Introduction
For the past two years (2002- 2003)
the Afghan repatriation and reintegration operation has been one of UNHCR's
largest programmes.
In 2002, the operation was essentially an emergency one, in which UNHCR and its government partners, other UN agencies and NGOs assisted the return of some two million refugees and IDPs. In 2003, UNHCR placed more emphasis on building government capacity and linking up with a range of other assistance and development organisations. Its budget, like those of other UN agencies operating in Afghanistan, was included in the Transitional Administration's National Development Budget.
This Budget served as UNHCR's key fundraising instrument in Afghanistan for 2003. The same will be true in 2004, with UNHCR agreeing strategies with the Government, aligning its programmes with national priorities, and coordinating policies and activities through a Consultative Group comprising representatives of the Government, donors, and organisations involved in assistance and development.
The year 2004 will be a transitional one. Since 2002, three million Afghans have returned to their homes. While UNHCR and its partners will continue to concentrate on supporting voluntary repatriation and reintegration through 2004, the "emergency" phase of mass repatriation has passed, necessitating a shift of focus towards the longer term, and highlighting the need to look for alternative approaches to the Afghan displacement issue for the future.
Inside Afghanistan, the organisation will emphasise protection, coexistence, monitoring, and partnerships. Returnee monitoring will be a key priority, with monitoring reports being analysed, shared with appropriate institutions, and acted upon. The Office will, with the Government, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, and other interested agencies, continue to monitor the human rights situation of returnees and IDPs, as widely as possible through the country. It will propose and pursue measures to prevent and stop human rights abuses, and provide support to efforts to establish functioning institutions and the rule of law (from the perspective of return and displacement), and to overcome obstacles to reintegration.
Capacity-building, especially of its counterparts in the central and provincial governments, will be a priority. UNHCR will continue to act as the UN focal point of the Consultative Group on Returnees and IDPs. Some direct shelter assistance will continue (20,000 units are currently planned) but UNHCR has been discussing the establishment of partnership agreements with other implementing organizations. Meanwhile, interventions in the water sector will be mostly channelled through government programmes. The Office will continue to support the Government's national IDP strategy. It will also carry out cash-for- work and vocational training projects, mostly related to the construction of minor infrastructure and the development or rehabilitation of small irrigation schemes.
Offices in neighbouring countries will continue to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of Afghans. In Iran, UNHCR will phase out assistance to the small number (around 32,000) of Afghan refugees currently residing in camps. It will also phase out educational activities and reduce the scope of its medical referral units. In Pakistan, the Office will continue to deliver basic services in camps, but will streamline the assistance programme in camps established after September 2001, through a strategy of camp consolidation. At the same time, the organisation will endeavour to ensure continued asylum for refugees who are unable or unwilling to return.
UNHCR will require $125.5 million to continue the repatriation, reintegration and assistance programme for Afghan refugees and returnees through 2004. It anticipates the closure of a number of offices in Afghanistan, and staff reductions (international and national) of up to 40 per cent. UNHCR staff numbers are also being decreased in Iran and Pakistan.
Background
Much has been achieved in Afghanistan since the signature of the landmark Bonn Agreement in 2001. An internationally recognised transitional Government is in place, and a new Constitution was ratified by the Loya Jirga in January 2004. Agricultural production is on the increase, as is primary-school enrolment of girls and boys. Some three million displaced Afghans and refugees have returned to their homes - the vast majority with assistance from UNHCR and its partners.
A disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration programme has been launched and training of a national police force and army is in process. The Ministry of Interior has established an autonomous human rights unit, which complements the work of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission that was created in 2002. The Government's National Development Framework outlines its strategic approach for meeting immediate needs and promoting security and recovery. A National Development Budget has been based on this Framework and a new, government- led aid coordination and management system put in place.
Investment in reconstruction and development remains low, however, and there is an urgent need to enhance the capacity of government departments to fulfil their functions - particularly in the provinces. Further efforts need to be made to reform the justice sector and to create impartial, accountable, sustainable, and permanent institutions of justice. Moreover, despite efforts to curb poppy cultivation, output has increased and Afghanistan remains the world's largest opium-producing country.
Most worrying of all is the fact that not only are some parts of the country becoming increasingly unsafe for foreigners and Afghans working with assistance and development organisations, but that in some areas, local residents continue to have to deal with abusive commanders, illegal taxation, forced recruitment, or difficulties in accessing their land.
At the time of writing, UNHCR has suspended assisted voluntary repatriation from Pakistan and put a number of activities on hold, pending an improvement in the security situation.
Plans to expand the Coalition Provincial Reconstruction Teams and UN-mandated International Stabilisation Forces to critical locations around the country are welcome. But it will also be important for the international community to support efforts by the Governments of Afghanistan and its neighbours to improve security. In this context, it is hoped that the seven signatories to the December 2002 Kabul Dec l a r a t i on on Good Neighbourly Relations will build on their commitments to promote regional stability.
As the United Nations Secretary- General said in his recent report on the situation in Afghanistan: "The international community must decide whether to increase its level of involvement in Afghanistan or risk failure. The mandate set by Bonn can be accomplished only if the present deterioration in security is halted and reversed, and the programmes and staff of the United Nations, NGOs and others assisting the Afghans are provided adequate protection.
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