U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)
AFGHANISTAN: Aid agencies warn of rising starvation
19 October 2001


ISLAMABAD, 19 October (IRIN) - "Winter is approaching fast, the roads will
be cut off soon, and the amount of food inside Afghanistan is
insufficient," Larry Thompson, the spokesman for Refugees International
(RI) in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, told IRIN on Thursday.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners have distributed less
than half the food necessary to feed the millions of vulnerable people in
Afghanistan, according to an RI statement released on Thursday. A lot more
food was needed to avert a humanitarian disaster, it said.

Other international aid agencies are also warning that death rates from
starvation and disease could rise sharply as the result of the
difficulties obstructing the delivery of food supplies to Afghanistan. The
deteriorating conditions in the country have prompted six NGOs to call for
a pause in the US-led air strikes as the only means of ensuring that
enough food can be brought in safely.

The RI statement went on to say that the serious security concerns arising
since the 11 September attacks, the start of the US-led strikes and the
withdrawal of international aid workers had seriously hampered
humanitarian efforts to feed the more than five million Afghans in
desperate need.

Although aid agencies say programmes are continuing to be implemented by
national staff, recent lootings of UN and NGO offices, and attacks on
staff by "armed non-Afghans" are severely disrupting progress, further
compounded by the Taliban-imposed communications blackout.

Thompson warned of an increased outflow of refugees over Afghanistan's
borders, which are closed at present. This, too, could create a
humanitarian disaster, he said, noting that UNHCR had confirmed that over
8,000 Afghans had crossed into Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, over the
last four days.

NGOs working in Afghanistan have called for "public guarantees" from all
parties that military forces will not target or impede aid convoys. "It is
evident now that we cannot, in reasonable safety, get food to hungry
Afghan people," said Barbara Stocking, director of Oxfam International,
outlining a position also supported by Islamic Relief, Christian Aid, the
Catholic Fund for Development, the Tear Fund and ActionAid.

Thompson said the use of commercial truck drivers should be considered in
order to boost deliveries. "We know that wheat trading is still continuing
in Afghanistan," he said.

NGOs report, however, that supplies are stuck at border crossing points
leading to Afghanistan, due to a shortage of truck drivers. Following
increased reports of civilian infrastructure being accidentally hit by
coalition forces, including an ICRC compound on Tuesday, drivers are
reluctant to enter some regions.

"We have 1,000 mt of food stuck in Quetta," Dr Hany al Banna, the director
of Islamic Relief, said. He said this quantity would suffice for 50,000
people, but drivers willing to take the 60 trucks needed to transport it
into Afghanistan could not be found.

In a joint statement, the aid agencies said a pause in the bombing now
would give "the best hope of averting a humanitarian crisis on a large
scale". The statement said some 400,000 Afghans were already thought to be
subsisting on wild vegetation and essential livestock, that two million
people had insufficient food to last the winter, and that of these 500,000
would be cut off by snow by mid-November.

NGOs have also reported that the US military airdrops were being made at
inappropriate places, and were not reaching those most in need.

UN food stocks in Afghanistan are estimated to be down to a two-week
supply of 9,000 mt, although WFP has announced it is stepping up
deliveries. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the head of WFP, Catherine
Bertini, said 16,000 mt was expected to be delivered in the next 10 days.
WFP is currently sending in about 900 mt a day, and aims to reach a total
of 52,000 mt per month.

Bertini also referred to deteriorating security conditions. The Taliban
recently took control of two UN warehouses - one in Kabul and the other in
the southern province of Kandahar - thereby seizing more than half the
WFP's stock in the country. This action had seriously obstructed relief
efforts, she said. Meanwhile, a WFP spokesman in Islamabad confirmed to
IRIN on Thursday that the UN had regained control of its warehouse in
Kabul.

An urgent priority is to deliver aid into Hazarajat, in the central
highlands, where road access to about 100,000 families is expected to be
cut by mid-November. Reports are already emerging of hunger-related deaths
caused by a severe shortage in the isolated region.

With Hazarajat's estimated population of 2.3 million, WFP has calculated
that 30,000 mt of food aid needs to be delivered. Bertini confirmed that
airdrops were being considered if deliveries by road failed to meet total
requirements. Thompson said airdrops were not the best option, but should
be considered if lives were to be saved.

Meanwhile, the Security Council has urged member states to rapidly
disburse contributions to the UN emergency humanitarian appeal for
Afghanistan. "Actual disbursements are not coming in quickly enough," Eric
Falt, the director of the UN Information Centre in Islamabad, told
reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.

UNHCR has said it has only received about US $12 million of the estimated
$50 million needed to cater for refugees. Donor governments have formally
pledged another $11 million, but the pledges had not been "translated into
cash", Falt said. WFP had received less than half of its appeal for $257
million, while UNICEF's appeal for $36 million had also only been met by
half so far, he said.


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2001


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