Japan pledge humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (Office of the UN Co-ordinator for Afghanistan) 8 August, 2001 - The government of Japan made a contribution of $410,000 to the Poverty Eradication and Community Empowerment (P.E.A.C.E) programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Afghanistan, earmarked for improvement of basic living conditions of Afghans focusing on community empowerment, water and sanitation.
With less than one-quarter of Afghans having access to clean water - and only 12% with access to sanitation, assistance in this area. The government of Japan has made the above contribution in response to the United Nations appeal 2001.

Efforts and considerable progress to re-establish water supplies have been made in recent years, however inadequate supplies of safe drinking water still remain a serious problem. In particular, in drought affected areas where the groundwater levels have dropped severely and limited access to water raises utmost concern.

The goal of the water and sanitation sector service is to improve health status and quality of life through access to safe drinking water facilities, community awareness of health, hygiene, and sanitation. Sustained and equal access to quality services will support refugee return to Afghanistan. With community participation in planning and implementation of appropriate technology that resolve the drinking water problem, it is anticipated that the sense of ownership will increase and create significant progress to foster civil governance.

Provision of safe drinking water is expected to cause a drastic reduction in the number of water born diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery and gastroenteritis. Reduced water born diseases will bring about a fall in morbidity and infant mortality rates which are in Afghanistan amongst the highest in the world.

For more information, please call Makiko Katsuma in UNDP Afghanistan, at 2211451 ext 404.