DC OR UNOCA/1988/1 Add.l .6 ----0-PE-RA:-TI-ON-SA-LA_M__ ifJ~f~,~~~~fl~IJ!ililf FIRST CONSOLIDATED REPORT UP-DATE FEBRUARY 1989 ACKU - ----------------·- -- --- AFGHANISTAN PROVINCE MAP WITH SIX REGIONS SHOWN LEGEND B _NORTH ~ EAST CENTRAL ~ NORTH EAST rn SOUTH 123 EAST rn NORTH· WEST 0 50 IOOkm Office of the Co-ordinator for United Nations ~~~ ;~\ ~:.;\ ~ ~ Bureau du Coordonnateur des programmes Humanitarian and Economic Assistance ~,)l-.:j':il,.,- ~-L.... ;':¥'1 ;..u:.Lll d'assistance humanitaire et economique des Programmes relating to Afghaniswn 0L::.__;L;.j ~ ;LdI Nations Unics rclatifs a !'Afghanistan UNOCA/1988/l.Add.l 1 February 1989 OPERATION SALAM UPDATE TO THE FIRST CONSOLIDATED REPORT Prepared by The Office of the Co-ordinator for Humanitarian and Economic Assistance Programmes Relating to Afghanistan CONTENTS I. OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION 1 Table 1: Registered returnees by Province (January 1987 - October 1988) 3 II. RESPONSE TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL'S APPEAL 1. Pledging Conference (New York, 12 October 1988) 5 Table II: List of Pledges and Contributions as at 16 January 1989 6-9 2. Status of Contributions 10 3. Breakdown of Pledges by United Nations system executing agencies 11 Table III: Breakdown of Pledges by United Nations system executing agency 12 4. Missions to Moscow 13 5. Interagency meetings 14 6. Relationships with the Donor Community and other contacts 16 7. Strengthening ofACKU the Co-ordinator's Presence in the Field 17 III. INTERAGENCY NEEDS ASSESSMENT MISSIONS INSIDE AFGHANISTAN Salam 1 - Across the Iranian border 18 Salam 2 - To Herat from Kabul 19 Salam 3 - 45 days in north east Afghanistan 21 Salam 4 - 24 Salam 5 - 100 hours in Kunar 25 Salam 6 - 400 kilometres through Paktika 26 -i- GE.89-007(;~ I. OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION Fighting continues in many areas of the country while the 15 February deadline for the withdrawal of Soviet troops draws closer. Heavy fighting is reported along the main supply routes and around the larger towns which are still controlled by government forces. Several provincial capitals have been evacuated or have fallen to the Mujahedeen. In areas where combat has ceased the threat of aerial bombardment or of rocket attacks still persists. In Kabul prices of essential goods are reported to be increasing rapidly because of the reduced quantities of supplies which can reach the city. Food shortages are already creatin~ serious problems for the more vulnerable groups: children, nursing mothers and the elderly. Fuel is also running short and frequent power cuts are reported. Contingency plans are being prepared by t h e Co-ordinator, including the possibility of an airlift to provide food and other essential items to vulnerable groups. Food shortages and famine risks are reported in traditional deficit areas such as Badakhshan where the consequences of the summer 1988 drought and resulting crop failure have been compounded by insecurity and difficulties of access. Locusts, or according to some reports, grasshoppers, have caused extensive damage to cereal crops in many districts of north west Afghanistan. Although the precise extent of the locust threat is not known, in some areas of Badghis province, crops have been completely lost. In the absence of any control measures the situation will only become more serious and the prices of wheat and barley have already more than doubled. Many farmers have reportedly had to sell their cattle in order to buy wheat. The suffering of AfghansACKU both inside and outside their country therefore continues and is made more serious by the harsh winter, the coldest in sixteen years. At the same time, increasing information is becoming available on areas of relative security - where fighting has ceased and where the beginnings of a civilian administration are perceptible - which already offer opportunities for access and for the planning and implementation of relief and rehabilitation activities. - 1 - No significant movements of refugees returning from neighbouring countries are as yet reported. Statistics provided by the Kabul Government indicate that some 170,000 returnees have been registered from January 1987 to October 1988. The attached Table shows that close to 50% of those officially registered have returned to the Herat and Nangarhar provinces, the other provinces (with the exception of Kandahar) receiving only a trickle of returnees. The extent to which there have been additional cross-border movements which escape the official returnee registration system is not known, but most observers agree that these do not seem to have been significant during the past months. Reports from inside Afghanistan (see also the results of Salam missions in Chapter III below) indicate that there has been some movement of internally displaced families from the towns, in particular Kabul, to valleys of origin where the situation has stabilized (e.g. the Panjshir valley) but no reliable quantitative information is available. ACKU - 2 - Table I: Registered returnees by Province (January 1987 - October 1988) He rat 46685 Farah 4543 Nimroz 4522 Oruzgan 199 Faryab 1968 Ghorat 147 Badghis 181 Jozjan 1692 Barny an 624 Hazar 3702 Samangan 1316 Baghlan 4687 Kunduz 4833 Takhar 431 Badakhshan 63 Helmand 2585 Kandahar 18048 Zabul 2515 Ghazni 2892 Paktika 3186 Khost 3265 Paktia 4356 Logar 506 Nangarhar 44848 Konarha 2453 Laghman 3180 Kapissa 597 ParwanACKU 1260 Wardak 169 Kabul 4122 Sare Pul 237 TOTAL 169912 Source: Ministry of Returnees, Kabul - 3 - While the situation on the ground is still fraught with uncertainties, steps are being taken within the United Nations system (and among its operational partners) which will place the international community in the best position to tackle successfully the enormous task of relief and rehabilitation. This report focuses on the practical steps already taken by the Co-ordinator and his colleagues of the United Nations system to meet this challenge. Much has happened since September 1988 when the First Consolidated Report was issued. "Operation Salam" was officially launched at the beginning of the United Nations Pledging Conference in New York on 12 October 1988. The conference itself was a remarkable event more than US$800 million was pledged in one day. A presence has been established in Islamabad, Kabul and Tehran. Essential groundwork has been done and has led to programme planning and project identification. A number of preliminary projects are in their take-off stage and more are in the pipeline. The first interagency needs assessment missions organized by the Co-ordinator have taken place and have provided first hand information on levels of destruction and immediate needs of the population. Follow-up delivery missions - where essential inputs: food, seed, fertilizer, drugs, construction materials will be provided - are being organized. A report on these and other developments will be found in the following pages. ACKU - 4 - II. RESPONSE TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL'S APPEAL 1. Pledging Conference (New York, 12 October 1988) The Pledging Conference in response to the Secretary-G ~ neral's Appeal was held in New York on 12 October. It was opened by the Sec retary-General in the presence of the Co-ordinator as well as that of the Administrator of UNDP, the Executive Director of WFP, the High Commissioner for Refugees and representatives of most of the United Nations agencies involved in redressing the Afghan situation. The meet~ng began with the Secreta~y-General and the Co-ordinator officially launc~ing "Operation Salam". After brief statements by Executive Heads, donors announced their pledges. The most important pledge was that of the Soviet Union, (the equivalent of US$660 million at current exchange rates, mostly in kind). Never before has the Soviet Union made such a substantial contribution to the humanitarian activities of the United Nations. The pledge was described by the Soviet Ambassador as taking the form, among other things, of "free deliveries from the USSR of consumer goods, including foodstuffs, clothes, footwear, linen, medical supplies, school appliances, fabrics etc. and free deliveries from the USSR of equipment and materials for constructing projects in various branches of the economy under the United Nations sponsored programmes . ." . For further details on current plans for the utilization of the Soviet pledge, see Section II, 4 below. Other generous pledges were made by a number of donors. Token but highly symbolic pledges were also made at the Conference and in the following weeks. The United States representative reaffirmed his Government's commitment to providing assistance to ACKUthe people of Afghanistan and its support for the Co-ordinator's effort. The State Department has since advised the Co-ordinator of the substantial contribution it will make in 1989: US$33 .1 million in food aid to WFP, US$20 million to UNHCR and US$2 million for the de-mining programme. Table II gives details of the pledges made so far. - 5 - Table II: SECRETARY-GENERAL'S APPEAL OF 10 JUNE 1988 FOR HUMANITARIAN AND ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN LIST OF PLEDGES AND CONTRIBUTIONS - as at 16 January 1989 (US$'000) AFGHANISTAN EMERGENCY TRUST FUND WFP/DIRECT ICRC NOT CONTRIBUTIONS & COUNTRY PLEDGE UNEARMARKED EARMARKED DECIDED TO INT. ORG. NGO'S REMARKS AUSTRALIA 16,260 - predominantly food - through international organizations and Australian NGO's AUSTRIA a) 500 500 a) 3,000 metric tons of cereals b) 1 ,500 1 ,500 b) for agricultural development and rehabilitation, including support for handicrafts 0' BANGLADESH 5 5 BULGARIA 588 1 million leva. in kind: drugs, clothes, blankets including transport costs CAMEROUN 3 3"" CANADA a) 826 124"" 702"" a) - 124 for UNOCA - 702 for UNHCR b) 17,647 ACKUb) through int. org. and NGO's DENMARK a) 1,110 1, 110"" b) 8,772 b) contribution for first year through int. org, ICRC, NGO's EEC 25,029 14,552 10,477 for 1988: agricultural develop~ent, roads, irrigation, shelter, potable water, drugs, medical equipment LIST OF PLEDGES AND CONTRIBUTIONS- 16.1.89- cont/2 AFGHANISTAN EMERGENCY TRUST FUND WFP/DIRECT ICRC NOT CONTRIBUTIONS & COUNTRY PLEDGE UNEARMARKED EARMARKED DECIDED TO INT.