UNITED NATIONS URGENTLY NEEDS $50 MILLION TO MEET EMERGENCY NEEDS IN AFGHANISTAN
Press Release
IHA/596
UNITED NATIONS URGENTLY NEEDS $50 MILLION TO MEET EMERGENCY NEEDS IN AFGHANISTAN
19960524 ISLAMABAD, 23 May (Department of Humanitarian Affairs) -- Additional contributions of $50 million were urgently required to support the return of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan, and to meet the most immediate humanitarian needs of vulnerable families in the cities and remote rural areas of Afghanistan, Martin Barber, United Nations Coordinator for the emergency humanitarian programme for that country, said today.According to the mid-term review of the consolidated interagency appeal for Afghanistan, pledges and contributions in cash and in kind as of 15 April totalled only $35.6 million or 29 per cent of the $124 million requested for the period October 1995 to September 1996.
During the first half of the appeal period, United Nations agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and several non-governmental organizations mounted major programmes to bring essential relief supplies to the most vulnerable families in Kabul during a particularly severe winter. If it had not been for those efforts many in that city would have been unable to survive the winter. At the same time, other humanitarian programmes continued throughout the country.
Projects supporting the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan will receive priority during the remainder of the appeal period. Particular emphasis is given to expanding mine clearance capacity, obtaining cash to support a food-for-work programme and funding for "quick impact projects" for returnees, to provide sustainable income generation.
Priority projects in other sectors will support and promote self- reliance of internally displaced persons, procurement of seed and animal vaccines, water chlorination and solid waste disposal, new rounds of a mass immunization campaign, provision of shelter materials, teacher training and materials for basic education, and initiatives for the disabled.
Recent floods and landslides in several parts of the country have resulted in loss of life and severe damage to agriculture, adding to the numbers of people dependent on relief assistance. The United Nations has provided emergency assistance to those most seriously affected and will continue to monitor the situation. The importance of flood prevention measures described in the appeal is highlighted by these events.
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