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
Situation Report #29, Fiscal Year (FY) 2002    April 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.  Tens of thousands of refugee and internally displaced
families have started to return to their homes to assist in the
rebuilding.  The U.S. Agency for International Development's Disaster
Assistance Response Team (USAID/DART), which began its emergency
coordination work in response to the regional drought in June 2001,
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

Refugees Since January 1, 2002 (UNHCR)
   Pakistan   60,000
   Iran       unknown

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

Refugee Returns Since January 1, 2002 (UNHCR)
   Pakistan (spontaneous)                        180,000
   Pakistan (voluntary assisted since March 1)   280,000
   Iran (spontaneous)                             61,000
   Iran (voluntary assisted since April 9)         9,000

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 (IOM)
   To Kabul (spontaneous)        64,750
   To northeast (spontaneous)   117,000
   To Shomali Plain
     from Panjshir Valley (voluntary assisted)   13,500
     from Kabul (voluntary assisted)             14,200

   From Herat (voluntary assisted)            23,000
   From Mazar-e-Sharif (voluntary assisted)   25,000
   From Pyandj River (voluntary assisted)      8,561


FY 2001/2002 U.S. Government (USG) Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan*
$551,229,150

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



CURRENT SITUATION

Overview.  Former Afghan king Zahir Shah returned to Kabul as an ordinary
citizen.  The initial phase of the Loya Jirga process began with the
selection of representatives in the first of the country's 381 districts.
Pamphlets have appeared in Kandahar Province threatening consequences if
women and girls return to work and school.  Security incidents were
reported in Kabul, Kandahar, and eastern Afghanistan.  The response effort
following the April 12 earthquake in Baghlan Province is shifting from
emergency relief to rehabilitation.  The U.N. World Food Program (WFP)
plans to assist 8.8 million Afghans to meet their food needs in April.
Assisted voluntary refugee returns continued from Pakistan and Iran.
Returns of internally displaced persons (IDPs) accelerated, with the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) assisting Afghans to make
the journey from the Takjik border, Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, and Herat.  A
nationwide polio vaccination campaign was launched with the aim of
eliminating the disease by the end of 2002.

Political/Military.  On April 18, under tight security, former Afghan king
Zahir Shah returned to Kabul as an ordinary citizen.  AIA Chairman Hamid
Karzai and six other AIA ministers accompanied Shah on his travel from
Italy, where he had been in exile since 1973.  Some 200 people greeted the
former king in a small ceremony at the airport, after which he left for
his rehabilitated home in a suburb of Kabul.  Shah will remain under the
protection of Italian security forces until an Afghan security detail is
trained.  On June 10, the former king is expected to open the Loya Jirga,
which will determine a transitional government until democratic elections
can be held.

On April 15, the first phase of the Loya Jirga process got underway when
several hundred tribal elders in Mardyan village, Jowzjan Province
convened a meeting (shura) to select district representives.  These
representatives will in turn meet at the end of May to select their
district's delegation to the Loya Jirga, to be held June 10-16 in Kabul.
Over the coming weeks, each of the county's 381 districts will hold shuras
to select their district representatives.  Eventually, 1,051 Afghans will
be chosen to attend the Loya Jirga, with an additional 450 seats reserved
for various Afghan institutions and groups.

On April 16, Coalition forces announced they were engaged in a new
operation against al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in southeastern Afghanistan.

Security.  Handwritten and unsigned pamphlets have appeared in Kandahar
Province threatening unspecified consequences if women and girls return to
work and school.  On April 17, soon after the pamphlets started to appear,
an unidentified man threw acid in the face of an Afghan woman teacher in
Chaman, along the Pakistani border.  Similar pamphlets have been found
around Spin Boldak, warning against cooperation in finding Taliban and
al-Qaeda forces.

On April 17, a group of U.S. soldiers in civilian clothes came under fire
in Kandahar city as they were shopping on a busy street.  One U.S. soldier
and an Afghan were wounded in the attack.  On April 14, rockets targeted
the office of the local governor of Kandahar.  No injuries were reported.
On April 13, renegade gunmen from the AIA security forces fired on two
British patrols in Kabul.  The incident resulted in the arrest of seven
men from the minority Shia Hazara group, who were reportedly attempting to
sabotage security in the capital.

The AIA's poppy eradication program, which was linked last week to the
outbreak of violence in several places, was suspended on April 12
following the deaths of two government workers whose tractors struck
landmines while destroying the poppy crop.

Earthquake.  On April 12, at 8:30 a.m. local time, an earthquake measuring
5.8 on the Richter scale struck Nahrin District, Baghlan Province in
northeastern Afghanistan, approximately 90 miles north of Kabul.  The U.N.
Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reports 50 people died, approximately 150
were injured, and up to 7,500 people were affected.  Strong aftershocks
continued to rattle the region.  Organizations operating under existing
USAID grants, which had redirected assistance to help meet the emergency
food, water, and shelter needs of those affected by the March 25
earthquake, continued to provide humanitarian assistance.  In Jelgah
valley, east of Nahrin, a roadblock caused by the earthquake and heavy
rains delayed assessment and delivery of relief supplies to that area
until late this week.  Following reports of injured in more remote
locations, mobile medical teams are being organized by the U.N.  World
Health Organization (WHO).  According to UNAMA, the relief effort is now
shifting from emergency to rehabilitation.

Food Aid and Logistics.  Since October 2001, WFP, with support from USAID,
has delivered 407,643 MT of food into Afghanistan, of which 326,230 MT has
been distributed throughout the country, assisting some 6.6 million
food-insecure Afghans.

In April, WFP plans to assist 8.8 million Afghans to meet their food
needs.  The increase in beneficiaries from the previous figure of 6.6
million Afghans reflects the acute need for food in the months just before
the wheat harvest starts in June and July, as well as the expanding goals
of WFP programs in Afghanistan.  WFP is now providing assistance to a
large number of refugees repatriating to Afghanistan from Iran and
Pakistan, as well as to IDPs returning to their villages.  Each returning
family receives a three-month supply of food.  In addition, in the
northern areas where recent rains are raising hopes of a good harvest this
summer, interim conditions remain difficult.  According to WFP, in the
most drought-affected provinces of Ghor, Badghis, Faryab, Sar-e-Pul, and
northern Badakshan, up to 80 percent of the population are in need of
emergency food assistance.  Other expanding WFP programs, such as
"food-for-work" and "food-for-education,"  are designed to aid the
transition from relief to reconstruction.

IOM reports that the main road from Herat into Ghor Province is closed due
to rain-induced landslides.

IDPs and Refugees.  The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the
AIA, and the non- governmental organization (NGO) community are preparing
for the anticipated return this summer of up to 1.2 million Afghan
refugees and IDPs (approximately 400,000 refugees from Pakistan, 400,000
refugees from Iran, and 400,000 IDPs in Afghanistan).

According to UNHCR, more than 280,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan
since its program of assisted voluntary repatriation began March 1.
Ninety percent of the returnees pass through the Takhtabaig voluntary
repatriation center near Peshawar, Pakistan, and an estimated 40 percent
are destined for urban centers in Afghanistan.  On April 17, the first
group of 450 Afghans living in Islamabad returned home.  The refugees,
primarily ethnic Uzbek and Tajik minorities, were registered by an UNHCR
mobile unit.  An estimated 120,000 Afghan refugees are living in
Islamabad.

According to UNHCR, more than 9,000 Afghans have returned from Iran
through the northern Islam Qala crossing point at Dogharun since its
program of assisted voluntary repatriation began on April 9.  Returns this
summer are expected to average 1,600 per day, six days a week, with an
estimated half of the returnees traveling to Herat, around 20 percent to
Kabul, and the remainder to Ghazni, Kunduz, Loghar and Wardak provinces.
The Milak-Zaranj border crossing in the south remained closed due
factional unrest in Nimruz Province.

In northern Afghanistan, IOM continued to assist IDPs leaving the camps on
the islands in the Pyandj River, on the Tajik-Afghan border.  Since April
8, some 8,561 people boarded barges and crossed the river, where IOM
trucks took them home to Kunduz Province and they received UNHCR returnee
kits and WFP food aid.  On April 19, IOM reported that the assisted return
operation was complete.

In Kabul last week, IOM convoys assisted some 3,036 people from the former
Soviet compound to return to villages in the Shomali Plain.  On April 16,
IOM began assisting IDPs from Shaidayee camp near Herat, which shelters an
estimated 23,000 persons, to return home to their villages in Herat and
Badghis provinces.  IOM reports that more than 27,000 IDPs living in
Maslakh and Shaidayee camps have now registered to return home, and IOM
hopes to assist 3,000 persons per day from Herat to make the return.
This week, IOM continued its assistance to IDPs returning from
Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh Province to neighboring Jowzjan Province.  Next week
IOM and UNHCR expect to begin assisting 2,000 Hazara IDP families (10,000
people) from northern Bamiyan Province to Saighan, Baghlan Province.
Another 380 IDP families (1,900 people) are expected to travel from Kabul
city to Bamiyan Province with IOM convoys, while 2,000 Tajik IDP families
(10,000 people) will travel from Shibar, Parwan Province to Bamiyan
Province.

According to WFP, the number of Afghans waiting to enter Pakistan at the
Chaman border crossing outside the Killi Faizo transit camp was 41,000.
UNHCR reports that some of these Afghans have been waiting at Chaman for
two months.

Health.  With USAID/OFDA support, on April 16 the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) launched a three-day nationwide polio vaccination
campaign targeting children younger than five years old, with the aim of
eradicating the disease in Afghanistan by the end of 2002.  Some 60,000
medics and volunteers trained by the AIA Ministry of Health and WHO went
door-to-door seeking out children, with teams also operating at refugee
and IDP camps, border crossings, and airports.  Afghanistan is one of ten
countries worldwide with endemic polio.  According to WHO, there have been
360 confirmed cases of polio in Afghanistan since 1997, but only one case
reported so far this year.


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 Afghans is 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 who 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.  USAID/OFDA currently has one Disaster Assistance Response Team
(DART) based in Kabul to assess humanitarian activities and logistical
capacity in the region.  USAID/DART members coordinate with the
humanitarian relief community and assess the humanitarian situation.

OTHER USG ASSISTANCE

New Actions.  State/PRM is providing $1,833,251 to the NGO Save the
Children/US in support of primary and reproductive health care and
administrative services to Afghan refugees in Haripur and Baluchistan,
Pakistan.



USG HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO CENTRAL ASIA

USG AGENCY
IMPLEMENTING PARTNER
ACTIVITY
REGION
AMOUNT

AFGHANISTAN - COMPLEX EMERGENCY FY 2002

USAID/OFDA

Airlift - Turkmenistan
20,000 blankets, 100 rolls plastic sheeting, 20 MT BP-5 High Energy
  biscuits, 1 MT sugar
$743,543

Airlift - Turkmenistan
1,000 rolls of plastic sheeting for
UNICEF
$403,200

Airlift - Islamabad
35,400 blankets
$312,350

Airlift - Pakistan
5 health kits
$29,415

Airlift - Turkmenabad
5 health kits
$33,923

Airlift - Uzbekistan
350,000 wheat bags
$67,000

Airlift - Turkmenistan
10,000 kitchen sets and 20,000 blankets
$473,400

Airlift - Mazar-e-Sharif
37,600 blankets for UNICEF
$65,000

Airlift - Turkmenistan
1,000 winterized tents
$167,000

ACTED
Food, non-food items
Northeast
$5,500,000

ACTED
IDP camp management
Baghlan
$630,000

ACTED
Livelihoods, agriculture, emergency rehab
Takhar, Baghlan, Shamali, Kabul, and Faryab.
$750,000

CARE
Water/sanitation, agricultural rehabilitation, shelter
All
$3,537,035

Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Non-Food Items for 200,000 people
Central Highlands
$988,087

Church World Service
Transport of non-food items
$49,902

Concern Worldwide
Distribution of seeds & tools, rehabilitation of agricultural
  infrastructure, income generation activities
Badakshan, Baghlan, Takhar, Bamiyan provinces
$1,737,318

Concern Worldwide
Shelter-repair 5,000 homes
Northeast
$1,203,343

Field Support
Operational support for DARTs in Central Asia Region
$1,339,456

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Seed multiplication, procurement, and
distribution
$1,095,000

FAO
Agriculture, seed multiplication
$300,000

FAO
Manual locust eradication program
North
$260,000

FAO
Security surveillance, water resource management, farm power, & spring
  seed distribution
All
$2,500,000

FOCUS / Aga Khan
Seed multiplication, water supply rehabilitation, and complementary food
  distribution
Bamiyan, Baghlan, and Balkh
$1,436,134

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 Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA)
Seed multiplication, technical assistance for see procurement and
  regulation
All
$2,525,000

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Food, non-food items
All
$2,500,000

International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Food, non-food items
Badghis, Faryab, Balkh provinces
$562,313

IOM
Distribution of charcoal for cooking and heating fuel
Herat, Kunduz, and Faryab
$1,069,760

International Medical Corps (IMC)
Primary health care
Herat
$735,000

IMC
Primary health care
Bamiyan, Wardak, Parwan
$3,500,000

International Rescue Committee  (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 Group (IRG)
Food Augmentation Team
$614,820

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

UNOCHA
Coordination
All
$2,500,000

UNICEF
Water, sanitation
All
$2,500,000

UNICEF
Nutrition, health, water, sanitation
All
$1,650,000

UNCHS (Habitat)
Cash-for-work rehabilitation of public areas, solid waste removal
Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif
$382,850

Save the Children (SC)/US
Nutrition
North
$206,488

SC/US
Food, health
Central and 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
Cash-for-work road reconstruction & emergency home repair for returning
  IDPs
Kunduz & Takhar
$1,294,550

Solidarites
Rehabilitation, agricultural revitalization
Balkh, Bamiyan, Samangan
$1,739,115

World Food Program (WFP)
Food - 15,000 MT, processing, transport
$6,000,000

WFP
Emergency road repair
Turkmen border
$300,000

WFP
Purchase of trucks for food delivery
$5,000,000

WFP
Joint Logistics Center
$2,000,000

WFP
Logistics support equipment and services
All
$2,500,000

Total FY 2002 USAID/OFDA   $84,863,726



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

Total FY 2002 USAID/FFP	$100,473,500


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

Total FY 2002 USDA   $22,500,000



STATE/PRM

ICRC
Emergency Appeal
$10,100,000

ICMC
Support for Afghans in Pakistan
$515,304

IFRC
Emergency Appeal
$4,000,000

IOM
Emergency Appeal
$2,000,000

IOM
Support for Refugees and IDPs
$1,000,000

IRC
Operational Support
$231,248

Mercy Corps
Support for Afghans in Pakistan
$376,781

Mercy Corps
Operational support
$162,775

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

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

WHO
Basic health for returning Afghans
$1,000,000

Total FY 2002 State/PRM **   $86,844,359


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**
$366,861,525



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**
$366,861,525

Total USG Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan for FY 2002/2001
$551,229,150

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:  An accounting adjustment was made on April 12 to State/PRM funding
amounts for FY01 resulting in an increase of $1.26 million in the
previously reported total for FY01.  Detailed breakdowns of FY01 and FY02
assistance are available in previous Central Asia Region situation
reports.

**Note:  An accounting adjustment was made on April 12 to State/PRM
funding amounts for FY02, resulting in a reduction of $4.66 million in the
previously reported total for FY02.  State/PRM contributions include
funding obligated to international organizations and NGOs in FY02, as well
as new contributions to UN partners announced on April 2.


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