Background
After more than 17 years of fighting, displacement and destruction, the protracted conflict in Afghanistan continues to have grave implications for the Afghan population and for stability in the region. Throughout 1996, the Taliban fought forces allied to the Government and other groups, and expanded their control of the southern and western provinces until they captured Jalalabad and Kabul in September. After Kabul fell to the Taliban on 27 September, a new alignment of opposition forces saw the emergence of the Supreme Council for the Defence of Afghanistan (SCDA), composed of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, led by General Rashid Dostum, the Jamiat-I-Islami, led by Barhanuddin Rabbani and Commander Ahmed Shah Massoud, and the Hezb-I-Wahdat, led by Karim Khalili. With the Taliban having consolidated their position in the southern and central two thirds of the country, fighting continued on two main fronts: in Badghis Province and in the strategically important Ghorband Valley west of Charikar, which leads to the central highlands and the north of the country.
Over the past year, the United Nations has continued to seek a negotiated solution to this ongoing crisis through the United Nations Special Mission for Afghanistan (UNSMA), first under the leadership of Mr. Mahmoud Mestiri and, subsequently, Mr. Norbert Holl. In early 1996, the Special Mission began consultations with Afghan leaders while Kabul remained under siege by the Taliban, and these discussions continue with both the SCDA and the Taliban leadership. In January 1997, Under-Secretary-General Yasushi Akashi travelled to Afghanistan, meeting with Taliban authorities in Jalalabad and with the Chairman of the SCDA, General Abdul Dostum, in Mazar-I-Sharif. In both meetings USG Akashi stressed that settlement of the conflict was a prerequisite for durable solutions to humanitarian problems. A number of initiatives have been taken by UNSMA to unblock the dialogue among and between the Afghan parties about a cease-fire agreement and durable peace, but so far without success.
Humanitarian needs
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 170th of the 174 countries in the Human Development Index and having the highest rate of infant, childhood and maternal mortality in Asia1. The long war has produced a refugee population which currently stands at least at 2.6 million, of which 1.4 million are in Iran and 1.2 million in Pakistan. In addition, there are from 500,000 to 1,200,000 internally displaced persons within Afghanistan. Humanitarian conditions, however, vary considerably; some parts of the country are experiencing severe emergency needs, while others enjoy relative stability and economic recovery. The escalating fighting and political developments of the past year have significantly affected the provision of humanitarian assistance to several parts of the country and aggravated existing needs. The upsurge in fighting in the fall of 1996 displaced at least 300,000 people from two areas: Badghis Province and areas around Kabul. Ongoing fighting has driven an estimated 150,000 from Charikar and other villages in the Shomali Valley towards Kabul; some 50,000 people from Badghis, mostly towards Herat; and 100,000 from Kabul and surrounding areas towards the northern provinces and into Pakistan (see map III). These displaced persons increase pressures on the local populations who are already facing difficult living conditions. In addition, concern has been expressed by the United Nations and the international donor community that continued fighting and political instability have limited their ability to implement ongoing programmes.
By contrast, in more stable areas, almost four million Afghans who had fled their country have returned in recent years and are working to rebuild their livelihoods. In certain parts of the country, children have been immunized, mines have been cleared, and widows and the disabled have received loans to start small businesses. Relief organizations continue to provide assistance in many communities. United Nations agencies hope that local authorities will encourage persons displaced from these more stable regions to return home, particularly ethnic Tajiks who were displaced from the Shomali Valley north of Kabul. In the southern provinces of Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimruz, Oruzgan and Zabol, the cessation of fighting and the establishment of local authority by the Taliban have restored a measure of security. On the other hand, Taliban policies, especially restrictions on the employment of local female staff in humanitarian projects and limits on access to female beneficiaries have created additional complications for the implementation of humanitarian assistance programmes. ( See box on Gender issues in Afghanistan )
Humanitarian response
Established just after the Geneva Accords of April 1988, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (UNOCHA) was one of the first special arrangements responsible for promoting and coordinating humanitarian assistance in a complex emergency. In 1992, DHA assumed oversight of UNOCHA. UNOCHA has a broad range of responsibilities for coordination, resource mobilization, the management of logistics and telecommunications operations, the humanitarian demining programme, and the provision of emergency information. Because of continued fighting and the resultant insecurity, the UNOCHA main office remains in Islamabad, Pakistan, with sub-offices in Kabul and throughout Afghanistan, as well as in Termez, Uzbekistan, and Peshawar, Pakistan.
Despite the changing military and political landscape in 1996 and reduced funding from the international community, United Nations agencies, ICRC and a large number of NGOs have continued to assist vulnerable Afghan groups. In the cities, particularly Kabul, food aid, shelter materials and medical assistance are provided primarily to female headed households, widows, the disabled and the elderly. A variety of food-for-work schemes, such as WFP bakery projects in Kabul or a tile-making factory in Herat, continue throughout Afghanistan. In some areas of the country, United Nations agencies and other relief organizations provide emergency assistance to both internally displaced persons and local communities, including food aid, health and sanitation, voluntary repatriation, mine related activities, and agricultural and rehabilitation assistance. As a priority, United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners are working to create an environment conducive to the resettlement and reintegration of IDPs. UNICEF, UNHCR, UNOPS and HCHR/CHR are involved in integrated community based projects, often with support from the WFP food-for-work activities. Vocational training programmes have been developed to facilitate peaceful reintegration and to rebuild local capacities and institutions.
One essential precondition of the successful return of IDPs and refugees to their homes is reducing the estimated 9.7 million anti-personnel landmines still deployed in the country. The demining programme in Afghanistan one of the oldest and most successful of those coordinated by the United Nations includes four components: mine clearance; mine awareness; mine clearance training; and a national mine survey. The bulk of the work is undertaken by Afghan NGOs and coordinated by UNOCHA. By December 1996, the demining programme had cleared some 60 square kilometres of battlefield and 100 square kilometres of other terrain. During 1997, it aims to clear 28 km2 of mined settlement areas, 20 km2 of former battlefields, survey 20 km2 of other land, provide mine awareness training to 600,000 people and increase the use of dogs in the clearance of mines. New mines, however, are being laid as the fighting continues.
Prior to the fall of Kabul, the protracted conflict in Afghanistan had become one of the world's "forgotten crises". The support of the donor community for United Nations CAPs for Afghanistan has declined. ( See figures 26 and 27 ) While the 1994-1995 Appeal attracted 62 per cent of the required funds, the subsequent 1995-1996 appeal received only 53 per cent and a supplement issued in October 1996 for emergency winter needs, particularly in Kabul, received virtually no support.
After the fall of Kabul in September 1996, continued fighting between Taliban and Government forces refocused some attention on Afghanistan. The consequences of this fighting, the targeting of civilians and humanitarian workers, restrictions on access to populations in need, and the effects of the harsh winter combined with the need to balance longer-term development efforts in some areas of the country with efforts to meet the most pressing emergency needs elsewhere created major challenges for the humanitarian community.
To determine how to proceed in this environment, DHA and UNDP, supported by the Government of the Netherlands, convened an International Forum of Assistance to Afghanistan in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan from 21-22 January 1997. Chaired by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Under-Secretary-General Akashi, and attended by some 250 representatives of United Nations agencies, donor Governments, NGOs and a range of Afghan participants, the Forum drew on a major "lessons learned" study of the nine-year-old humanitarian programme in Afghanistan2. The Forum agreed on the need for a common assistance strategy that would combine interrelated elements of emergency assistance, peacemaking, peace-building, and development. The strategy would emphasize certain key principles:
To improve United Nations coordination, the Forum also agreed to strengthen the presence of the United Nations system inside Afghanistan and to link more closely the political and the humanitarian/development components of United Nations work in the country. Following discussions between DHA and UNDP, together with other IASC participants, it was agreed that the Humanitarian Coordinator would also assume concurrently the responsibilities of the United Nations Resident Coordinator.
In December 1996, Under-Secretary-General Yasushi Akashi launched the 1997 Consolidated Appeal for Assistance to Afghanistan, requesting US$ 133 million for 1997. In contrast to the relatively poor response to recent appeals, donor interest in this new appeal has been considerable. Although the Forum was not a pledging conference, several donor Governments indicated support for the 1997 Consolidated Appeal. The Forum's conclusions suggest that the international community is ready to increase further its support to Afghanistan where and when there is peace and stability, as long as international norms and standards are respected. Follow-up discussions between the Humanitarian Coordinator and the warring parties have continued to highlight the key humanitarian principles emphasized at the Forum and to pursue consideration of issues such as gender equality and the repatriation of displaced persons.
Notes:
1 Human Development Report 1996, UNDP, New York.
2 Afghanistan: Coordination in a Fragmented State, by Antonio Donini, Eric Dudley and Ron Ockwell, DHA, United Nations (December 1996).