16 April 2002
U.S. Largest Humanitarian Contributor to Afghanistan
(Fact sheet summarizing assistance, April 2002) (1090)
Following is a fact sheet released by the Department of State's Office
of the Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues summarizing
U.S. contributions to humanitarian projects in Afghanistan.
The United States has provided the majority of assistance to
Afghanistan as of April 2002. Areas of U.S. assistance include meeting
humanitarian needs; reviving education; and improving the health and
welfare of Afghans.
The fact sheet notes that successful reconstruction must be an
Afghan-led effort. It also underscores how women's needs' can only be
met through the combined efforts of men and women working together on
a broad range of issues, involving many Afghan institutions.
(begin text)
FACT SHEET
Office of the Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues
Last Updated: April 2002
U.S. Assistance to Women in Afghanistan
Current U.S. Policy
The reconstruction of Afghanistan must be an Afghan-led effort. Within
this context, the United States is stressing that Afghan women and men
must work together in the reconstruction of their countries as
-- Recovery planners
-- Program implementers
-- Recipients
Although the Afghan Interim Authority's Ministry of Women's Affairs
has an essential role to play, women's needs cut across all sectors of
society and must be addressed by all the ministries.
U.S. is Largest Contributor to Humanitarian Efforts in Afghanistan
The United States is the largest and one of the longest continuous
supporters of humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan and will continue to
be so.
* Since 1979, the United States has contributed more than $1 billion
to assist the Afghan people.
* From October 2000 to January 2002, we have contributed a total of
$400 million in humanitarian assistance.
* At the January 21-22 Conference in Tokyo on reconstruction
assistance for Afghanistan, donors pledged $4.5 billion -- of which
$1.8 billion will be contributed this year.
* In Tokyo, the United States pledged the largest amount of any donor
for 2002, $296.75 million.
Education
On March 23, schools opened in Afghanistan and both boys and girls
openly went to school for the first time in years. To assist with the
return to school, the United States is:
* Supplying almost 10 million Dari and Pashto language textbooks for
science, math and reading to grades 1 -- 12, five million of which
were delivered for the opening of schools;
* Supplying 4,000 teacher training kits;
* Funding teams of teacher trainers and helping educators develop
curricula;
* Working with a global consortium of government agencies, firms,
individuals, and NGOs to send fabric and sewing machines so that
Afghan women can make school uniforms for girls;
* Sending thousands of chests of school supplies;
* Through the American Fund for Afghan Children, the United States is
supplying toys, clothes, and books for Afghan children. This fund, to
which President Bush urged American children to contribute one dollar
each, has so far raised over $4.6 million;
* The State Department has funded the refurbishment of the women's
dormitory at the University of Kabul, allowing women to remain on
campus, in a safe environment;
* The Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and
Migration has contributed $2 million to UNICEF's back-to-school
program in Afghanistan.
Health
Through the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International
Development and the Department of Health and Human Services, the
United States has contributed $10 million to provide:
* Funds and staff to support UNICEF's vaccination campaign targeting 9
million girls and boys against measles and polio;
* Support to the Ministry of Health; and
* Health services nationwide, including maternal and child care
services.
Water and Sanitation
* The United States has contributed $8.3 million since October 2000 to
address the water and sanitation needs of the Afghan people.
Food Assistance
The United States has led a world effort to provide record amounts of
food to the Afghan people. The U.S. Agency for International
Development is providing at least $100 million to the World Food
Program to fund:
* Emergency Food for families and refugees;
* Food-for-Education to supply children, especially girls, with in-
school meals and take-home rations; food for non-formal education for
women (e.g., literacy programs);
* Food for Civil Servant Salary Supplements, including teacher salary
supplements; and
* Food-for-Work to pay laborers engaged in rebuilding Afghanistan's
infrastructure, especially schools.
Economic Participation
The United States is also assisting Afghan women to re-enter their
local economies and gain some measure of economic self-sufficiency.
* The Department of Labor is contributing $1.5 million to provide
women with vocational training and information about career
possibilities and job creation, as well as $300,000 for training and
start-up wages for the girls' uniform project.
* The U.S. Agency for International Development is sending wheat to 21
bakeries run by widows who earn a living and feed their own families;
these bakeries help feed a quarter of Kabul's population, and more
will be built. With U.S. assistance, the World Food Program has been
able to reopen bakeries in March in Mazar-e-Sharif that had been
closed since last fall.
Refugees
The United States has not forgotten those Afghan women who were forced
to flee their country to refugee camps in Pakistan and elsewhere. In
March 2002, more than 140,000 refugees returned to Afghanistan from
Pakistan.
* The State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration
will provide $148 million this year to support refugees, internally
displaced persons and other vulnerable persons. Total assistance
provided since the beginning of the current emergency has been $89.7
million.
* The State Department has pledged $52 million to facilitate the
repatriation and reintegration of refugees and internally displaced
persons.
Funding the Interim Afghan Government
* The U.S. has contributed $4 million for start-up costs of the Afghan
Interim Administration.
U.S. Assistance to the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA)
Through contributions to the UNDP's Afghan Interim Authority Fund and
through direct bilateral assistance, the United States has:
* Assisted in refurbishing the Ministry building, including removing
the rubble from the auditorium, providing for the renovation of 11
offices with some office equipment, and supporting technical advisers
to establish operations and develop programs.
* Provided Minister Samar with a vehicle, office furniture and
supplies, two computers and a satellite phone.
* In a meeting on February 19 with U.S. Chargé Ryan Crocker, Minister
Samar noted her pleasure that MOWA was the first ministry to receive a
grant from the United States government. The grant helped to renovate
the Ministry and assisted in funding technical advisers.
(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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