A WORSENING HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN TAJIKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN

“About
six million of the Afghan population completely or partly depend on
humanitarian assistance from abroad”, Mr. Kenzo Oshima, the UN
Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief
Coordinator Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated at a
press conference in Dushanbe on 27 October, - “Three million of the most
vulnerable people are located in the northern provinces of the country. In the
near future, this figure can reach 7,5 million”. The coming winter
complicates the situation, especially as donor funds are arriving slowly. The
problem of Afghanistan should be considered at the regional level, barring
which it would be impossible to solve it.

The
Undersecretary is rounding up his trip in Central Asia, which aimed to
coordinate actions on rendering emergency relief assistance to the refugees
and IDPs in Afghanistan. Mr. Oshima says that three quarters of relief items
will be delivered to the northern provinces of Afghanistan, the most affected
by war.

Agreements
have been reached with the governments of three countries – Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – on the provision of their territories for relief
operations and aid delivery to the Afghans. Tajikistan is in that respect the
best strategic partner. Mr. Oshima said that Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov
expressed his strong commitment and readiness to contribute in rendering
assistance to the people in neighboring Afghanistan. Tajikistan will provide
its airport in its southern province of Khatlon, its roads and transportation
systems; a portion of humanitarian deliveries will be carried out via the
ferry crossing over the river Pyanj, in the southern Parkhar district. Mr.
Matthew Kahane, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Tajikistan is
now coordinating a special committee on emergency relief operations, members
of which will include officials of the Tajikistan government, including the
Ministry for Emergency.

Mr.
Oshima said that during his short visit, he managed to see a lot in
Tajikistan. He was shocked by his visit to provinces affected by drought.
According
to the WFP, 1.3 million people out of the total population of 6.2 million are
on the brink of starvation. Mr. Kahane says 80% of Tajikistan’s population
live under the margin of poverty, and that the official rate of unemployment
is not less that 30%. Such a situation demands an urgent intervention by the
international community. Last year, the UN emergency appeal was seeking $ 75
million for Tajikistan. Regrettably, only 45% of this sum was provided by
donors. Mr. Oshima says that the appeal for 2002 will be seeking for $ 75
million.

An
emergency situation has been existing for quite some time in the region, and
has deteriorated due to drought and the September 11 events. The humanitarian
situation is very complicated this year, and is unusual in many respects.
Practically, all Central Asian countries have been affected by drought, along
with some provinces of Pakistan, China and areas of Korean peninsula. Last
year’s drought was the worst in 74 years, and destroyed food crops over a
large part of Tajikistan, rendering almost half of the country’s population
vulnerable to the threat of famine. The harvest in two preceding years had
also been poor. International relief agencies accredited in Tajikistan
launched emergency appeals addressed to foreign donors. However the donors
only partly covered the initial requirements. Experts say that chronic
malnutrition rates in the country are over 40%, while two-thirds of the
population subsist on under a dollar a day.

In
the light of events in Afghanistan, the problems caused by a five-year war,
stagnation in the economy, natural and man-made calamities in Tajikistan, have
become especially visible. Mr. Kahane considers that the situation can be
improved by creating favorable conditions for small businesses and farming.

As
for Afghanistan, UN officials say that the process of delivery of relief items
to the Afghan provinces is technically and logistically complicated; it is
even more complicated to arrange distribution of these items. UN humanitarian
agencies are considering possibilities for the return of their international
staff to some of the Afghan provinces, such as Faizabad, where the security
situation is more or less satisfactory.

The
fight against terrorism entails casualties among the civil population. The
U.S. carries a responsibility before the civil population for the consequences
of its air strikes in Afghanistan. In the last year, the U.S. allocated $180
million, and are going to provide another $320 million, for relief operations
in Afghanistan. Mr. Oshima says that donors are pledging to donate a total of
$720 million for humanitarian operations, but the funds are coming slowly,
which encumbers carrying out emergency relief operations and weakens their
efficiency.

Alexei
Igushev