Military

DATE=11/13/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHAN / U-N / AID (L-O)

NUMBER=2-283088

BYLINE=DALE GAVLAK

DATELINE=GENEVA

INTERNET=YES

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: United Nations aid agencies say the rapid changes in Afghanistan are making it difficult to get food and medical supplies to the people who need them most. But as V-O-A's Dale Gavlak reports from Geneva, agency officials say that, once the roadways are secured, they can resume aid deliveries in Afghanistan.

TEXT: U-N aid agency officials say they are having a hard time distributing supplies in Afghanistan.

World Food Program spokeswoman Christiane Bertiaume says the chaotic military situation and concern for the safety of U-N staff members are hampering aid efforts to the more than seven-million Afghans who rely on the agencies for food and other necessities.

/// BERTIAUME ACT ///

We have the food, we have the trucks, we have local people on the staff, but access is the problem. Access because of the security situation and because, obviously, winter is coming up.

/// END ACT ///

Ms. Bertiaume says the W-F-P has over 90-thousand tons of food positioned in region. She says if roads are secured, that aid could be distributed and another 52-thousand tons of food could be brought into Afghanistan each month. She adds that winter snow is also posing an additional challenge to distribution.

/// 2nd BERTIAUME ACT ///

Winter is obviously a big problem. The aim is now to bring in as much food (as possible) by truck. We have bought some snowplows. We have bought (them) in order to keep the roads open as long as possible.

/// END ACT ///

W-F-P says it will air drop food if the aid cannot be transported by road.

Meanwhile, the U-N children's agency says it is having difficulty contacting its staff in Afghanistan because communications equipment was recently stolen from agency offices in the northern town of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Spokeswoman Wivina Belmonte says some trucks were also taken, but they have been recovered.

/// BELMONTE ACT///

Six out of the 10-trucks that arrived in Mazar over the weekend, with UNICEF supplies, that were taken away have been located in a district just outside Mazar. The supplies are still on board and intact and the drivers are safe.

/// END ACT ///

UNICEF says it is in contact with Northern Alliance troops about finding the other four vehicles and the supplies they are filled with. The agency says Afghanistan's women and children are facing a long and harsh winter, and they need those supplies. (SIGNED)

NEB/DG/KL/RAE