U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
CENTRAL ASIA TASK FORCE
CENTRAL ASIA REGION - Complex Emergency
Fact Sheet #37, Fiscal Year (FY) 2002	December 19, 2001


Note: This Fact Sheet updates previously released Central Asia Region Fact
Sheets and Situation Reports.

Numbers Affected

- According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 7.5 million Afghans are in urgent need of
humanitarian assistance including food, shelter, health, education, and
demining initiatives.


Relief Activities

- On December 14, the UN and the Government of Uzbekistan signed a
protocol agreement outlining the conduct of each party in relief
operations between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

- On December 17, the Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced
that organizations moving relief supplies between Uzbekistan and
Afghanistan are required to obtain a special permit to travel to Termez.
The permit may take up to 14 days to acquire, as accreditation is first
required.

- The USAID/OFDA-funded non-governmental organization (NGO) Save the
Children/US (SC/US) has been working with a local Afghan NGO to distribute
food to 300,000 vulnerable people in six districts of Sar-e Pol province
in northwest Afghanistan.  A nutritional education program complements the
food distribution, and SC/US is also conducting nutritional surveillance.

- At UNICEF's request, the International Medical Corps (IMC) has been
designated as the NGO to provide 24- hour emergency and obstetrics
services at one of the Maslakh camp health clinics.


Security

- Security remains a concern in Kabul, which could improve with the
deployment of a multi-national security force.

- Kandahar remains insecure, restricting international staff of NGOS from
returning.  Some national staff have returned to find their offices
completely looted.  WFP is still unable to transport wheat into Kandahar
and many areas of southern Afghanistan.  The last WFP convoy reached
Kandahar 34 days ago. The UN plans to conduct a security assessment within
the next ten days.

- WFP has reported that it is prepared to move food into and around
Kandahar, when security permits.


Population Movements

- On December 18, UNHCR reported that more than 33,000 Afghans have
spontaneously returned home since November 12, when Herat fell to
anti-Taliban forces.  The number of returnees peaked last week, when
17,500 Afghans returned from Pakistan and Iran.

- The number of returnees has been slow since the beginning of this week,
most likely as a result of the Eid holiday celebrations.

- Provincial authorities have given permission to UNHCR to open a new camp
at Mir Daud, 25 kms west of Herat, for new arrivals from Badghis and Ghor
areas.

- UNHCR reports that an estimated 200 Afghans per day continue to arrive
in Pakistan through the Chaman border crossing from southern Afghanistan.
UNHCR currently assists approximately 35,000 Afghans in six camps near the
border crossing.


Logistics

- As of December 18, WFP has dispatched more than 51,000 MT of food into
Afghanistan, which is nearly the total amount of food WFP provided during
the month of November (55,000 MT).

- Daily food delivery levels continue to increase.  At this time, WFP does
not believe airlifts will be necessary for the central highland areas.

- According to unconfirmed reports from WFP, local Afghan authorities may
require trucks entering Afghanistan from Turkmenistan to divert south
through Herat.

- On December 19, WFP reported that it has improved the 1,200 km delivery
corridor between Osh (Kyrgystan)  and Faizabad (northeast Afghanistan).

- WFP dispatches daily convoys of 17 trucks to assist 274,000 vulnerable
people in Faizabad and the surrounding areas.  More than half of WFP's
planned 9,000 MT of grain and flour have been transported along the Osh-
Faizabad since November 10, when the deliveries commenced.

- WFP transports approximately 700 MT of food daily from Termez and
Hairaton to northern Afghanistan, via barge and the Friendship Bridge for
rail wagons.



U.S. Government Activities

New Actions

- On December 19, USAID/OFDA funded a grant to Shelter for Life for
$1,294,550 for a cash-for-work program focusing on road reconstruction and
emergency home repairs for returning IDPs in Kunduz and Takhar provinces.

- On December 19, USAID/OFDA also funded a grant to Mercy Corps
International (MCI) valued at $3,000,308 for the rehabilitation of wells,
livestock and fruit nurseries, agricultural infrastructure, and seed
multiplication in Nimroz, Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Takhar, Kunduz and
Baghlan provinces.

- To date, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has airdropped 2,440,920
Humanitarian Daily rations (HDRs)  to vulnerable populations in
Afghanistan, valued at an estimated $50.9 million.


Disaster Declarations & Background

- On October 4, 2001, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs
Christina B. Rocca redeclared a complex humanitarian disaster for
Afghanistan for FY 2002.

- On October 10, 2001, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires James A. Boughner declared a
disaster for Tajikistan due to drought.

FY 2002 USG Assistance to Afghanistan
Total USAID/OFDA	$66,663,445
Total USAID/FFP 	$40,555,000
Total USAID/OTI	$1,687,820
Total State/PRM	$32,260,000
Total DOD*	$50,897,769

TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance FY 2002   $192,064,034
TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance FY 2001   $183,107,625

TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan FY 2001/2002
$375,171,659


FY 2002 USG Assistance to Tajikistan

Total USAID/OFDA	$998,180
Total USAID/FFP	$20,000,000
TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan FY 2002	$20,998,180
TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan FY 2001	$67,210,000

TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan FY 2001/2002
$88,208,180

Note: Full details of funding above are available in weekly USAID/OFDA
Central Asia Region Situation Reports.

* Note: DOD funding totals are estimates.


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