Issue 7: June 2009 Key Points • Numerous security incidents targeted NGOs in June • Mitigation measures needed for expected flooding in North • Polio eradication campaign in Southern region • Civilian casualty numbers reflect intensification of conflict • Upcoming launch of HAP Mid-Year Review I. Humanitarian Overview development, coordinated by OCHA, ANDMA, and ACBAR. Regional stocktaking is underway, but it is Access already apparent that high-quality sandbags and gabions Attacks on aid workers appeared to increase in June, for the Amu Darya river flood plains are urgently needed. particularly in the north and northeastern regions which Northeastern region: All four provinces in the northeast had previously been considered relatively safe. Most are considered at risk for further flooding (Kunduz and tragically, on 23 June a roadside bomb killed three Baghlan from both rainfall and snowmelt and Takhar and national staff of the NGO Development and Humanitarian Badakhshan from snowmelt). Gabions and sandbags are Services in Afghanistan (DHSA) in Jawzjan province. urgently needed for flood mitigation activities along river Other attacks were reported on NGO vehicles and on UN banks and critical irrigation canals. The Humanitarian offices. A convoy of WFP trucks was stopped in Chast Flood Task Force in Kunduz is carrying out a stocktaking Sharif district in Herat province and later released after exercise and developing a common strategy for mediation efforts. The trend continues to hold that NGO assessments. national staff members are at greatest risk. Particularly in the Northeast, there are concerns about the UNDSS expects that the security situation will continue capacity of local actors to participate in an emergency to deteriorate in the coming months, owing to the response, and external support may be needed. The elections and to seasonal trends. Humanitarian agencies availability of timely funding for relief activities is also a are encouraged to review their field activities and concern. preparedness plans accordingly. Winterization Flooding Winterization preparedness has begun in some regions. Most emergency needs from the April and May floods in Planning for extreme winter conditions is also part of the the North and Northeastern regions have been met, with ongoing multi-hazard contingency planning process. All the exception of shelter and water. A regional shelter humanitarian agencies are encouraged to participate in working group has been established in Mazar and an winterization planning at the earliest opportunity in order assessment of shelter needs in the North is ongoing, to ensure that adequate stocks are in place before access although it has been delayed in some areas by insecurity. to affected areas is lost. It is crucial that flood-affected families have access to adequate shelter before the winter. A long-term solution Use of Schools and Clinics in Elections for water for IDPs in Jawzjan province also needs to be The humanitarian community is concerned that the use of identified. Food security is also a concern; canals need to schools and clinics as polling places in the Presidential be cleaned and seeds replaced to avoid a food crisis in the and Provincial Council elections in August will have an coming months. FAO plans to distribute seeds and adverse affect on access to education and health care in fertilizer in Jawzjan. conflict areas. In response to these concerns, the IEC has There are concerns about additional flooding in July and asked its representatives at the province/district level to August in the following areas: meet with counterparts to try to identify alternative polling places. Although it will not be possible Northern region: Balkh, Jawzjan, and Samangan everywhere, priority efforts should be made to find provinces are likely to be affected by flooding of the Amu alternate spaces in conflict areas. Darya river. Gradual flooding has already started and 14 villages in Kaldar district, Balkh province, have been UNAMA has recorded at least 28 attacks on schools since affected. A detailed contingency plan is under January 2009 in the West, East, Southeast, South, and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) OCHA Afghanistan: http://ochaonline.un.org/afghanistan Monthly Humanitarian Update Issue 7: June 2009 Central regions, which in June included two schools UNHCR Bamiyan reports that there have been sporadic burned down in Kunar province and one destroyed in a clashes between Kuchis and Hazaras in Behsud I and II rocket attack in Farah province. Some schools in the East districts in Maidan Wardak province that left at least three have been issued threats warning them against being used dead and three injured. UNHCR has prepared a as polling stations. contingency plan for potential displacements resulting from the conflict and is holding regular coordination Displacements from Pakistan meetings with stakeholders. However, it is hoped that the OCHA has received reports of displacements from area will remain relatively calm for the rest of the Pakistan into Nangarhar and Kunar provinces in the summer. Eastern region and Paktika province in the Southeast as a Southern Region result of the conflict in NWFP. The Pakistani government is also reported to have ordered Afghan refugees in Afghanistan is one of only four countries in which polio Bajaur agency to leave; it is expected that this will lead to has not been eradicated, largely because vaccination has an increase in returns. However, at the moment not been possible in parts of the Southern region due to information is extremely limited (and delivery of security and other constraints. According to WHO, of assistance difficult) because of the remoteness and seven polio cases reported this year, six were in the south. insecurity of the affected areas. In response to the gaps in previous vaccination efforts, WHO and UNICEF are launching a vaccination campaign ISAF Policy on White Vehicles in Kandahar, Uruzgan, and Helmand provinces with the ISAF reported to the Civil-Military Working Group that goal of eradicating polio by the end of 2009. most white NATO-owned vehicles have been repainted, UNAMA reports that 1,160 families displaced by conflict and that ISAF Headquarters and Regional Commands from Marja District to Lashkargah City in Helmand have given guidance that the remaining white vehicles Province received humanitarian assistance in June. should not circulate outside of military compounds (this Assistance also continued to 1,179 families from Zabul guidance applies to all ISAF vehicles, not just NATO- province and 1,505 families from Helmand and Uruzgan owned vehicles). Working Group participants appreciated who were displaced to Kandahar by earlier fighting. As NATO’s recognition of the need for distinction but for the protracted IDP caseload, UNHCR has registered suggested that further steps should be taken to distinguish 1,022 IDP families (7,193 individuals) for voluntary the vehicles as military vehicles. return to their places of origin this year. II. Regional Updates UNHCR Kandahar reports that 243 families (1,271 Western Region individuals) repatriated from Quetta, Pakistan in June. During the same period, 240 families and 6,376 single The PDMC in Farah province has distributed food and individuals were deported from Iran. NFIs provided by IOM, UNICEF, and WFP to 1,000 families affected by the aerial bombardment in Balluh III. Cluster Updates Balak district, Farah province in May. The conflict in Education Farah is expected to intensify, and more displacements are anticipated. OCHA is working with partners to ensure The cluster continues to advocate for the reopening of that timely assistance will be available. IOM, closed schools and for schools not to be used as polling ICRC/ARCS, and UNICEF are the only humanitarian places. The Ministry of Education reports that 210 out of actors operating in Farah. 673 closed schools were reopened in June. School protection meetings are to be held with local officials and Eastern Region communities in Farah, Badghis, and Herat provinces in The Department of Refugees and Repatriation (DoRR) is July. undertaking an assessment of approximately 1270 Emergency Shelter families (both refugees and returnees) who are reported to have been displaced from Bajaur agency in Pakistan and The cluster is developing guidelines for rapid shelter are living with host families in Kunar province. assessments for use in the field. The Technical Working Group is also planning to develop an extended NFI UNHCR reports that voluntary repatriation has been support package for use in natural disasters. suspended due to the insecurity in Pakistan. CARE announced that they have received funding to Central Highlands preposition NFIs and temporary shelter materials for UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 2 OCHA Afghanistan: http://ochaonline.un.org/afghanistan Monthly Humanitarian Update Issue 7: June 2009 acute emergencies in the following provinces: Ghazni, The casualty figures reflect the intensification and spread Wardak, Logar, Paktya, Kabul, Parwan, Kapisa, Panjshir of the conflict. In June, 92 civilians died in the South, 74 and Kandahar. because of AOGs, 15 because of PGFs, and 3 for which responsibility could not be attributed. In the Eastern Food Security and Agriculture region, 16 civilians were killed (9 by AOGs and 7 by The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock PGFs). 50 civilians died in the Southeastern region (one (MAIL) reported to the cluster that the agricultural more than was reported for May), 42 as a result of AOG harvest is predicted to be 63 percent higher than last year. attacks and 5 by PGFs. Sixteen civilians were killed in the WFP, through its Purchase for Progress (P4P) program, Central region, 7 by AOGs and 4 by PGFs. It is worth plans to purchase some food from surplus areas. noting that the numbers of civilian casualties attributed to PGFs in the Central region has been declining despite In May 2009, the average price of wheat flour was 3 increased troop activities directed against AOGs.