04 October 2001
Fact Sheet: U.S. Announces $320 Million in Aid to Afghanistan
(Aid will prevent deaths as famine sets in) (430)
The White House released a fact sheet providing details on the $320
million humanitarian aid package for Afghanistan and neighboring
states announced by President Bush October 4.
The new aid package follows more than $180 million in food and other
relief the United States has already provided to the Afghan people
this year.
(begin fact sheet)
THE WHITE HOUSE
U.S. Assistance to the Afghan People
Fact Sheet
After 22 years of war, three years of severe drought, and five years
of Taliban rule, Afghanistan now faces a major famine. The U.N.
Security Council has pointed to the Taliban's repressive policies and
harassment of expatriate relief agency workers as being directly
responsible for the current crisis.
Because of the Taliban, the world is likely to see death and
starvation on a massive scale as Afghanistan enters the coming winter.
Islam promotes charity, yet the Taliban has cut off humanitarian
assistance to the Afghan population.
As President Bush announced today, the United States is prepared to
contribute an additional $320 million in humanitarian assistance for
the Afghanistan and neighboring states suffering from drought. The
total includes $25 million authorized on September 28 by the President
from the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund to provide
assistance to a potentially large number of refugees who could cross
from Afghanistan into the surrounding countries, including Pakistan,
Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Additional assistance
totaling $295 million will be provided through United Nations
assistance agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross,
nongovernmental organizations, and through direct provision of food
and relief supplies.
The United States has led the international community's response to
the suffering of the Afghan people.
The United States has contributed more than $1 billion in humanitarian
assistance to the Afghan people since 1979, more than any other
country.
Since the beginning of fiscal year 2001, the United States provided
nearly $184 million in humanitarian aid to Afghans. This amount
includes contributions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture ($99.8
million), the U.S. Agency for International Development ($50.55
million), the Department of State ($32.6 million); and the Centers for
Disease Control ($569,000).
The United States has supplied more than 80 percent of all food
shipments sent to vulnerable Afghans through the United Nations' World
Food Program, and will continue to be the leading food donor to the
Afghan people.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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