Message at the Afghan Support Group Meeting, Kenzo Oshima, ERC/USG for Humanitarian Affairs

Berlin, 5 December 2001
Mr. Foreign Minister, Ambassador Brahimi, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I would like to start by thanking Foreign Minister Fischer for calling this important meeting of the Afghan Support Group. This meeting comes at a crucial time for Afghanistan and I wish to congratulate Amb. Brahimi on the very important achievements made this morning in Bonn. It is fitting to welcome here today representatives from the countries neighboring Afghanistan, and Afghan NGO representatives.

In the short period of time since we last met in September, many changes have occurred. This has also given rise to many new challenges. Amb. Brahimi has already been kind enough to put some of these challenges in a political context.

30 Day Plan

The military and political developments over the last three-four weeks have fundamentally changed the conditions for humanitarian operations in Afghanistan. In a few areas, conditions for humanitarian operations have improved, but conditions in many other critical areas have remained the same or have worsened. In these circumstances, and facing the need to substantially increase humanitarian aid, the UN agencies and NGOs have developed an emergency operational assistance plan for the next 30 days covering the period between November 15 and December 15. This exercise has helped us to assess the emergency needs in Afghanistan region, to decide what we must do to respond to them, and to identify needs that we cannot address with our current capacity. While some analysis is incomplete, reflecting the difficulties of working and getting information in Afghanistan, this is our best effort at getting a complete picture of the situation, using the data and information available. This will then lead to an updated plan in December, and onwards on a rolling basis until the immediate crisis is over. In your briefing packs, you will find an interim review of the first plan, for your information and review.

This plan, and the events of the last few weeks, have shown how interlinked the challenges that we face. Clearly, success in achieving our humanitarian goals depend on the political process both in the short and longer term, and the stability we all hope this process will bring to Afghanistan. In one word, the whole country need security. Lack of security is by far the most important constraint at the moment, limiting distribution of relief supplies to many regions of the country and putting millions of people in desperate need beyond our reach, especially in the most vulnerable areas in the north and the west. The 30 Days Plan gives a detailed account of this. Only the rapid implementation of the political (and security) agreement among the Afghan parties participating in the UN talks will be able to bring an end to factional tensions and general lawlessness, and allow humanitarian aid to be provided where it is needed. The Afghan parties, individually and collectively, can make this happen by doing all within their means to ensure the movement and security of humanitarian staff and supplies. We continue to believe an international security force would facilitate this process.

Among some improvements, the most significant improvement has been in Kabul, where we have just increased our security ceiling for international staff to 28, and will soon raise it to 40. Humanitarian operations are ongoing there, and access will soon be possible from Kabul to Central Highlands areas such as Bamian. We have also been able to deploy seven international staff to Herat, which has in the West, an increasingly stable security environment for now. However, the relatively stable situation in Kabul and Herat is by no means representative of the overall situation. In Mazar, for example, insecurity continues to hinder deployment of staff and affect the most vulnerable and drought-affected provinces in the North and North-West such as Ghor, Badghis and Faryab. For example in Balkh province, we have only been able to distribute 18% of the food needed in the period covered by the 30 day plan.

Bearing this in mind, the UN continues to search for new ways of bringing aid into the country. The situation in the North is most serious with the outset of winter. Deliveries into northern Afghanistan from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have increased substantially since I visited them in October, and I am grateful for the initial support of each of these governments. But to properly address Afghan needs, much more must be done to facilitate cross border deliveries from these countries. The operations of NGOs must be supported, customs and visa formalities must be expedited. As Minister Fischer mentioned, we must regain access to Mazar-I-Sharif and the Termez-Mazar corridor, ideally in conjunction with the opening of the Friendship Bridge. Meeting our targets in the northern areas will be close to impossible without access to this main logistical node.

To summarise, the 30 day plan concludes the following:

Operational plans for dealing with weather constraints are well advanced - we think we can keep most access routes open.

However, stable security conditions are an absolute prerequisite for effective humanitarian assistance. Unless the security conditions in the northern and western areas improve quickly we must expect large-scale population movements, human suffering and many deaths in the coming weeks and months. Our work in the weeks ahead must focus on minimizing the impact of this crisis - selective use of military capabilities, such as for air traffic control and run way repairs could facilitate this task.

Relief / Rehabilitation / Reconstruction linkages

Mr Chairman

We all know that the transition from relief to reconstruction and development will take a long time and, even in the best circumstances, it will be an uneven, tortuous process. Given the extent of the devastation and destitution in Afghanistan caused after years of war and devastating drought, millions of Afghans will continue to depend on outside assistance for a long time. This will mean that we must continue to provide emergency and rehabilitation assistance for the foreseeable future.

Humanitarian emergency assistance and rehabilitation and reconstruction aid are complementary. We should not see humanitarian action and rehabilitation as 'phases', one following the other - in fact they must occur simultaneously. Both should be seen as intimately linked efforts, both working to create the basic minimum conditions for peace and development. Both are needed to create the basic stability upon which any future development and political transition will need to rest. Indeed, many of the agencies, such as WFP, UNICEF, UNHCR, WHO and FAO that are now engaged in humanitarian assistance are those that will also engage, along with UNDP, in reconstruction and development.

Emergency assistance will also require a sustained commitment from donors for the foreseeable future. The Updated Donor Alert that you also have in your briefing pack, deals with the assistance for Afghanistan required for the six month period between October and March, with a revised requirement of $661 million. It shows that we are currently at a little over 50% funded. Outstanding requirements are currently at $319 million. I am most grateful for your ongoing support, but at the same time I must ask you for your continuing support and rapid disbursements of the commitments you have already announced.

We in the United Nations recognize that the key linkages between humanitarian relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction must be managed well to ensure that the so-called 'gaps' between relief and development are avoided. To this end, the UNDG and ECHA have been tasked with the responsibility for jointly managing this combined humanitarian and development planning, and the transition process. We will also need to ensure that we can reflect this cooperation in the field. You will find our initial ideas for directing our efforts in the briefing pack. We also know that we can rely on your support for this endeavor.

MANY THANKS