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26 May 2010 REVIEW

Inside This Issue

Economic Stabilization Governance & Participation This document is intended to provide an overview of relevant sector events in Afghanistan from 19 May - 25 May 2010. More Humanitarian Assistance comprehensive information is available on the Civil-Military Overview Infrastructure (CMO) at www.cimicweb.org. Hyperlinks to original source material Justice & Reconciliation are highlighted in blue and underlined in the embedded text.

Security Social Well-Being

For further information on CFC activities related to Afghanistan or inquiries about this publication, please contact the Afghanistan Team Manager: Valeria Davanzo, [email protected] or the Afghanistan Editor: Amber Ram- sey, [email protected]

ECONOMIC STABILIZATION Matthew Hall, [email protected] / +1 757-683-5273 Back to top

An ABC News broadcast reports that the US military gated and for high-profit fruit and saffron, farmers is refocusing its attention on Afghan drug traffickers must think about additional resources for process- rather than poppy-producing farmers who depend ing and marketing, which many have little or no on the lucrative crop to survive. Soldiers in Kandahar access to. province are now working with local farmers to pro- mote alternative crops; however they have cut back There are several reports suggesting development military pressure on farmers to destroy their poppy programmes aimed at invigorating Afghan agricul- fields to prevent from alienating or further impover- ture may be seeing some success. Local Shamshad ishing the farming communities. The military now TV reports that the wheat harvest in Helmand prov- targets drug traffickers who process and resell the ince is expected to increase this year due to poppy in the form of opium. According to the article, "improved seeds, chemical fertilizers and other fa- US troops have successfully confiscated 10,000 cilities," including an industrial park that is still un- pounds of opium before any profit was able to make der construction where wheat will be milled and it into the hands of the Taliban. stored. According to the Deputy Governor of Hel- mand, the United States Agency for International In a recent report, the Integrated Regional Informa- Development (USAID) donated 300 tractors, while tion Network (IRIN) approaches the difficult choice 27,000 farmers in the province received seeds and faced by Afghan farmers when deciding which crops fertilizer. Cultivation programmes in Balkh province to grow. Wheat is considered a strategic crop and a have been extended for fruit orchards, says the staple food and can be grown in areas of Afghani- MAIL Provincial Director. According to Pajhwok Af- stan without expensive irrigation infrastructure, says ghan News, more than 3,000 additional hectares IRIN, but wheat crops yield low prices (USD 500- will be cultivated under two separate projects 600/hectare) and despite seeing several good har- funded by the European Union (EU) and the World vests, Afghanistan still imports a large amount from Bank. Afghan officials say 2,000 saplings will be other countries. The Ministry of Agriculture, Irriga- provided for 10 districts in the province. So far, USD tion and Livestock (MAIL) has been pushing a num- 17 million has been spent by the World Bank; 769 ber of alternative crops including saffron (USD orchards have already been planted with prepara- 25,000/hectare) and fruits such as pomegranates tions underway for 1,200 more. A bumper harvest is (up to USD 16,000/hectare) that are more lucrative expected in the Arghandad district of Kandahar but require expensive irrigation systems. According province, says Pajhwok. Over the past six months, to IRIN only one-third of Afghan farmland is irri- USAID has been operating its Afghanistan Vouchers 2 for Increased Production in Agriculture Plus (AVIVA positive growth, farmers in the province have called Plus) programme in the district, which has supplied on the government to provide support in marketing local farmers with pesticides and fertilizers every and transport to make use of the successful har- month. According to the article, 60% of the district's vest. (Comments? Click here) agricultural land is devoted to fruit trees, the 'vast majority' of which are pomegranate. Despite the FOR MORE DISCUSSION CLICK HERE

GOVERNANCE & PARTICIPATION Ann-Kristin Otto, [email protected] / +1 757-683-4368 Back to top

During its session on 22 May, the Wolesi Jirga plaints from candidates whose names were re- (Lower House of Parliament) refused to debate any moved from the preliminary candidate list of the bills until Afghan President presents Independent Election Commission (IEC). The candi- the eleven remaining candidates for ministerial dates‟ names were removed because they did not posts, Pajhwok Afghan News reports. On 19 May, fulfil the prerequisites for running in the 18 Septem- Members of Parliament (MPs) had given Karzai a ber parliamentary elections. IEC spokesman Noor deadline of three days to introduce the remaining Mohammad Noor told Pajhwok that most of the re- nominees to parliament for a vote of confidence, moved candidates had failed to provide the mini- which passed with no action from the presidential mum of 1,000 supporter cards required for their palace. Wolesi Jirga Speaker Mohammad Yunis candidacy. Qanuni told Pajhwok that no committees would hold regular meetings until the candidates were intro- A dispute between Hazara and Kuchi groups in War- duced. MPs warned of growing tensions between the dak province (refer to CFC‟s 19 May Afghanistan parliament and government, with no new candidates Review, Governance & Participation section) was being introduced since January. A Tolo TV report resolved following the visit of a high-level delega- suggests that Karzai had promised to introduce the tion from , Shamshad TV reports. Upon arri- remaining candidates after his trip to Washington val, the government delegation imposed a ceasefire DC, which concluded on 14 May. and banned the Kuchi from entering the controver- sial areas. Wardak Chief of Police Zawar Zahed told The governor of Bamian province and Afghanistan‟s Shamshad TV that the orders given by the Ministry only female governor, Habiba Sarabi, refused to step of Interior (MoI) have been executed in the two down on Sunday following a demonstration by pro- affected districts. The disputed area was used by vincial council members in Bamian city calling for her Kuchi nomads to transfer their livestock from Ghor removal from office, Pajhwok writes. According to to Bamian province and the land dispute dates back the report, approximately 1,000 people participated several years. The report suggests that the most in the protest, which Governor Sarabi called politi- recent conflict between the two groups resulted in cally motivated and organised by her opponents. 14 casualties. According to Pajhwok, Afghan Vice- The protesters accused the governor of not properly President Karim Khalili visited the site of the ethnic addressing development needs in the province and clashes to monitor the implementation of the gov- not acting on her promises of a USD 40 million de- ernment directive and to ensure that peace and velopment budget. stability were restored. (Comments? Click here)

According to Pajhwok, the Electoral Complaints OR ORE ISCUSSION LICK ERE Commission (ECC) has received more than 250 com- F M D C H

HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE Amber Ramsey, [email protected] / +1 757-683-4385 Back to top

Pajhwok Afghan News reports that the Governor of Following the meeting, de Mistura assured the gov- Kandahar province, Turialay Wisa, complained that ernor that the UN would strengthen its activities in little relief has been delivered to Kandahar residents the province and reiterated the UN‟s commitment to despite the presence of a number of UN offices in be “actively present in the region.” the capital city. Wisa made these remarks during a meeting with UN Special Representative of the Sec- According to a recent article from the Institute for retary General Staffan de Mistura in Kandahar on 20 War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), residents of Marjah May. Among other things, Wisa condemned the UN‟s continue to flee the area as the security situation decision to cut back its operations in Kandahar in deteriorates. Many residents claim they have no late April due to the deteriorating security situation. choice but to flee as they are caught between fear 3 of the foreign forces and counter-attacks by Taliban the past nine years, returning refugees have faced fighters. At the same time, the head of the Afghan an array of difficulties including housing shortages, Red Crescent Society provincial office in Helmand unemployment, lack of education and healthcare explains that the Red Crescent Society is running out and insecurity. Since UNHCR‟s Voluntary Repatria- of resources to assist those fleeing the fighting. In tion Programme began in 2002, more than 3.6 mil- the recently released International Committee of the lion Afghans have returned home from and Red Cross 2009 Annual Report the ICRC claims that 865,000 have returned from Iran. Despite these the humanitarian response to contemporary conflict positive indicators, Pajhwok warns that unemploy- must be better adapted to meet the complex needs ment and insecurity in Afghanistan continues to of the people caught in them. According to ICRC, prompt Afghan youth to leave the country in search conflict situations such as Afghanistan require a sus- of a better life as refugees elsewhere. tained, flexible and multifaceted humanitarian re- sponse and the humanitarian community must re- In an innovative effort, the World Food Programme double their efforts to minimise the impact of armed (WFP) hosted a round-table discussion in Rome conflict and other violence on civilians. An ICRC Op- with some of the world‟s leading experts on supply erational Update gives details on a number of the chain controls and risk management to more effec- organisations‟ ongoing activities in some of the tively deliver food aid to those in natural disaster country‟s most volatile provinces where many other and conflict situations such as in Afghanistan. WFP organisations are unable to work. According to the Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a WFP update, accessibility continues to be a hindrance to press release, “We will examine the most techno- those on the ground, preventing patients in need of logically advanced methods of tracking and deliver- immediate attention from receiving lifesaving medi- ing food and seek to implement these approaches cal care before it is too late. in our high risk operations.” Among the participants in the meeting were global logistics experts from Since the beginning of 2010, 50,000 refugees have market leaders such as Wal-Mart, humanitarian spe- returned to Afghanistan under the United Nations cialists, and senior military supply chain experts. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Voluntary WFP currently employs several methods designed to Repatriation Programme, writes the UN Assistance ensure the most accurate and efficient delivery of Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). According to food including gathering detailed assessments on UNHCR records, 48,000 refugees have returned from beneficiary numbers and locations; strict contracting Pakistan and 2,000 from Iran, showing an increase guidelines to ensure the use of reliable transport in return numbers compared to the same period last companies; commodity tracking systems to follow year. Some refugees returning from Pakistan cite food from donation to distribution; and regular au- rising living costs, fewer jobs and security issues as dits to make sure the job is being done correctly. their reason for returning, in addition to the percep- (Comments? Click here) tion that living conditions in Afghanistan have im- proved. Some 2.7 million Afghans are still registered as refugees in Pakistan and Iran, says UNHCR. Over FOR MORE DISCUSSION CLICK HERE

INFRASTRUCTURE Matthew Hall, [email protected] / +1 757-683-5273 Back to top

Noor TV reports that a contract was signed by the spite of the fact that they have the necessary ca- Afghan Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani and pacity to implement such projects. According to representatives of the Asian Development Bank Mohammad Qorban Haqjo, Director of the Afghan (ADB) on 18 May for the development of gas depos- Chamber of Commerce, currently, 70% of construc- its in Sheberghan, the capital of Jowzjan province. tion projects in Afghanistan are awarded to foreign The cost of the project is expected to be USD 25.4 companies, despite NATO‟s Afghan First Policy, million and take 2-3 years to complete. Priorities which calls for the procurement of Afghan goods include providing sufficient gas supplies to a factory and services whenever possible. in Kod-e Barq in northern Balkh province, attracting investment in gas production and enabling the crea- Five new 25 KW power transformers will be in- tion of a power generator capable of producing 100- stalled in the Kholm district of Balkh province, ac- 150 MW of electricity. cording to local Arzu TV. Four of the transformers were purchased with funding from the Afghan gov- Local Ariana TV reports that the Director of the Af- ernment and the other from a local businessman. ghan Chamber of Commerce, and other Afghan offi- Once installed by the Balkh Energy Department, the cials, have argued that not enough construction pro- new transformers should benefit 1,000 families. jects are being awarded to Afghan companies in 4

Pajhwok Afghan News reported on a number of in- In Laghman province, construction was com- frastructure projects this week: pleted on two canals while construction began on two others. The two completed canals were The Ministry of Mines has created a plan de- funded by the World Bank at a cost of USD signed to address the concerns of workers at a 229,000 in the Kakas and Aziz Khan Kas dis- fertiliser plant in the Dehdad district of Balkh tricts. The newly executed projects are in the province. The workers have threatened to pro- provincial capital of Mehtarlam and the district test unless the factory is renovated. Without of Alingar. These canals were also funded by renovations, the factory will be forced to close the World Bank at a cost of USD 1.6 million and down as its production has dropped from 600 to will take 5,000 local residents six months to 90 tonnes per day, thereby costing the workers complete. their jobs. The official plan, according to a Minis- try spokesman, calls for the expansion and re- An 800-year-old Kabul mosque has been reno- construction of the plant. vated with the support of the US Embassy. USD 82,000 was provided for the renovations and The Government of Canada will install an irriga- the inauguration ceremony was attended by US tion system and build cold storerooms in the Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. (Comments? Arghandab district of Kandahar province. During Click here) a recent visit, Canadian International Coopera- tion Minister Beverley J. Oda promised to pro- vide continued assistance in the area “even after FOR MORE DISCUSSION CLICK HERE a military withdrawal” in mid-2011.

JUSTICE & RECONCILIATION Ann-Kristin Otto, [email protected] / +1 757-683-4368 Back to top

The consultative peace jirga scheduled to start on 29 The article says that the meeting was organised by May in Kabul was delayed for the second time, Tolo Jarir Hekmatyar, a son-in-law of Afghan warlord TV reports. Officials cite „technical difficulties‟ as the and Hezb-e Islami leader , reason for the additional delay. The Wall Street Jour- who sent his son Feroz Hekmatyar as his represen- nal quotes an Afghan government official saying that tative. President Karzai is said to feel uneasy about the gathering would be postponed for “at least a few the talks but sent observers to the Maldives. Con- days” and the article mentions transportation for tradicting the Al Jazeera information, the Taliban delegates as one of the problems. National TV Af- have denied their participation in the talks, accord- ghanistan says that the new date was announced ing to the Associated Press (AP). AP quotes a Tali- during a press conference in Kabul with one of the ban statement stressing that the participants at the organisers, Ghulam Farooq Wardak, and the gather- informal peace talks were not active Taliban mem- ing will now take place on 02 June. Wardak also an- bers and have “surrendered” to the Afghan govern- nounced that President Hamid Karzai has approved ment. The two-day meeting caused mixed reactions the final list of 1,600 participants; the list will not be from Afghan analysts with some pointing at the po- made public and the committee is in the process of tential for increased security and stability in Af- informing the invitees. ghanistan and other analysts being pessimistic about the outcome. The New York Times writes Al Jazeera reports that senior Taliban leaders and that between 10 and 20 delegates took part in the Afghan government officials gathered for the second talks to explore the possibilities for an end to the round of informal peace talks in the Maldives on 20 conflict in Afghanistan. (Comments? Click here) May. Organisers are quoted saying that Taliban rep- resentatives, Afghan government officials and politi- FOR MORE DISCUSSION CLICK HERE cal party representatives all took part in the talks.

SECURITY Rens De Graaff, [email protected] /+1 757-683-4302 Back to top

On 19 May, suicide bombers armed with rockets and eral hours. One rocket landed inside the base, but grenades launched a pre-dawn attack on Bagram Air no insurgents were able to breach the perimeter, Base, killing one American contractor and wounding according to a spokesman for the base. The inci- 9 US soldiers, Reuters reports. According to the re- dent took place one day after a suicide bomber at- port, 12 militants were killed during the attack, tacked a military convoy in Kabul, killing 12 Afghan which involved 30 Taliban insurgents and lasted sev- civilians and six NATO troops. The article suggests 5 that this incident may mark the beginning of a AP reports that seven people, including a school- spring offensive by the Taliban on high-profile for- teacher, were arrested for their possible involve- eign targets. ment in last week‟s suicide attack that killed 18 peo- ple including six NATO personnel in Kabul. Accord- According to the Associated Press (AP), the Taliban ing to a spokesman of the Afghan Intelligence Ser- have claimed responsibility for a nighttime assault vice, the suspects were operating under the com- targeting Kandahar Air Base in southern Afghani- mand of the Taliban‟s “shadow governor” in Kabul, stan. On Saturday night insurgents fired rockets and Daoud Shurkha, whose cell is responsible for at mortars and stormed the northern perimeter of the least seven other attacks in Kabul since last year. At base, but were unsuccessful. The attack left 13 coa- this moment it is unclear what role the suspects had lition soldiers and civilian employees wounded, says in the attack, or what possible impact the arrest has The Daily Telegraph. Due to the attack, a British on Taliban operations. (Comments? Click here) delegation en route to the base was forced to divert their travel from Kandahar. This was the second ground assault on a major NATO installation and the FOR MORE DISCUSSION CLICK HERE third attack on NATO troops in a week.

SOCIAL WELL-BEING Valeria Davanzo, [email protected] / +1 757-683-4271 Back to top

Illegal land grabs in Kabul are worsening the grow- focuses on peace-building and education. Other ing divide between rich and poor in Afghanistan, under-represented groups are also given a voice according to an IRIN report. The article highlights a through the Salam Watandar programme including 2003 case in which poor families were evicted from disabled people who receive information and advice the suburb of Shirpur with “excessive use of force,” on how to live with disabilities through Qahir-l Qah- and now seven years later the evicted families have raman (Qahir the Champion) and women who re- still received no compensation while mansions con- ceive information and advice on gender issues, tinue to pop up in the increasingly wealthy suburb. healthcare and education through Hawa (Eve). The eviction of the families in Shirpur back in 2003 was qualified by the UN Special Rapporteur as com- The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghani- prising “serious human rights violations” and IRIN stan (UNAMA) reports that the UN is supporting a says the situation has still not improved with land number of training programmes meant to spread seizures continuing to occur throughout the city. knowledge on the harmful effects of narcotics. The Officials of the Ministry of Urban Development and “Harm Reduction” programme organized by the Kabul Municipality claim that some 70% of new Medecins du Monde and supported by the UN Office buildings in Kabul are illegal and increasingly built by on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the UN Joint Pro- affluent individuals with little regard for local laws gramme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Afghan and regulations. It is also mentioned that the Shirpur National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) has been case is reflective of the chaotic urban development helping to make strides towards increased coverage Kabul and its environs are currently experiencing. on the negative effects of drug use. During the training, peer educators are taught safe injection, Internews, an international media development or- overdose management, condom use and the Needle ganisation, provided details on an innovative new Syringe Programme (NSP), after which they are radio programme called Radio Kodak, part of In- given the tools necessary to teach their communi- ternews‟ Salam Watandar (Hello Countrymen), which ties. According to UNAMA this programme is an im- was created in 2003 and staffed by local journalists portant element of an effective overall drug control in an effort to generate accurate locally-produced strategy in Afghanistan. (Comments? Click here) news as well as educational and cultural program- ming. Radio Kodak, a radio station run by children, FOR MORE DISCUSSION CLICK HERE

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