·~~~i~IIIIIf~imlillil~l~il~llll~lif 3 ACKU 00000980 2 OPERATION SALAM OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS CO-ORDINATOR FOR HUMANITARIAN AND ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN PROGRESS REPORT (JANUARY - APRIL 1990) ACKU GENEVA MAY 1990 Office of the Co-ordinator for United Nation Bureau du Coordonnateur des programmes Humanitarian and Economic Assistance d'assistance humanitaire et economique des Programmes relating to Afghanistan Nations Unies relatifs a I 1\fghanistan Villa La Pelouse. Palais des Nations. 1211 Geneva 10. Switzerland · Telephone : 34 17 37 · Telex : 412909 · Fa·x : 34 73 10 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD.................................................. 5 SECTORAL OVERVIEWS . 7 I) Agriculture . 7 II) Food Aid . 7 Ill) De-m1n1ng . 9 IV) Road repair . 9 V) Shelter . 10 VI) Power . 11 VII) Telecommunications . 11 VI II) Health . 12 IX) Water supply and sanitation . 14 X) Education . 15 XI) Vocational training . 16 XII) Disabled . 18 XIII) Anti-narcotics programme . 19 XIV) Culture . ACKU. 20 'W) Returnees . 21 XVI) Internally Displaced . 22 XVII) Logistics and Communications . 22 PROVINCIAL PROFILES . 25 BADAKHSHAN . 27 BADGHIS ............................................. 33 BAGHLAN .............................................. 39 BALKH ................................................. 43 BAMYAN ............................................... 52 FARAH . 58 FARYAB . 65 GHAZNI ................................................ 70 GHOR ................... ............................. 75 HELMAND ............................................ 79 HERAT ................................................. 83 JOWZJAN & SAR-1-PUL . 89 KABUL ................................................. 93 KANDAHAR . 100 KAPISA . 110 KUNAR . 115 KUNDUZ . 125 LAGHMAN . 131 LOGAR . 136 NANGARHAR . 142 NIMROZ .... 151 PAKTIA . 156 PAKTIKA . 163 PARWAN .............................................. 169 SAMANGAN . 173 TAKHAR . 177 URUZGAN . 183 WARDAK ............................... .., . 187 ZABUL . 192 ANNEXES . 197 LIST OF ACRONYMS . ACKU. 198 GLOSSARY (words in Dari) . 201 REFERENCES 202 MAPS TARGET AREAS FOR VOLUNTARY REPATRIATION 6 REFUGEE CROSSING POINTS 26 ACKU - 5 - FOREWORD This Report is based on the experience gained and the information gathered since the launching of Operation Salam covering humanitarian and economic aid activities relating to Afghanistan. During last year, assistance projects funded by the United Nations System benefitted Afghans in practically every province of the country. Afghanistan as a land-locked least developed country, ravaged by a decade long armed conflict, has not always received the attention it deserves from the international community. The people of Afghanistan desperately need help to recover from their troubled past, to overcome the threat of the present and to build a promising future. Approaching the country from the North and South, East and West, the Un System is engaged in alleviating human suffering and in turning swords into ploughshares. ACKU This first Progress Report is a succinct account, province by province, of the activities being undertaken both in rural as well as urban areas of the country. Intended essentially for internal use by the UN System, it is designed as an instrument for a better coordination between the inter-governmental as well as non-governmental organisations involved in Afghanistan. Both in concept and content, it is expected to contribute, to further strengthening of efforts for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan. TARGET AREAS FOR THE VOLUNTARY REPATRIATION OF REFUGEES m First priority Provinces with more than 500fo of original population registered ACKU as refugees Provinces with 35-50 Ofo Second priority Provinces with 20-35 °/o GHOR Provinces with 10- 20% URUZGAN • -7- SECTORAL OVERVIEWS I) Agriculture During the first months of the year, interest focused on the preparatory works for the planting season, with special attention given to the delivery of chemicals to combat the plague caused by sunnpestflocusts in the Northern and Western parts of Afghanistan. Reports about Northern Afghanistan mention that widespread losses of wheat crops ruined by locustsfsunnpest require immediate action. A programme for the delivery of pesticides in the provinces of Balkh, Samangan, Jowzjan (Sar-i-Pul), Faryab, Badghis and Herat has been set up after consultation between UN Agencies, representatives of Shuras from the concerned provinces, and Technical Advisors from FAO and the Plant Protection Department of the Kabul Ministry of Agriculture. The Agricultural Rehabilitation Programme being coordinated by FAO continued its delivery and distribution of wheat seed and fertilizer started in late Summer1 Autumn of 1989. By the end of March 1990 a total of 3175 MT of Certified Improved wheat seed and 5400 MT of fertilizer had been delivered into Afghanistan and distributed to farmers in some 17 provinces (2300 MT of seed and 5400 fertilizer FAO and 875 MT of wheat seed UNHCR). The FAO's Orchard Rehabilitation/Community Forestry Programme had by the end of March 1990 delivered to farmers in eight Provinces a total of 210,000 fruit tree saplings (apple and stone fruits) and to strategically placed nurseries a total of 16,500 virus free apple rootstocks MM 106 from the U.K and 100,000 poplar cuttings of various selected varieties (80,000 from Pakistan, 20,000 from Turkey). FAO has also deliveredACKU 150 draught oxen and 370 Knapsack Sprayers (20 Litres) to programmes inside Afghanistan. II) Food Aid In the latter months of 1988 the World Food Programme (WFP) adopted the concept of a single resource basket to provide an umbrella to cover relief feeding operations for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan as well as Mure development projects within Afghanistan. This ensured the necessary flexibility to deliver food where it has been needed. Up to now, the bulk of these resources have been utilized by refugees in the country of temporary asylum. With the posting of the WFP Director of Operations for Afghanistan in Kabul in January 1990, WFP has been able to participate more closely with UNOCA and other UN agencies in devising projects. A Steering Committee composed of representatives ' - 8 - of UN agencies present in Afghanistan was established (with the same terms of reference as that already set up in Pakistan for cross-border operations). The Committee examines project proposals received from other UN agencies, non­ governmental organizations (NGOs) and from the Government, these proposals frequently involve food aid inputs and the projects are approved at country level. For provinces close to the Pakistan border, the food is drawn from commodities pre­ positioned in Pakistan. UNILOG Qoint venture of WFP and UNHCR) organizes the movement of commodities. Since the end of 1989, considerable quantities of food and other items have been delivered to the border of northern Afghanistan, passing through the Soviet Union on a series of special blocked trains - the Salam Expresses. Thus, food is now also stored in remote areas of the northern provinces as well as Kabul and Herat. As a result, a rapid response was possible to hungry victims after an earthquake on 26 March at Wakhan in Badakhshan province. Recent months have seen three types of food-assisted project operational. In both Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif food has been distributed to vulnerable groups through mother and child health care centres and the Marastoon Institutes for orphans; in Kabul the institute for the blind also had a number of food aid beneficiaries. A multipurpose food-for-work (FFW) project began in the Kabul area, involving the construction of earth embankments to protect farmland and houses from flooding ; other components include reforestation with tree saplings (supplied under the cross border operation), rehabilitation works on dams located on the Logar and Kabul rivers, the cleaning of drains and sewers and collection of garbage in Mazar-i-Sharif and the construction of additional rooms for vocational training centres and school classrooms using traditional local materials. The third type of operational project is implemented by UNHCR with food aid in support of the guesthouse facilities at three locations - Kabul, Herat and Mazar-i­ Sharif - for returning Afghan refugees as they repatriate. Sixteen new projects have recently been approved by the Kabul Steering Committee. These include many FFW projects involving the repair of irrigation networks; their rehabilitationACKU will increase the availability of cultivable land. Moreover, WFP had previously approved 50 cross-border projects, as endorsed by the UN Steering Committee in Islamabad, for Afghanistan; of these projects, 24 have been completed, 11 are on-going and the remaining projects will be operational soon. As this present document is prepared, reports of food shortages in several northern provinces have been received. In some cases these result from the aftermath of war and civil strife: not enough labour or oxen remained to cultivate land. In many instances, however, the shortages have been caused by the presence of locusts and sunn pest which destroyed crops, causing many rural people to leave their homes , and migrate in search of food. Food delivery has been one of the main concerns of the UN Agencies during the winter season. - 9 - Ill) De-mining One 27 -man demining-team operated by Afghan Technical Consultants, commenced mine clearance in Kunar Province on 6 January. 11.5 kilometers of road and 2.4 km