Action by Churches Together (ACT)
Afghanistan - Relief & Rehabilitation - ASAF-21 Appeal (Revision 1)
Appeal Target: US$ 5,595,512
Balance Requested from ACT Network:  US$ 3,568,356
Geneva, 6 August 2002


At the end of the 90s the Imam-Sahib district in Kunduz Province, northern
Afghanistan became an asylum area for the Afghan people from the central
and northern Afghanistan who were fleeing from the Taliban army. In August
2000 after capturing this region, the Taliban forces destroyed a great
number of houses and its few industries. Many local people who had no time
to flee were shot on the spot or disappeared.

In autumn 2001 when the USA began its anti-terror operation, the military
and political situation changed throughout Afghanistan. The Imam-Sahib
district has since become one of the IDP concentration areas and many IDPs
returning to the district found their houses destroyed and property
looted.

At present the Imam-Sahib region is suffering from the after effects of
conflict and neglect, with evidence of extreme poverty. There are now over
400,000 people or some 37,000 families in the region including about
100,000 resettlers, with over 20,000 of them in the city proper.

As of the end of May, there are 17 IDP camps in the region with about
4,000 vulnerable and most needy families, according to data supplied by
the Afghan leaders. Many IDPs live in the open in home-made shacks or
tents made of twigs, mats, planks or polythene. The few factories were
destroyed by the Taliban before their withdrawal and a refugee camp for
almost 500 families has since been set up in a ruined cotton factory.

This revision of the ACT Appeal ASAF-21 (originally issued 15 May 2002)
includes a proposal by ACT member the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) only.
The project is to assist internally displaced Afghans in the Imam-Sahib
district in Kunduz Province and comprises: distribution of food and
hygiene items as well as setting up of sewing workshops.

For information on ACT members Norwegian Church Aid and Church World
Service projects please refer to the original appeal.



Project Completion Date:
NCA   - 31 December 2002
CWS-P/A - 31 March  2003
ROC  - 31 December 2002

Summary of Appeal Targets, Pledges/Contributions Received and Balance
Requested

                     Appeal     Less: Pledges/   Balance Requested
                     Targets     Contr. Recd      from ACT Network

NCA                 3,238,291        771,205         2,467,086
CWS                 1,994,406      1,250,951           743,455
ROC                   347,815              0           347,815
Comm                   10,000          2,500             7,500
Co-ord                  5,000          2,500             2,500
Total Targets US$   5,595,512      2,027,156         3,568,356


Thor-Arne Prois
Director, ACT



REQUESTING ACT MEMBER

Russian Orthodox Church (ROC)


IMPLEMENTING ACT MEMBER INFORMATION

For the last 12 years the Russian Orthodox Church has been actively
developing its emergency services both nationally and internationally. The
local social service of the Church is carried out in every parish -
assistance for the needy in various forms, children's education and care
for elderly are an important part of the Church's mission. ROC has also
participated in various social and emergency projects in Russia, as well
as in other countries - Tajikistan, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia,
Ethiopia, Serbia.

Over the past years the Russian Orthodox Church has gained experience
implementing ACT emergency programs. In 1994 and 1995 ACT counter-flood
projects were implemented in Moldova and in 1998 - in Tajikistan. From
1995 emergency programs have been implemented in Chechnya and North
Caucasus, in 1999 - Russia Winter Assistance Program, in 2000 - emergency
aid for IDPs in Serbia. In 2001 counter-Flood projects were implemented in
different parts of Russia.

In March-June 2002 ROC implemented the emergency relief program for Afghan
refugees on the Tajik-Afghan border within the framework of ASAF-11.

The proposed emergency relief program for the Afghan IDPs in Northern
Afghanistan will be implemented by ROC with participation and support of
the parishes in the deanery of Tajikistan, which have been actively
assisting the needy people and refugees. Tajikistan borders Northern
Afghanistan and is conveniently placed for access.

The work will be co-ordinated by the office in Dushanbe which will be a
contribution in kind on behalf of the Tajik deanery of the ROC.  The
project will utilize the experience, trained staff and infrastructure of
the ROC/RRF Flood project in Tajikistan (1998) and ASAF-11 ACT/ROC
emergency relief program for the Afghan refugees on the Tajik-Afghan
border (2002).

The program will be carried out with the help of the Afghan secular and
Muslim religious authorities, Tajik and Russian EMERCOM, NGOs, UNHCR,
OCHA, WFP. These institutions have been involved in discussions concerning
the proposal and will facilitate its implementation.

Russia Round Table / Department for External Church Relations of the
Moscow Patriarchate on behalf of the ROC will participate in this program.



DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBERGENCY SITUATION

Nearly 25 years of incessant wars and four years of poor crops in a row
have resulted in a catastrophic humanitarian situation in Afghanistan long
before the beginning of the US anti-terror operation. According to the UN
data, almost a quarter of the Afghan population, that is six million
people, are starving today. For many years Afghanistan has ranked as one
of the least developed countries in the world, and the situation worsened
noticeably under the Taliban.

At the end of 90s the Imam-Sahib district became an asylum area for the
Afghan people from Central and Northern Afghanistan who were fleeing from
the Taliban army. In August 2000 after capturing this region, the Taliban
forces destroyed a great number of houses and its few industries. Many
local people who had no time to flee were shot on the spot or disappeared.

When in autumn 2001 the USA began its anti-terror operation, the military
and political situation changed throughout Afghanistan. The Imam-Sahib
district has since become one of the IDP concentration areas in northern
Afghanistan. Among the IDPs there are those who fled not only from Kunduz
Province, but also from the adjacent regions, such as Faizabad and
Badakhshan in which intensive military action took place.  Coming back to
the Imam-Sahib district many of the IDPs found their houses destroyed and
property looted.

At present the Imam-Sahib region is suffering from the after effects of
conflict and neglect, with evidence of extreme poverty. There are now over
400,000 people or some 37,000 families in the region including about
100,000 resettlers, with over 20,000 of them in the city proper. According
to UNHCR data, 47 % of the population there are Uzbek, 25% Tajik, 22
Pashtun, 4% -Turkmen and 2 % Hazara. Before the region was occupied by the
Taliban and had a population of 250,000.

As of the end of May, there are 17 IDP camps in the region with about
4,000 vulnerable and most needy families, according to data supplied by
the Afghan leaders. Many refugees live in the open in home-made shacks or
tents made of twigs, mats, planks or polythene. The few factories were
destroyed by the Taliban before their withdrawal and a refugee camp for
almost 500 families has been set up in a ruined cotton factory.

In spite of very difficult conditions, the region is returning to a
peaceful life. 45 schools including one for girls, which were closed by
the Taliban, have now been reopened.  Each school is attended by
2,500-3,000 children in three shifts. Because of the lack of room, lessons
are conducted in the streets near the schools.


Location

The program will be implemented in the 17 IDP camps of Imam-Sahib district
in the Kunduz Province (Northern Afghanistan).  Afghanistan is divided
into 29 provinces and 300 districts. Imam-Sahib is one of the largest and
most populated districts of Afghanistan that borders Tajikistan. This city
has a rich history with the ancient Imam-Sahib city being situated near a
mosque built 450 years ago which is today 700m from the new Imam-Sahib
city which was built only 40 years ago.

The IDP camps are located in and around Imam-Shahib city, relatively close
to each other and accessible by car.



TARGETED BENEFICIARIES

The ROC will target approximately 32,000 vulnerable Afghan IDPs (4,000
families) in the 17 IDP camps to receive emergency assistance. These will
be the poorest and most vulnerable families. They have no opportunity to
return to their home areas in other regions of Afghanistan as their homes
have been destroyed or plundered.  Furthermore, they have no access to
agricultural land and often have incurred debts with shopkeepers in their
present location, which they have to pay off before being allowed to
leave.

Generally speaking almost all the Afghan population may be referred to as
vulnerable, poor and needy.  However, this proposal aims to assist those
persons who are the poorest IDPs in the camps as these have no opportunity
to start economic activities or gain a stable income through any kind of
labour.  They often have only temporary shelter and no real place to live,
no land to work on and no money to rent land or start some economic
activity. Overall priority will be given to female-headed households and
the elderly.

The selection was made based on the information collected during the field
visits to Imam-Sahib and surrounding camps and taking into consideration
opinions of the Afghan secular and Islamic leaders,



GOAL & OBJECTIVES

Goal:

To continue the support to the Afghani people in their efforts to build a
new life, through the provision of relief and rehabilitation assistance to
Afghan IDPs in the Imam-Sahib region of Afghanistan,


Objectives:

to provide emergency relief in the form of food and hygiene items

to provide clothing and rehabilitation assistance through the opening of
sewing workshops to create stable working places, produce clothing and to
develop the local communities infrastructure.

to continue the inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue



PROPOSED EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE & IMPLEMENTATION

Under this appeal the implementation of two projects is planned:
Project  1 - Relief: Distribution of food and hygiene kits
Project  2 - Rehabilitation: setting up of sewing workshops


Project 1 - Distribution of Food and Hygiene kits

Beneficiaries: 32,000 Afghan refugees (4,000 families), staying in the
camps in the Imam-Sahib district of Afghanistan will be assisted.

No regular assistance has been provided to these IDP camps. During visits
to the camps and in meetings with local officials and Islamic leaders a
list of essentials was prepared, focusing on food and hygiene items. ROC
hopes to provide these essentials for a period of three months and will
monitor the situation to see what further has to be done if IDPs do not
return to their original villages.

Supplies: The following items were recommended, procured and distributed
by Russian EMERCOM, Tajik Government and Afghan authorities:

Content of Food parcel
Qnty/family, kg.
No. of Distribs (3 month  period)
Total, kg.

Flour
10
3
30

Rice
10
3
30

Sugar
5
3
15

Vegetable oil
2
3
6

Tea
0.2
3
0.6


Content of Hygienic kit
Qnt/family, kg.
No. of Distribs (3 month  period)
Total, kg.

Soap (100 gr. bars)
0.5
3
1.5

Washing powder (450 gr packs)
0.9
3
2.7


The first stage will involve a market analysis to identify the lowest
prices for quality food and hygiene commodities. The aid items will be
purchased locally (when possible) or in Tajikistan ensuring the
beneficiaries will be confident in the quality and acceptability of the
goods, for there is a fear that imported goods may be of poor quality or
unacceptable for religious or ethnic reasons.

The aid will be distributed by project transport monitors and the
beneficiaries will be requested to fill in and sign a specially developed
form.  (This methodology has proven to be the most efficient in giving
designated aid to IDPs and makes the principle and methods of work
understandable for both local authorities and beneficiaries - taking into
consideration local norms aid has to be distributed among families, rather
than individuals).



Project 2 - Sewing workshops.

This activity was identified to meet the urgent need for clothing and to
create some job opportunities.

Beneficiaries: for job creation, 10 to 15 women in each of the 17
workshops will be selected amongst those who have the necessary skills.
Furthermore, the most needy IDPs in the camps will benefit from
distribution of the clothes produced.

The selection will be done by ROC together with the local officials and
religious leaders.

Each workshop will be set up on the basis of 17 IDP camps. The local
secular or Muslim authorities will provide a locale. A special contract is
to be signed between communities and the Program that will prescribe the
distribution of the clothes produced among the most needy IDPs staying in
the camps. The list of these IDPs will be prepared together with the
leaders of the camps and the local secular and Muslim authorities in the
Imam-Sahib district.

The women working in the shops will be paid in kind, with the produced
clothes. For the program duration period, the workshops will be provided
with the necessary supplies, such as fabrics, thread, buttons, etc. It is
expected that, after the initial assistance, the workshops will continue
to produce clothes for the most needy, while the supplies will be provided
by the mosques. After the programme is completed, the equipment of each
workshop - 4 sewing machines, 1 knitting machine, spare parts, cutting
tables and sewing kits - will be handed over to the local communities
through the mosques. In this way it is expected that this activity will
have a longer term impact and provide some job creation.


Implementation:

The local field workers/ transport monitors will do the distribution.
Every monitor will be responsible for a certain number of camps (5 or 6).
The work plans for distribution and the beneficiaries lists will be
prepared by the ROC programme staff in co-ordination with the local
Afghani secular and religious leaders and approved by the Programme
Director.

The programme staff as well as the office are only hired for the duration
of the programme. Volunteers from the ROC Deanery and Parishes in
Tajikistan will assist the office and programme staff when needed.


Procurement and Transportation:

The items will be mainly procured in Tajiskistan, as it is very difficult
or even impossible to procure most of the essential items in the working
area. The goods will be trucked to the different distribution places in
the district. Transportation agreements have been reached with the Russian
and Tajik EMERCOM, Russian and Afghan frontier guards and Afghan
authorities to ensure secure transportation of goods to the target areas.

Previously a special Russian Emergency Ministry convoy transported the
goods. The trucks of this convoy have now been given to the Afghan
authorities and therefore other means of transportation have to be sought,
accounting for an increase in this budget item.




ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, MONITORING & REPORTING

Administration

The program office will continue to be situated in the city of Dushanbe in
Tajikistan as the Tajik territory gives the most convenient access to the
Imam-Sahib district and Northern Afghanistan. The office space is a
contribution in kind on behalf of the Tajik diocese of the ROC. The office
itself has no equipment needed to carry out the work. Under ASAF11 all the
administrative support (printing, documentation, etc.) was done with the
assistance of the Round Table in Moscow. However, this is not an efficient
way and limits the working capacity of the office. Therefore it is
proposed to equip the office in Dushanbe with all necessary furniture and
appliances (printer, photocopy machine, phones, water cleaning system,
office supplies and stationery). A computer will be provided by the Round
Table and a telephone-fax machine will be provided by the ROC Tajikistan
Deanery. When ROC closes its Afghanistan programme in Dushanbe the
equipment will be handed over to the ROC Tajikistan Deanery in Dushanbe
who will utilise it for parish social work, including assistance to Afghan
Refugees.

Upon the completion of the programme a special meeting will be organised
by the Dushanbe office to evaluate the work done and to make
recommendations for its possible continuation. In this evaluation session
the programme participants, secular and religious leaders from the
Imam-Sahib region in Afghanistan, ROC Tajiskistan Deanery and the Moscow
office of the Round Table/CECR will participate.


Monitoring

A representative from the Russia Round Table/Department for External
Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate will direct the Program and
will be based in Dushanbe. He will be responsible for the ongoing
monitoring of the programme through monthly visits to the camps. He will
in particular control the quantity and quality of the procured items as
well as the implementation of the distribution. A book-keeper will be
based in Dushanbe. Logistic support is placed in the field as well as in
the Dushanbe office.


Finance

ROC will be responsible to ACT for project and financial reporting on
project implementation.

The accounts and financial reports will be audited by I.V. Shutyleva and
Z. and A. Kosmodemianskie, str. 11/15-56, licensed by the Russian
Federation Finance Ministry #005759 dated 19/4/2000.

In view of the limited and unstable banking system in Tajikistan, funds
will be carried from Russia to Tajikistan by the ROC representatives.




IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE

It is estimated that the implementation will take around three months, but
taking into consideration that funding may not be immediately available,
the programme is expected to be completed by 31 December 2002.



CO-ORDINATION

During the program implementation ROC will closely co-operate with the
Afghan and Tajik officials as well as Muslim authorities, the UN and NGOs
representatives.

ROC co-operates as closely as it can with the other ACT implementing
members in Afghanistan taking into consideration the great distances.
Most contact is by phone to exchange information, discuss security issues
and possible further actions in Afghanistan. Whenever possible the
representative of the ROC/Round Table (Programme Director or other
representative) will attend ACT co-ordinating meetings.

While preparing the program, ROC representatives held meetings and talks
with all the sides involved in the humanitarian effort in Afghanistan.



BUDGET

ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE

Description Type of No of Unit Cost Budget
 Unit Units US$ US$
 FOOD AND NON-FOOD INPUTS
 Food Inputs
 Flour   Bag  2,400  11.0 26,400
 Sugar   Bag  1,200  25.0 30,000
 Rice   Bag  2,400  44.5 106,800
 Sunflower oil   Container  6,000  3.5 21,000
 Tea   Package  24,000  0.4 9,600
 Hygiene Inputs
 Toilet soap   Bar  60,000  0.2 12,000
 Wash powder   Package  24,000  0.7 16,800
 Sewing Workshops Equipment
 Equipment and material    Workshop                      17  3,000.0 51,000
 Total     273,600

MATERIAL TRANSPORT, STORAGE, WAREHOUSING AND HANDLING
Transportation
Transp food & NFI (18 trucks/mth   Month  3 9,000 27,000
     X $ 500 / truck X 3 mths)
 Rental of warehouse  Month 3 1500 4,500
 Loading and offloading fees  Month  3  400  1,200
 Salary of transport monitors (3 persons)  Month  3  900  2,700
 Total     35,400

CAPITAL ASSETS
 Water cleaning system   Number  1  700  700
 Printer   Unit  1  300  300
 Photocopier   Unit  1  900  900
 Furniture   Lumpsum    400
 Total     2,300


 Description Type of No of Unit Cost Budget
 Unit Units US$ US$
PERSONNEL, ADMINISTRATION, OPERATIONS AND SUPPORT
 Staff Salaries:
 Program director   Month  3  2,000  6,000
 Bookkeeper   Month  3  600  1,800
 Logistician   Month  3  700  2,100
 Logistician assistant   Month  3  500  1,500
 Translator   Month  3  500  1,500
 Driver   Month  3  600  1,800
 Staff Travel:
 Air travel Moscow - Dushanbe - Moscow   Month  3  450  1,350
 Local transp to & from Moscow airport   Month  3  50  150
 Transport monitors  (3 per X $ 50 /persX3 mths   Month  3  150  450
Office Operations:
 Stationery and supplies   Month  3  300  900
 Office utilities   Month  3  250  750
 Vehicle Operations:
 Gasoline for office car in Dushanbe   Month  3  150  450
 Gasoline for logistics   Month  3  400  1,200
 Communications:
 Telephone, fax and mobile phone   Month  3  900  2,700
 Mobile phones for monitoring purposes   Unit  3  160  480
 Other:
 Staff housing   Month  3  250  750
 Total     23,880

AUDIT AND EVALUATION
 Audit fees   Lumpsum    1,500
 Evaluation   Lumpsum    700
 Total     2,200

OTHER EXPENSES
 Bank charges   Lumpsum    10,435

TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE     347,815


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Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide alliance of churches and
their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency
response.  The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of
Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.
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   P.O. Box 2100                             E-Mail: act@wcc-coe.org
   1211 Geneva 2                              Telex: 415 730 OIK CH
   Switzerland                                 http://www.act-intl.org


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