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 #31, Fiscal Year (FY) 2002    November 28, 2001


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

Numbers Affected

- According to UNOCHA, 7.5 million Afghans are in urgent need of
humanitarian assistance including food, shelter, health, education, and
demining initiatives.

- On November 6, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported
that approximately 135,000 Afghan refugees have entered Pakistan since
September 11.  Although United Nations (U.N.) and nongovernmental
organization (NGO) sources are reporting increased population movements
since November 12, it is not clear how many new refugees and internally
displaced people (IDPs) there are at this time.


Afghanistan

- Despite insecurity in Mazar-e-Sharif, a USAID/OFDA-funded program
implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) distributed 400 MT
of wheat to 90,000 people last week in Sakhi Camp, located 12 miles north
of Mazar-e-Sharif. During the same period, WFP distributed an additional
125 MT of food assistance to 15,000 IDPs in Sakhi Camp.

- The U.N. estimates that there are 240,000 IDPs in Kandahar province.
Ongoing conflict in Kandahar prevents humanitarian relief from reaching
these groups. The U.N. also reports that prices in the region are
rising?limiting the populations ability to purchase basic commodities.

- According to DFID, electrical power is intermittent in Kabul, with large
areas of the city without access. Other services, such as
telecommunications and refuse removal, remain irregular.


Security

- The U.N. temporarily suspended visits by international U.N. staff to
Mazar-e Sharif due to continued insecurity.  The security situation is
also a concern in IDP camps in Mazar-e-Sharif due to the alleged presence
of armed elements.

- Local media reports indicate that Spin Buldak is now under Northern
Alliance control.  The transition has resulted in looting of relief
supplies. Tens of thousands of IDPs are gathered in Spin Boldak after not
being able to cross the border to Pakistan. Heavy fighting reported along
the roads from Spin Buldak to Herat and Kandahar continues to hamper
humanitarian relief efforts.


Population Movements

- UNOCHA reports that large numbers of people have fled Mazar-e Sharif as
a result of continued insecurity.  WFP reported that new pockets of
several thousand IDPs have emerged in Badghis Province and are currently
without shelter or access to humanitarian assistance.

- Humanitarian organizations report that the number of IDPs in the Herat
camps continues to increase with several hundred people arriving daily
from Ghor province.


Logistics

- A 30-truck convoy of winter clothing and blankets undertaken by IOM
traveled from the Turkmenistan/Afghanistan border to Andkhoy on November
27. USAID/OFDA provided funding to IOM to support this and other similar
movements of non-food commodities from Ashgabad to northern Afghanistan.

- As of November 28, the movement of relief commodities by the U.N.
includes the following routes: Peshawar, Pakistan to Jalalabad, Kabul, and
Hajarazat via road; Osh, Kyrgyzstan to Faizabad via road; Termez,
Uzbekistan to camps near Hairaton and to Mazar-e-Sharif via barge; Kulyab,
Kyrgyzstan to Faizabad via air;  and Turkmenabad, Turkmenistan to Herat,
Hajarazat, Chaghcharan, and other locations in the north and west of the
country via road.

- On November 27, the Government of Pakistan announced that the Chaman
border crossing, which connects Quetta to Spin Boldak, was closed to
humanitarian convoys. The Quetta corridor accounts for 8% of WFP's total
cross-border deliveries.  The Government of Pakistan had closed the border
to refugees on November 22.



U.S. Government Activities

New Actions

- To date, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has airdropped 1,936,740
Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDRs)  into Afghanistan. According to DOD, the
cost of the airdrop operations, including the rations, transport, and fuel
expenses, total approximately $43 million. The previously reported total
of more than $120 million reflects the estimated total cost of the entire
four to five month airdrop operation.


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	$49,230,444
Total USAID/FFP 	$38,555,000
Total USAID/OTI	$1,687,820
Total State/PRM	$32,260,000
Total DOD*	$42,647,769

TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance FY 2002	$165,131,033
TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance FY 2001	$178,607,625

TOTAL USG Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan FY 2001/2002
$343,738,658


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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