United Nations appeals for $67 million for Afghan drought

Islamabad (Office of the United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan), 6 June 2000 - "Afghanistan has been hit hard by every possible catastrophe in the last twenty years--war, earthquakes, displacement, border controls, sanctions, economic deterioration, increased poverty, and now the worst drought in thirty years. Such a combination of disasters would tax any country," said Ahmad Farah today, Acting United Nations Co-ordinator. He was addressing a press conference at the Office of the United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan in Islamabad, Pakistan.
In the worst drought to strike Afghanistan since 1971, new assessments show that the situation is even more widespread than previously estimated and that the entire country has been seriously affected. Rain-fed crops in the north have failed almost completely, and preliminary estimates are that the cereal deficit may be as high as 2 million metric tonnes compared to 1.1 million tonnes last year. Total annual cereal requirements in the country are between 4 and 4.5 million metric tonnes. Between now and June 2001 at least half of the population of Afghanistan may be affected by drought. Three to four million people may be severely affected and another eight to twelve million moderately affected. "This indicates the gravity of the situation," Farah said.

In response, the assistance community has launched a 67 million dollar appeal to help address the drought in Afghanistan, Farah said. He noted that only about one-third of the needs identified in the 2000 Consolidated Appeal for Afghanistan had been met so far. Almost all the funding identified to address the drought is for new needs, in addition to those identified in the Consolidated Appeal. Without renewed commitment to funding for the Consolidated Appeal, both humanitarian assistance and the drought response would be seriously compromised, he said.

The drought strategy of the assistance community requires funding in six essential areas: food security ($48 million); potable water and sanitation in urban and rural areas ($ 2.4 million); protection of livelihoods in the fields of livestock and crops ($12.8 million); preventive health ($113,000); contingency planning ($2.7 million); co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation ($700,000).

Farah emphasised that any resumption of conflict in Afghanistan may worsen the situation, and result in further numbers of displaced persons, in addition to those who are already moving because of the drought. He added that donor countries recently sent a message to both parties to the conflict, reminding them that they are ultimately responsible for helping the population in the areas under their control, and that conflict-related displacement may affect funding.

In response to a question, Farah said that so far there have been only a few reports of deaths related to drought, and that these are not yet confirmed. M.A. Sackett, Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) for Afghanistan stressed that preventative action is needed before the nutritional situation deteriorates and people begin dying. "At that point, it is already too late," he concluded.