UNICEF
Humanitarian Relief in the Afghan Region
Number 5
28 November 2001


General

1. UNICEF has five international staff members deployed in Afghanistan,
three in Kabul, including the Afghanistan Country Office Representative,
one in Faizabad and one has been permitted to conduct one-day missions to
Mazar from Termez (RPO-Mazar).Two international officers in Mashad are on
stand-by ready to travel to Heart.

2. On 20 November, in the Argo and Wardoj Districts of Badakhshan, the
Convention of the Rights of the Children adoption anniversary was marked
by the NGO Afghan Aid, with more than 200 children and community
leaders/teachers present.  Local residents said this was the first time
that children and women were participating in such a gathering. The
participating children received notebooks, sports kits, sportswear and
other gifts donated by UNICEF/Afghan Aid.

3. At the 26 November meeting in Islamabad, UNICEF Special Representative
for Afghan children, Mr. Nigel Fisher, thanked the Japanese Foreign
Minister, Ms. Makiko Tanaka for the recent donation of USD 7.84 million
from the Government of Japan. Both officials agreed that protecting
vulnerable children in Afghanistan from the threat of winter, provision of
educational opportunities for all Afghan children, and maximising the role
of women in the rehabilitation/recovery process are high priorities for
the international community responding to the humanitarian crisis in the
country.

4. The Regional Director-MENA, Mr. Thomas McDermott, is in Mashad, where
he will be briefed on cross-border operation issues related to the Western
Region of Afghanistan. On his schedule are visits to the UNICEF temporary
office and warehouse.


1. Afghanistan

In the regions:

Mazar (Northern Region)

- Authorities in the Hairatan district have asked girls to return to
school.  UNICEF-Mazar is preparing to distribute educational supplies to
students in Hairatan.

- The overall security situation in the city is fragile, with signs of
stability. The new authorities have appointed new directors for the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health, and Education, with appointments
for other sectors expected soon.  The new authorities have assured
protection of UN staff and property. Due to the deterioration of the
security situation over the weekend, the day trips that the UN team had
been taking from Termez, have been cancelled for the time-being.


Kandahar (Southern Region)

- Refugees from the Killi Faizo camp in Chaman have been relocated to the
Roghani camp.  New arrivals have been registered at Killi Faizo.

- There are five IDP camps located in Spinboldak (on the Afghan side of
border), currently being assisted by the International Islamic Relief
Organisation (IIRO), Al-Rashid Trust Organisation, Al-Akhtar Trust
Organisation, Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA), Red Crescent Makka-Al-Mukarama
Saudi Arabia, Mercy Malaysia and Libya Islamic Organisation.  Assistance
varies in form, from food and water, to medicine and non-food items.  The
total number of families at these sites is 6,000, with an estimated 7,800
children under-five.  UNICEF Expanded Programme of Immunisation activity
is ongoing in the fixed centre of the Spinboldak District. UNICEF has also
conducted three separate assessments on the additional needs of the IDPs
in these camps.


Kabul (Central Region)

- Overall conditions in Kabul City are stable.  Streets are quiet.
Residents who have fled are expected to return soon.  Children have been
seen playing in parks. The road between Baghram airbase and Kabul is also
cleared.  Conditions on the road between Jalalabad and Kabul remain
fragile.  The Field Security Officer is still assessing the security
situation to the south of Kabul (Ghazni, Gardez) and to the west
(Bamiyan).

- Subsequent to the UN mission (17-20 November), UN flights arrived in
Baghram airbase with additional international staff, including Afghanistan
Country Office Representative, acting Resident Programme Officer -Kabul
and Emergency Officer. Initial contact with UNICEF national staff was
established and planning is underway for the continuation of the country
programme implementation.


Jalalabad (Eastern Region)

- It has been reported in the regional coordination meeting at
UNOCHA-Peshawar that the offices of most agencies in Jalalabad were looted
between 14-16 November. All NGOs have been advised to provide an inventory
of their stolen goods to the NGO Madera and UNOCHA.


Herat (Western Region)

- The situation in and around Herat City is calm, with no fighting
reported thus far.  Former governor Ismail Khan has reportedly asked all
government staff to report to their duties and has assigned new heads for
most departments.  Shops are open, the airport is being repaired.

- The planned UN security assessment mission of the Western Region from
Mashad has been postponed, awaiting clearance by the Iranian authorities.


Faizabad (Northeastern Region)

- No movement of IDPs has been observed in Badakhshan Province; however,
IDPs at Rustaq, Khoja Bahauddin and other parts in northern Takhar
Province are reportedly returning to their places of origin (mostly to
Khoja Gar, Taloqan and Kunduz).


Humanitarian response:

- As of 27 November, UNICEF has transported supplies to the region via 30
air and ship freights, and dispatched 45 separate convoys to Afghanistan.
Total weight of air charters/sea shipments is 1,072 metric tons.  Total
weight of convoys is 1,390 metric tons.

- On 19 November, 900 water jerry cans were distributed to 900 families in
the Maslakh camp in Heart through IOM.

- UNICEF-Faizabad reports that 150 wool sweaters and 150 boots were
provided for 80 girls and 70 boys under age-12 at the Fatimatul Zahra
Orphanage on 21 November.

- On 22 November, UNICEF-Mazar, in collaboration with the NGO ACTED, began
the distribution of non-food items for 7,000 families living in 29 IDP
camps in Baghlan Province.

- A barge carrying UNICEF humanitarian relief items, including 10,000
blankets, 5,000 hygiene kits, 10,000 20-litre water containers, 200 rolls
of tarpaulin and 110,000 bars of toilet soap, reached Hairaton on 22
November.

- Another consignment of supplies was sent on 23 November, via the same
Termez-Hairatan corridor with 500 bags of detergent soap powder (10kgs);
200 rolls of all-purpose rope; 5,000 Cooking Sets; 8 Schools-in-a-Box; 41
Recreation Kits; 5 vaccine cold boxes; 20 collapsible water tanks (1,500
liter capacity); 5 collapsible water tanks (50,000 liter capacity); 400
safety boxes for used syringes; 500 ice packs and 60 boxes of Oral
Rehydration Salts and 10 boxes of syringes (0.5ml).

- The United Arab Emirates paid for the airlift of 25 metric tons of
therapeutic milk to Mashad on 24 November. This consignment will reach
beneficiaries in the Herat area next week.

- In collaboration with Oxfam, UNICEF has been providing education
supplies to some 10,000 children in Hazarajat (Panjao, Waras, Yakawlang,
Lal and Dai Kundi Districts) and the Tara wa Barfak Districts.  UNICEF
also has an agreement with the NGO IAM to assist boys and girls in schools
in Lal wa Sarjangal District in Ghor. Building on the teachers training
organised in August, UNICEF is now in contact with IAM's local NGO
counterpart Ertebat to deliver school supplies to approximately 10,000
children in Lal.

- Following the consultations between UNICEF and WFP logistics
coordinators in Peshawar , UNICEF-Afghanistan Country Office (ACO)
instructed UNICEF-Peshawar on 23 November to resume the dispatch of supply
convoys to Afghanistan, via commercial road transport, particularly to
Jalalabad and Kabul.

- The latest UNICEF convoy bound for Afghanistan is en route from Peshawar
to Kabul.  Educational materials in Dari, syringes, and stationery
equipment for UNICEF-Kabul departed via commercial transport on 27
November, as part of a WFP convoy.

- A convoy for Badakhshan Province reached Faizabad over a period spanning
18-24 November, carrying 10,000 children's sweaters, 3,700 blankets,
15,000 children's boots, 3,200 family kits, 3,000 plastic sheeting, 20
family tents with heaters and 24 sport kits.

- Through the NGO ACTED at Khoja Bahauddin, UNICEF-Faizabad provided 6,000
children's sweaters, 9,000 children's boots, 3,000 family kits and 2,000
plastic sheeting carried in ten trucks during 23-25 November.

- UNICEF-Faizabad reports that UNICEF implementing partner ORA (Orphans,
Refugees & Aid) has distributed 2,000 children's sweaters, 2,000
children's shoes, 1,500 blankets, 700 plastic sheeting and 1,400 women's
sweaters at the Lewa IDP camp and to other displaced persons in the
government building in Badakhshan. The number of beneficiaries reached is
700 families (4,400 persons).

- Resident Programme Officer -Herat, on mission in Mashad, reports that 26
metric tons of therapeutic milk and one rub-hall were pre-positioned in a
Mashad warehouse on 24 November. Winter items were also pre-positioned in
Mashad, to be sent to Herat with the next convoy.


Programme delivery

- UNICEF Child Protection officers were in Peshawar on 21 November to meet
with Afghan partners discussing the future activities in child protection.
The group was advised that the Afghan Women's Network had been invited to
participate in the Brussels meeting on Afghan women in early December.

- The Child Protection Group met on 22 November at ACO, with participation
of Terres des Hommes (TDH), Save the Children-UK and –US, and discussed
new developments, psychosocial programming, child protection monitoring
and the need to continue interactions with partners working with Afghan
refugees on child protection issues.

- UNICEF supported the implementation of National Immunisation Days (NIDs)
in the Panjshir Valley (about 30kms from Kabul) during 24-26 November.
Before the fall of Kabul, frontline fighting made the valley nearly
inaccessible and due to the delayed delivery of supplies, the 6-8 Nov NIDs
did not take place.  There are as many as 17,900 IDPs and 390,000 locals
living in the area.

- UNICEF-Kabul is planning to organise another rapid assessment of
education conditions/requirements in the Panjshir Valley, focusing its
educational support to both IDP and local children (approx. 15,000) in
Panjshir Valley, as well as those returning to the Shomali Plains.  Mine
awareness education for returning children is also a priority in the
Shomali Plains.

- UNICEF-Herat will assess the minimum repair work required in four
schools in order to secure school attendance for around 7000 girl students
in Herat city during the winter.  UNICEF plans to rehabilitate 20 schools
for both boys and girls in Herat City.

- UNICEF-Herat plans to complete the installation of 787 wells, equipped
with hand-pumps, in drought-affected areas of the Western Region.  This
would provide safe drinking water for about 40,000 people by mid next
year.  Implementing partners will include DACAAR (Danish committee for Aid
to Afghan Refugees) and RRD (Rural Rehabilitation Department)
counterparts in all related provinces.

- A UNICEF-initiated sanitation drive is ongoing in the Maslakh IDP camp,
including the cleaning of two blocks in the camp and the emptying of more
than 300 pit latrines.

- RPO-Kandahar, on mission in Quetta, reports that EPI routine activities
are ongoing in all provinces except Nimroz The Provincial EPI Management
Team in Kandahar is implementing the measles campaign in the Jaldak
District, having completed Garamser, Shawalikot, Athgar and Shamalzai
Districts.

- UNICEF-Faizabad staff are conducting a three-day Health Education
Refresher Training course that began on 25 November at the MoPH-Faizabad.
18 members of two UNICEF- supported women's associations are
participating.

- UNICEF-Jalalabad staff, who have returned to the sub-office, continue
activities with the EPI Section of the public health hospital.

- Plans are underway in Kabul to support a special event on International
Disability Day (3 Dec) with the Hearing-Impaired Foundation of Afghanistan
(HIFA) and other partners.  This year's event is anticipated to
incorporate more participation opportunities for girls and women.  HIFA
has been supported by UNICEF in its programmes for hearing-impaired
children and youth, as well as its magazine for the hearing impaired (the
first such publication in Afghanistan). UNICEF-Herat also plans to
organise International Disability Day events with Comprehensive Disabled
Afghans Programme (CDAP), ICRC and other partners.

- UNSMA has organised meetings on protection issues in Quetta, attended by
UNICEF- Kandahar staff members currently on mission there.

- UNICEF-Faizabad is developing a proposal to begin a winter emergency,
non-formal education and recreation project for 132 children of the
Fatemuzuhura Orphanage, Badakhshan.  The main feature of the Dec 2001-Feb
2002 project would be story telling, literacy, hygiene education, and
sports and games opportunities


2. CARK

- Reports indicate that Nizhny Pyanj border crossing between Tajikistan
and Afghanistan will be opened within two weeks for cross border
operations. Kakuol crossing is currently being used, but is heavily
congested. An assessment of the use of Ishkashim crossing has been
undertaken.

- People in the 'no-mans islands' have informed Russian Border Forces and
UNHCR that many new families have arrived to the 'islands' over the
weekend. Some of the new families have arrived from Dasht-I-Qala area in
Takhar. UNHCR is investigating this report.

- The first phase in the second round of immunisations undertaken by
UNICEF and MERLIN on 20 November was completed on Island #13 between
Tajikistan and Afghanistan. A WES team distributed 300 infant hygiene kits
during the immunisations.

- In collaboration with the British NGO Merlin, UNICEF is supporting the
second round of immunisation on Island #9 that started on 27 November.
UNICEF's WES team planned to distribute infant hygiene kits and jerry cans
to the families during the immunisation, complemented with hygiene
awareness training.

- On 21 November UNICEF Tajikistan team greeted a Belgian Air Force cargo
plane at Dushanbe airport, carrying 15 tonne cargo for UNICEF included
vaccines and hygiene kits. The Belgian Defence Minister and a team of
Belgian journalists accompanied the humanitarian shipment.

- An Education/Protection/Psycho-social interventions team visited Island
# 9 on 23 November to distribute tents and recreational kits.

- American Red Cross-funded cargo of 8000 pairs of boots and 8000 caps for
children in Island settlements is expected to arrive at WFP logistics
Sierra base in Sarband town by 29 November. Distribution could take place
next week during immunisations, scheduled for December 1st and 2nd.


distributed by
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Center for International Disaster Information
Volunteers in Technical Assistance
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Central Asia                  www.cidi.org/humanitarian/hsr/centralasia