Action by Churches Together (ACT) Appeal - Afghanistan War Displaced Winter Assistance - ASAF93 Appeal Target : US$ 326,755 Geneva, 3 December 1999
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world and 20 years of war has fragmented the country into struggles between the various political / military groups in shifting alliances. The fragmentation of the country, the collapse of national institutions of governance severely limits opportunities for Afghans to support themselves and disasters continue to further marginalize them and increase their sufferings. An entire generation of Afghans has lost the opportunity to live in peace and dignity in their own country. The fighting between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance which started again in August 1999, has resulted in much suffering and caused displacement of an estimated 250,000 persons who are in dire need of assistance. Their chances of survival through the harsh Afghan winter are bleak, should basic relief and winterization materials not reach them. ACT member Church World Service (CWS) Pakistan/Afghanistan proposes providing winter shelter materials for the most vulnerable families, along with basic life sustaining food. Please kindly send your contributions to the ACT bank account. For further information, please contact: ACT Co-ordinator, Miriam Lutz (phone 41 22 791 6033 or mobile phone ++ 41 79 203 6055) or ACT Appeals Officer, Neville Pradhan (phone +41 22 791 6035 or mobile phone ++41 79 285 2916) ACT Web Site address: http://www.act-intl.org Ms. Genevieve Jacques Miriam Lutz Rev. Rudolf Hinz Director ACT Coordinator Director WCC/Cluster on Relation LWF/World Service REQUESTING ACT MEMBER Church World Service - Pakistan/Afghanistan (CWS-P/A) IMPLEMENTING AGENCY Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan (CWS-P/A): Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan is a regional office of Church World Service-International. It is registered as an International NGO with the Government of Pakistan, and has been operational since 1954. The Pakistan office is inclusive of the Afghan office. CWS International is the relief and development arm of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA and is financially supported by the Protestant and the Orthodox Churches in North America. Each regional/country office of the CWS works independently. CWS-P/A works with both faith based and secular organizations to assist communities to improve the quality of life by enhancing their access to basic rights such as clean drinking water, food, shelter health and education/training. Its work also focuses on increasing community participation in order to support a democratic civil society and bridging the gap between policy makers and development implementers such as local government bodies, NGOs and community based organizations (CBOs). It works with grassroots organizations across Pakistan and adheres to the belief that communities must themselves set the agenda for change. It works on a cluster program approach, whereby several, rather than individual CBOs work in partnership with CWS and through these means CWS hopes to establish an even growth in communities. Since the mid eighties CWS- Pakistan/Afghanistan has been working in Afghanistan and with Afghan refugees settled in Pakistan. Within Pakistan CWS -P/A has also been involved in several emergencies. In 1998, Afghanistan suffered the ravages of two major earthquakes in a period of four months. The areas then hit were the provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan. ACT members CWS and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) assisted with food security inputs, blankets and basic shelter materials. During the current year CWS has successfully implemented assistance programs with the earthquake hit and IDP communities in Afghanistan, providing them with food aid, shelter and kitchen kits. Partner Information This program will be implemented by two CWS Afghan Partners, namely the Norwegian Project Office (NPO) and the Co-operation Centre for Afghanistan (CCA). The NPO was established in 1990 and works through four regional offices in Afghanistan with a team of over 200 women and men. NPO is involved with long-term development/reconstruction and emergency assistance work with communities throughout Afghanistan. The CCA is a local NGO working with communities in Afghanistan since the 80s (they officially registered in 1990). CCA, with its team of over 100 men and women, works through two regional offices in Afghanistan and its focus area is Hazarajat in central Afghanistan. They are involved mainly with relief and development work. Both NPO and CCA are part of the ACT-CWS emergency capacity building program. NPO will be the implementing partner in Kabul and CCA in Hazarajat. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMERGENCY SITUATION Background Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world and 20 years of war has created immense suffering. The prospects for peace after the fall of the Soviet backed government in 1992 have receded, with a continuing civil war fragmenting the country into struggles between the various political / military groups in shifting alliances. Backed by strong international players, the Talibans emerged on the scene some 4 years ago and have taken over 80% of Afghan territory. An entire generation of Afghans has lost the opportunity to live in peace and dignity in their own country. The fragmentation of the country, the collapse of national institutions of governance severely limits opportunities for Afghans to support themselves and disasters continue to further marginalize them and increase their sufferings This summer, the Talibans first went to Tashkent to attend a peace conference and appeared to sign a UN backed peace process with Ahmad Shah Masood's Northern Alliance. But on their return from Tashkent, the Taliban started a major offensive with 100,000 troops in Kabul, Takhar, Kapisa, Parwan, Samangan, Kunduz, Panjshir Valley and Hazarajat provinces. The summer offence has caused tremendous suffering for the Afghan people. CWS has reliable reports that agricultural infrastructure and homes in Shomali Valley and Central Afghanistan (Hazarajat) were burned and destroyed. Systematic violations of human rights have been reported. Aid workers in the area report that over 300 people have been killed and thousands wounded. The Aid agencies estimate that over 250,000 Afghans have been internally displaced. The displaced families are in desperate need of relief materials and assistance and their situation will worsen as the harsh Afghan winter sets in. Impact on Human Lives Fighting is going on in eight provinces and current statistics are: No. of people killed 300 No. of people injured estimated several thousands No. of displaced People 250,000 No. of provinces affected 8 No. of families without adequate winter supplies 250,000 As in all Afghan conflicts, civilians are the likely targets of human rights violations and pay a high price for a conflict in which they have no active part. GOAL and OBJECTIVES To provide food aid and shelter materials to some 3,000 most vulnerable families displaced by the recent fighting and who now find themselves without food and shelter in severe cold weather conditions BENEFICIARY INFORMATION AND TARGETED AREAS In Kabul there are over 60,000 IDPs with over 23,000 of them living in the former Russian Embassy. The rest are living in abandoned buildings and/or with friends and families. CWS partner NPO plans to assist some 2,000 families living in the city who are dependent on families that were already in desperate conditions prior to the arrival of the IDPs. CCA plans to assist 1,000 families in Hazarajat (out of a total of 100,000), most of whom have returned to their villages and are housed in their damaged homes or living in tents that were provided by ACT members in the first phase of the program. The IDPs in Hajarajat are scattered in 5 districts - Yalaolang, Panjao, Waras, Kahmard and Saighan. Areas, number of IDPs and kind of assistance to be provided are decided by the UNOCHA led co-ordination body and then allocated to agencies. Member agencies fund raising and implementation capacity are important considerations. All inputs and distributions are documented by the UN and the list is distributed regularly to the participating members. This helps in monitoring and avoids duplication. Target Group ACT-CWS aims to assist 3,000 IDP families in Kabul and Hazarajat with shelter materials - tarpaulins, plastic sheeting, blankets and food baskets. Each family will receive two blankets, one tarpaulin, two plastic sheets and a food basket. Each food basket will consist of 30kg. rice, 5kg. cooking oil, 20kg. Beans and 20kg. Peas. CWS staff and local implementing partners in the area are familiar with the authorities and the working conditions which greatly facilitates their work. Location Number of families Total persons Kabul 2000 10,000 Hazarajat 1000 5,000 TOTAL 3000 15,000 Family composition: the average family size of an IDP family is 5 persons 19% of the people in a IDP family are children under 5 45% are between the ages of 5 and 15 22% households are headed by women 3% households are headed by disabled persons Living conditions are very poor as most of the IDPs inhabit quarters that pose a risk to their health (insecure structures, often with no windows and/or floor covering). Absence of fuel for cooking and heating is also a serious problem Livelihoods/assets: - a quarter of the families were recorded as having no potential breadwinner i.e. households headed by either female or disabled. - the amount of food available for the IDPs is marginal, ranging from for 1 to 4 days The aid agencies are expecting the situation for IDPs to get even worse in the coming days, with unexpected snow in Kabul and surrounding provinces, this early in the winter Justification The likelihood that the IDPs may return to their homes in the short term is minimal due to the fact that fighting continues on almost all fronts. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world caught in a game of war between rival factions. With only the international community to turn to for assistance, this humanitarian intervention represents a vital component and only hope of survival for many. DESCRIPTION OF TARGETED ASSISTANCE Winter shelter materials - blankets, plastic sheeting, and tarpaulins for 3,000 families Food aid - rice, cooking oil, beans and peas for 3,000 families While the CWS food baskets will not meet all nourishment requirements of a family, it will however provide a minimum level of nourishment to the IDP families for approximately 6 weeks. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT Administration CWS and its partners have established offices and trained staff in Kabul, Hazarajat and Jalalabad to undertake this type of assistance program. In association with the implementing partners the Disaster Response Office (DRO) of CWS-Pakistan/Afghanistan team (4-member team headed by the Co-ordinator) will be responsible for monitoring/reporting/reviewing of the programme. This team in partnership with partners will also ensure that the work is completed according to schedule. Procurement CWS/NPO and almost all aid agencies procure food and other relief items from Pakistan as procuring in Afghanistan at this time will raise the price of commodities and adversely affect all Afghans. Quotations are requested to determine the best source for the items needed. A number of factors, including the price, are taken into account when deciding which quotation to accept, namely the quality of the product, quality of after sales service (if applicable), speed of delivery, local benefits to the economy and small business, importation policies and procedures (if applicable), political and cultural sensitivity as well as the supplier's reputation. Finance The Administration and Finance Departments are responsible for financial management and has the authority for making cash payments to partners within the approved budget lines. All payments are done by cheque or draft by the CWS central Office in Karachi. Each time the grant is made, the budget monitoring record is updated and approved by the Director. This is then calculated and compared at completion of the project. At the end of the program, the finance officer will collect all the supporting documents from partners and carry out an internal audit. An external audit will be carried out on completion of the program. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE Implementation is scheduled to be completed within two months (December 01, 1999 - January 31, 2000) subject to funding and obtaining the relief materials. COORDINATION UNOCHA is the lead UN agency for this winter assistance program and they have ensured coordination by UN agencies and NGOs through a series of joint assessments and relief distributions. The UN has set up coordination bodies for all three locations and organizes regular meetings. The UN office will be informed of all appeals by implementing agencies which will help them to keep a record of all inputs and thereby avoid duplication. Members of the Coordination Body are: Rural Rehabilitation Association of Afghanistan (RRAA), ACTED, OXFAM, CARE-International, Afghan Aid, MEDAIR, UNICEF, UNCO, ACF, UNCHS, World Food Program (WFP), NCA, Save the Children Fund (SCF), CCA, Shelter Now International and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) amongst others. BUDGET ACT - CWS-P/A ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE Description Type of No of Cost/Unit Total Budget Unit Units Rs Rs US$ Food & Non-food Assistance Blankets Nos 6,000 500 3,000,000 58,824 Tarpaulin Nos 3,000 600 1,800,000 35,294 Plastic Nos 6,000 60 360,000 7,058 Food Basket Nos 3,000 2,805 8,415,000 165,000 Sub Total 13,575,000 266,176 Transportation Peshawar to Kabul/Hazarajat Trucks 40 25,000 1,000,000 19,608 Administration & Support Costs Personnel Staff salaries Lump sum 408,000 8,000 Staff medical & insurance Lump sum 153,000 3,000 Staff travel Lump sum 306,000 6,000 Regional travel Lump sum 153,000 3,000 Per diems (board/lodging) Lump sum 102,000 2,000 Office operations Stationary Lump sum 153,000 3,000 Rents Lump sum 122,400 2,400 Utilities Lump sum 30,600 600 Communications Phone/fax/email Lump sum 255,000 5,000 Vehicle operations Lump sum 306,000 6,000 Other Documentation Lump sum 25,500 500 Sub Total 39,500 Liaison & assessment Lump sum 75,000 1,471 TOTAL EXPENDITURE & APPEAL TARGET 16,664,500 326,755 Exchange Rate: US$ 1 = Pakistan Rs. 51 150 route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland Tel: 41 22 791 6033 Fax: 41 22 791 6506 Coordinating Office APPEAL FACT SHEET Appeal Number: ASAF93 Appeal Name: Afghanistan - War Displaced Winter Assistance Date Issued: 3 December 1999 Project Completion Date: 31 January 2000 Project Description: ACT member Church World Service (CWS) Pakistan/Afghanistan proposes assisting the most vulnerable of the war displaced in Afghanistan with shelter materials - plastic sheeting, tarpaulins and blankets as well as food in the form of rice, cooking oil, beans and peas for 3,000 families. Implementing Activity Appeal Target Partner Description (USD) CWS P/A Shelter, blankets 326,755 TOTAL APPEAL TARGET: $ 326,755 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide network of churches and their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency response. 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