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U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)

CENTRAL ASIA REGION - Complex Emergency

Situation Report #39, Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 July 19, 2002
Note: This Situation Report updates previous Central Asia Task Force Situation Reports and Fact Sheets.

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
Old Caseload Refugees (UNHCR)
Pakistan 2,000,000
Iran 1,500,000

Refugee Returns Since January 1, 2002 (UNHCR)
Pakistan (vol. assisted since March 1) 1,190,000
Pakistan (spontaneous) 180,000
Iran (voluntary assisted since April 9) 98,000
Iran (spontaneous) 61,000
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 (UNHCR)
From Tajikistan: Pyandj River (voluntary assisted) 8,952
Total as of July 19, 2002 (vol. assisted) …….. 200,500
Total since December 2001 (spontaneous) … 400,000

FY 2001/2002 U.S. Government (USG) Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan* $661,440,193
FY 2001/2002 USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan $88,208,180

CURRENT SITUATION
Overview. A new commission created by the Afghan government will disarm private armies, and a voluntary disarmament among factions is underway in the north. A top political official in the new Afghan government was assassinated. Local authorities are placing restrictions on Afghan staff working with non-governmental organizations (NGO). The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reduced some aid for returning refugees due to funding limitations. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) transported 10,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes from camps in the west and north. An outbreak of diarrheal diseases affected thousands in Kabul.

Political/Military. The Afghan government has established a commission to disarm and disband private armies. In a cabinet meeting chaired by President Hamid Karzai, the government decided that the commission would collect arms from all groups or individuals that are not on the payroll of the defense ministry. A government spokesperson did not specify how the commission would handle parties refusing to surrender arms.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that the Jamiat, Jumbesh, and Hizb-e Wahdat factions began the first voluntary factional disarmament on July 17. The disarmament is taking place in Sholgareh District near Mazar-e-Sharif. The weapons handed over at three different collection points will be taken to military depots outside Mazar-e-Sharif, registered, and guarded by forces from the factions.

British combat troops began their withdrawal from Afghanistan in mid-July. According to press reports, about 1,000 troops stationed in Bagram will depart the country. Britain also plans to reduce its force of more than 4,000 peacekeepers to 1,800 in the coming months. Britain transferred control of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul to Turkey on June 20.

Security. On July 6, Haji Abdul Qadir, a vice president and Minister for Public Works in the new Afghanistan transition government, was assassinated outside his ministry compound in Kabul. Qadir was the second-highest ranking Pashtun in the new government, and had formerly served as governor of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. Authorities have not determined a motive for the assassination or identified the individuals responsible for it.

UNHCR reported that local authorities are increasingly placing restrictions on NGO staff. Local officials have restricted Afghan staff from inviting international staff to their homes. In Herat, authorities have prohibited local female staff from traveling in a vehicle with international male staff or leaving the city with foreign men. Authorities also want to approve female staff prior to their employment with NGOs. Local officials in the north have expressed a similar interest in screening local staff.

The UNAMA Emergency Task Force reported that recent fighting in central Bamiyan Province has stopped. The fighting broke out in late June in Kahmard and Saighan districts.

Food Aid and Agriculture. Since September 11, 2001, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), with support from USAID, has dispatched more than 573,000 MT of food into Afghanistan, assisting some 9.8 million Afghans.

WFP continues to experience constraints in their food pipeline because of insufficient supply. Due to the pipeline shortages, WFP has suspended wheat distribution through Food For Work and Food For Assets Creation programs in areas where spring crops are being harvested. WFP has also reduced emergency food rations from 150 kg. of wheat per family to 100 kg. In some areas, the ration has been reduced to 50 kg. with food coupons that can be redeemed for additional wheat pending food availability.

IDPs and Refugees. UNHCR called for additional funding to support refugee reintegration and rehabilitation operations, stating that 25 percent of the UNHCR budget has not been funded. UNHCR has funds for the next two months, but requires about $70 million for continued operations this year. UNHCR has already been forced to reduce some programs due to funding limitations. Shelter kits for returning refugees have been reduced from 97,000 kits to 50,000. Distribution of agricultural packages with seeds and tools has been limited, and funds are exhausted for the purchase of returnee package items such as plastic tarpaulins, blankets, buckets, and jerry cans.

More than 1.3 million Afghan refugees have been assisted in returning home through the joint UNHCR and Afghan Transitional Authority (ATA) voluntary repatriation program that began on March 1. UNHCR expects more than two million Afghans to return home in 2002.

Nearly 1.2 million Afghans have voluntarily returned from Pakistan since March 1, with 90 percent passing through the Takhtabaig voluntary repatriation center near Peshawar, Pakistan. More than half of these returnees from Pakistan came from North West Frontier Province, and 10 percent from Punjab. More than 40 percent of returnees are destined for Kabul Province, 23 percent to Nangarhar Province, and six percent to Parwan Province.

According to UNHCR, 98,000 Afghans have returned home from Iran since its program began on April 9. Afghans return through the Milak-Zaranj border crossing in the south or the northern Islam Qala border at Dogharun. From Islam Qala, returning Afghans have gone on to areas outside Herat Province, mainly to Kabul and other urban centers.

UNHCR reports that approximately 10,000 Afghans have been assisted in returning home from the northern Central Asia states, including the Tajik-Afghan border and Turkmenistan.

UNHCR has identified a potential site in Kandahar Province for some of the estimated 25,000 refugees at the Chaman border site, just inside Pakistan. UNHCR staff will work on improvements at the Zarey Dasht site in the coming weeks, while representatives of refugees at Chaman assess the proposed site. UNHCR has been looking for longer-term sites in Kandahar Province for nearly 50,000 IDPs currently sheltering in Spin Boldak and Chaman.

Since early July, IOM has helped over 10,000 IDPs with return to their places of origin in the northern, central, and western parts of Afghanistan. IOM transported 5,737 IDPs from the Mazar-e-Sharif area to villages in Balkh and Sar-e-Pul provinces. More than 4,200 IDPs departed IDP camps in Herat for countrywide destinations. An estimated 60,000 IDPs remain in the Herat camps. Returns from Kabul have been slower than expected, which IOM attributes partly to security concerns following the assassination of Vice President Qadir. In recent weeks, only 354 IDPs left Kabul out of the 4,420 IDPs registered for travel.

Overall, IOM plans to assist returns for approximately 75,000 IDPs from now until the end of September. Between mid-January and the end of May, IOM assisted more than 160,000 IDPs through its Internal Transport Network.

Health. The Afghan Ministry of Public Health reported an outbreak of diarrheal diseases in Kabul that has affected 6,691 people over the past three weeks. Three people have died due to severe dehydration. An increase in diarrheal cases is normal at this time of year due to the warm weather and poor water and sanitation conditions.

Three of the patients admitted to Kabul hospitals during the past two weeks were found to have cholera. The Ministry of Public Health , UN agencies, and NGOs are undertaking measures, such as health education and water chlorination, to prevent the spread of cholera, a water-borne disease.
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 Afghanistan 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 $3,000,000 to IOM for IDP care and support, and transport as needed in northern and western Afghanistan.

USAID/OFDA provided $2,241,278 to Shelter for Life for emergency shelter in Baghlan Provincein response to earthquake related needs in Nahrin and Burka districts.

USAID/FFP contributed 34,800 MT of wheat and vegetable oil valued at $19,984,300 to WFP.


USG HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO CENTRAL ASIA

USG AGENCY IMPLEMENTING PARTNER ACTIVITY REGION AMOUNT
AFGHANISTAN - COMPLEX EMERGENCY FY 2002
USAID/OFDA
Action Contre La Faim
(ACF) Malnutrition, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation Kabul, Uruzgan, Bamiyan $1,705,030
ACTED IDP camp management Baghlan, Takhar $630,000
ACTED Food, non-food items Northeast $5,500,000
ACTED Livelihoods, agriculture, emergency rehabilitation Baghlan, Faryab, Takhar, Kabul, Shomali $750,000
ACTED Nahrin earthquake response Baghlan $25,000
Airserv Air Transport Services Countrywide $1,574,756
CARE Food assistance and reconstruction All $2,318,403
CARE Livelihoods Wardak, Ghazni $863,627
CARE Water and health Kabul, Wardak, Ghazni $355,005
Concern Worldwide Shelter - repair of 5,000 homes Northeast $1,203,343
Concern Worldwide Distribution of seeds & tools, rehabilitation of agricultural infrastructure, income generation activities Badakshan, Baghlan, Takhar, Bamiyan provinces $1,737,318
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Non-food items for 200,000 people Central Highlands $988,087
Church World Service (CWS) Transport of non-food items $49,902
Focus/Aga Khan Foundation Seed multiplication, water supply rehabilitation, and complementary food distribution Bamiyan, Baghlan, and Balkh $1,436,134
GOAL Emergency shelter, water and sanitation, non-food items for IDPs, locust eradication Samangan $600,000
GOAL Food, shelter, water, sanitation, winterization Samangan and Jowzjan provinces $5,500,000
GOAL Emergency agricultural, potable water and sanitation rehabilitation, and shelter repair Samangan and Jowzjan provinces $1,000,000
International Center for Agricultural Reseach in Dry Areas (ICARDA) Seed multiplication, technical assistance for seed procurement and regulation Countrywide $2,525,000
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Food, non-food items Countrywide $2,500,000
International Medical Corps (IMC) Primary health care Herat $735,000
IMC Maternal/Child Health Care Herat, Badghis $1,817,648
IMC Primary health care Bamiyan, Wardak, Parwan $3,500,000
IMC Primary health care, supplemental feeding, cash for work water and agricultural rehabilitation programs Bamiyan, Parwan, Wardak $1,943,757
International Organization for Migration (IOM) Food, non-food items Faryab, Badghis, Balkh $562,313
IOM Distribution of charcoal for cooking and heating fuel Herat, Faryab, Kunduz $1,069,760
IOM IDP care and support, and transport as needed North and West $3,000,000
International Rescue Committee (IRC) Health and food security for approximately 54,000 returning IDPs and residents Balkh $725,831
IRC Food, potable water, well rehabilitation North $3,650,000
IRC Medical, public health, education & self-help programs in camps and urban settings Balkh, Ghor, $3,250,104
International Resource Groups (IRG) Food Augmentation Team $360,112
IRG Food Augmentation Team $254,708
Mercy Corps Food, water, non-food items South, Central $2,000,000
Mercy Corps Rehabilitation of wells & agriculture infrastructure, seed multiplication Nimroz, Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Takhar, Kunduz, Baghlan $3,000,308
Save the Children (SC/US) Support Assessment Mission South, West $93,467
SC/US Nutrition North $206,488
SC/US Food, health Central, North $2,000,000
SC/US Spot reconstruction, cash for work, and medical clinic rehabilitation Faryab, Sar-e-Pul $3,262,312
Shelter for Life (SFL) Cash for work road reconstruction & emergency home repair for returning IDPs Kunduz, Takhar $1,294,550
SFL Shelter Herat $130,000
SFL Emergency shelter for Nahrin earthquake Baghlan $2,241,278
Solidarites Rehabilitation, agricultural revitalization Samangan, Balkh, Bamiyan $1,739,115
Tufts University Assessment Mission South, West $201,868
UNCHS/Habitat Cash for work rehabilitation of public areas, solid waste removal Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif $382,850
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) Agriculture, seed multiplication $300,000
UNFAO Manual locust eradication North $260,000
UNFAO Seed multiplication, procurement, and distribution $1,095,000
UNFAO Security surveillance, water resource management, farm power, & spring seed distribution Countrywide $2,500,000
UNFAO Sunn Pest Eradication Faryab, Sar-e-Pul, Badghis, Jowzjan 45,000
UNICEF Nutrition, health, water, sanitation Countrywide $1,650,000
UNICEF Water, sanitation Countrywide $2,500,000
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Coordination Countrywide $185,150
UNOCHA Coordination Countrywide $2,000,000
UNOCHA Coordination Countrywide $500,000
World Food Program (WFP) Emergency road repair Turkmenistan border $300,000
WFP Joint Logistics Center $2,000,000
WFP Logistics support equipment and services All $2,500,000
WFP Food (15,000 MT), processing, transport $6,000,000
WFP Purchase of trucks for food delivery $5,000,000
Field Support Operational support for USAID/OFDA teams in Central Asia $1,887,953
Airlifts and OFDA relief commodities Procurement and/or transport of blankets, plastic sheeting, tents, kitchen sets, medical kits, wheat bags, high-energy biscuits, and sugar $4,168,874
Central Asia Task Force Allowance Transfer to USAID/Central Asia Task Force to support airlift of school textbooks for Afghan children $692,000
Central Asia Task Force Allowance Support for airlift of school textbooks for Afghan children $50,000
Total FY 2002 USAID/OFDA $102,317,051
USAID/FFP
WFP Airlift from Quetta, Pakistan to Osh, Kyrgyzstan $2,000,000
WFP 31,050 MT Lentils and vegetable oil $25,418,500
WFP 36,000 MT Wheat $15,900,000
WFP 72,700 MT Food commodities $38,555,000
WFP 24,320 MT Food commodities $18,600,000
WFP 38,000 MT Wheat $17,530,400
WFP 34,800 MT Wheat and vegetable oil $19,984,300
Total FY 2002 USAID/FFP $137,988,200
USAID/OTI
Voice of America Radio program $187,820
IOM HEAR bulletin and radios $1,500,000
IOM Community reconstruction $8,095,631
Internews Media/journalist training $998,720
RONCO Small grants/operations support $3,000,000
UNDP UNDP Trust Fund in support of the Interim Afghan Administration 500,000
Total FY 2002 USAID/OTI $14,282,171
STATE/HDP
HALO Trust Demining program $3,300,000
UNICEF Mine awareness program $700,000
UN Mine Action Program Demining equipment $1,000,000
RONCO UXO experts $2,000,000
Total FY 2002 State/HDP $7,000,000
USDA
WFP 40,000 MT of food commodities $22,500,000
WFP 43,300 MT of wheat $19,098,712
Total FY 2002 USDA $41,598,712
STATE/PRM
Church World Service Support for refugees and returnees $172,667
Cooperative Housing Foundation Support for returning refugees and IDPs in Bamiyan and Kabul $2,157,662
ICRC Emergency Appeal $10,100,000
ICRC** Protection and emergency assistance $11,000,000
ICMC Support for Afghans in Pakistan $515,304
IFRC Emergency Appeal $4,000,000
International Medical Corps (IMC) Healthcare, education, and microcredit for Afghan refugees Haripur and Baluchistan, Pakistan $1,225,524
IOM Support for Refugees and IDPs $4,800,000
IOM Emergency Appeal $2,000,000
IOM Support for Refugees and IDPs $1,000,000
International Rescue Committee (IRC) Operational Support $231,248
IRC Reintegration project for returning refugees Southern, central, and western Afghanistan $2,500,019
Mercy Corps Support for Afghans in Pakistan $376,781
Mercy Corps Operational support $162,775
Mercy Corps Stabilize at-risk communities, facilitate returns to Helmand Province, Afghanistan $1,489,434
Save the Children/US Health services for Afghan refugees $1,833,251
UNDP Support for Information Systems $500,000
UNOCHA Donor Alert for Afghans Program $2,125,000
UNOCHA Coordination of activities (communications, IT, security) $1,000,000
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Special Program for Afghanistan $500,000
UNHCR Emergency Appeal $30,000,000
UNHCR Support for returning Afghan refugees $20,000,000
UNHCR Support for Afghans in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran $4,600,000
UNHCR** Repatriation and reintegration for Afghan refugees and IDPs $7,700,000
UNICEF Back-to-school campaign $2,000,000
UNICEF Emergency Relief $4,000,000
WFP Operations/Logistics Support $4,000,000
WFP Coordination and Support Services $1,500,000
WFP Logistics, food management, supply in Afghanistan and Pakistan $ 499,000
WHO Basic health for returning Afghans $1,000,000
Total FY 2002 State/PRM $122,988,665
DOD
Airdrop of 2,423,700 Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDRs) $50,897,769
Total FY 2002 DOD $50,897,769
Total FY 2002 USG Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan $477,072,568

TAJIKISTAN - DROUGHT FY 2002
USAID/OFDA
CARE Purchase and distribution of winter wheat to 36,000 people $998,180
Total FY 2002 USAID/OFDA……………………………………………………………………… $998,180
USAID/FFP
WFP 35,000 MT wheat flour 20,000,000
Total FY 2002 USAID/FFP………………………………………………………………...…. $20,000,000
Total FY 2002 USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan $20,998,180


FY 2001/ FY 2002 SUMMARY
Total USG Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan for FY 2001* $184,367,625
Total USG Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan for FY 2002 $477,072,568
Total USG Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan for FY 2002/2001 $661,440,193
Total USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan FY 2001 $67,210,000
Note: FY 2001 USG assistance to Tajikistan included assistance through USAID/OFDA, USAID/FFP, USDA, the Department of State, and Freedom Support Act funds administered through a variety of agencies.
Total USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan FY 2001/2002 $88,208,180

*Note: Detailed breakdowns of FY01 and FY02 assistance are available in previous Central Asia Region situation reports.

**Note: New funds announced on July 1 are both committed and obligated.



Bernd McConnell
Director, USAID/OFDA
USAID/OFDA bulletins can be obtained from the USAID web site at http://www.usaid.gov/hum_response/ofda/situation.html