered that more than 3,000 people have been forcibly returned from Iran to Afghanistan since Iran began its participation in the voluntary return program. Some of the deportees did not have any documentation with them upon arrest by Iranian authorities, though they were registered in Iran.
UNHCR reports that approximately 10,000 Afghans have been assisted in returning home from the northern Central Asia states, including Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
UNHCR has been working to identify longer-term sites in Kandahar Province for up to 50,000 IDPs currently residing in Spin Boldak and Chaman along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. UNHCR reported that a recent mission to survey sites in Kandahar was not welcome by the local population and community leaders. Another UNHCR mission to the area is planned in the coming days.
This week, IOM resumed return assistance for IDPs. IOM had announced the suspension of IDP transport programs on May 31 due to funding problems. By the end of June, IOM plans to transport 9,500 IDPs in Herat camps and 8,800 IDPs in Mazar-e-Sharif camps, moving some 1,000 people daily. Overall, IOM plans to assist returns for approximately 43,000 IDPs in western camps, 35,000 IDPs in northern camps, and 38,000 of the most vulnerable IDPs in Kabul.
Between mid-January and the end of May, IOM assisted more than 160,000 IDPs through its Internal Transport Network. IOM has transported IDPs to their home provinces, including 1,300 IDPs from Kabul to Bamiyan Province; 55,000 IDPs from Herat IDP camps to Herat and Badghis provinces; 48,000 IDPs in Mazar-e-Sharif to several provinces in northern Afghanistan; 8,200 IDPS from Bamiyan Province to the Shaigan Valley, Baghlan Province; and 15,538 IDPs from the Hesar Shahi camp near Jalalabad to their villages in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, and Kabul provinces.
Health. The five suspected cases of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Zaranj, Nimruz Province have not been confirmed, and initial tests for the disease have come back negative. No secondary cases have been reported. The five cases were reported in early June after three Afghans died and two became ill with hemorrhagic fever-like symptoms. Those affected were shepherds, and transmission could have taken place through animal contact.
USG HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
Background. On October 4, 2001, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina B. Rocca redeclared a complex humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan for FY 2002. To date, FY 2001 and FY 2002 USG humanitarian assistance for Afghans has been provided by USAID/OFDA, Food for Peace (USAID/FFP), Democracy & Governance (USAID/DG), Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (State/PRM), Department of State's Humanitarian Demining Program (State/HDP), the Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (State/INL), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The assistance is for displaced persons inside Afghanistan and Afghan refugees in neighboring countries.
On March 26, 2002, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Robert P. Finn issued a disaster declaration due to the earthquake in Baghlan Province. USAID/OFDA responded by providing an additional $25,000 in Disaster Assistance Authority to ACTED, one of many USAID-funded grantees that are providing humanitarian assistance to the affected population.
In Tajikistan, on October 10, 2001, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires James A. Boughner declared a disaster due to drought, and requested funds for a seed and fertilizer distribution program. USAID/OFDA responded by providing $998,180 through the U.S. Embassy to Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE) for the purchase and distribution of winter wheat seeds and fertilizer.
USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE
Personnel. On June 7, the USAID/OFDA Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) based in Kabul was deactivated to become a USAID/OFDA Program Office. The USAID/DART had been in the region since June 2001. USAID/OFDA staff in Kabul will continue to coordinate with the humanitarian relief community, assess the humanitarian situation, and monitor USAID/OFDA programs.
OTHER USG ASSISTANCE
New Actions. USAID/OFDA provided $1,690,955 to Action Contre la Faim (ACF) for detection, prevention, and treatment of malnutrition among 195,000 children under five years old in Kabul; disease detection, prevention, and treatment among 326,400 beneficiaries in Kabul City, and Uruzgan and Bamiyan Provinces; and water and sanitation programs to benefit 158,865 individuals in seven different neighborhoods in Kabul.
USAID/OFDA provided International Medical Corps (IMC) with $1,943,757 for primary health care and supplemental feeding in Bamiyan, Wardak, and Parwan provinces. The funds will also be used to increase food security, household income, and access to water in rural areas through cash for work, water, and agricultural rehabilitation programs.
State/PRM contributed $499,000 to WFP for logistics, food management, and supply in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
(pdf* format)
Bernd McConnell
Director, USAID/OFDA
USAID/OFDA bulletins can be obtained from the USAID web site at http://www.usaid.gov/hum=5Fresponse/ofda/situation.html