wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Presbyterian-supplied tent kits reach Afghanistan

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Note #6909 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Presbyterian-supplied tent kits reach Afghanistan 
19-October-2001
01392

Presbyterian-supplied tent kits reach Afghanistan 

PDA gave $500,000 to help refugees as winter approaches

by Evan Silverstein

 LOUISVILLE  Ecumenical groups that include the Presbyterian Church (USA)
are helping provide shelter for Afghan refugees.
A shipment of 1,000 shelter kits arrived earlier this week in Hazarajat, a
region in central Afghanistan, according to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
(PDA). The delivery of humanitarian assistance, spearheaded by Church World
Service (CWS), had been delayed at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border since
U.S.-led military air strikes began on Oct. 7.
CWS, the relief and development agency of the National Council of Churches,
intends to provide emergency shelter and food to 15,000 of the most
vulnerable Afghan families  some who are internally displaced, others who
have fled Afghanistan because of the air strikes against terrorism.
PDA has contributed $450,000 to CWS-Pakistan and $50,000 to the Middle East
Council of Churches (MECC) for anticipated refugee relief work in Iran. The
funds are from the One Great Hour of Sharing offering and PDAs General
Relief Fund.
We are pleased with the extraordinary work of the CWS-Pakistan office over
the years in responding to disasters in the region, providing coordination
for humanitarian groups within the region and providing ongoing seminars and
training in disaster response, PDA officials said in an Oct. 15 statement.
The shelter kits cost $90 apiece. Each one includes a weatherized tent, a
ground sheet, a plastic sheet and blankets. Within Afghanistan many of these
supplies will be trucked part way, then moved by donkey caravans through
difficult passes and damaged roads.
There are nearly 3.5 million refugees in the region  about 2 million in
Pakistan and as many as 1.5 million in Iran, according to the United
Nations. The number in Pakistan is equal to about 10 percent of the Afghan
population.
The CWS effort, with contributions from a host of faith groups, is part of
what the U.S. government calls humanitarian action that accompanies
military action. The UN estimates that 6 million to 7 million Afghans may
die without outside aid. Winter is coming on in Afghanistan, and if aid
doesnt reach the refugees by mid-November, many will be out of reach
because of snow and ice.
CWS has expanded its earlier $1.5 million appeal for the shelter program in
concert with a broader effort managed by Action by Churches Together (ACT),
a Geneva-based international ecumenical network that will deliver food to
the refugees. The goal of that appeal is $6.28 million.
The UN says 55,000 tons of food is needed every month to feed the refugees.
The U.S. military has dropped 35,000 daily ration packets every day since
the air strikes. About 65,000 tons of food is expected to arrive in the area
within the next few weeks.
An additional 100,000 tons will arrive toward the end of November. The food
distribution program will be managed by the UN World Food Program, the
principal supplier of food aid to Afghanistan, which is among the worlds
poorest countries and has the lowest per-person food intake in the world,
according to the U.S. Agency for International Development.
U.S. military food drops have been ridiculed by some groups as military
propaganda and condemned as potentially dangerous in a nation littered with
land mines after more than two decades of conflict.
You could be encouraging people to run into mine fields to get at these
food drops, said Macdara Doyle, a spokesman for the Irish aid group
Concern, which has operated in northern Afghanistan since 1998.
Other critics claim that mixing food drops with bomb drops blurs the line
between the military and aid groups, which could result in the aid groups
being treated with suspicion. International aid agencies have pleaded with
the United States to suspend the air strikes so food can be moved in before
winter.
The string of attacks  highlights the difficulties for local and
international relief agencies to operate safely, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.
CWS has an emergency response team traveling the borders of Afghanistan to
assess needs and recommend a course of action to the international
non-governmental aid community.
In addition, PDA and many other faith-based aid organizations are scheduling
regular conference calls to maximize cooperation, minimize duplication of
efforts and deliver food in the most effective ways.
 	We are  deeply concerned whenever aid programs are instituted in the
context of a war, and so will take common positions regarding food drops and
how aid is used in this situation, the PDA said.
To contribute to PDAs Sept. 11 disaster relief effort, log on to
http://www.pcusa.org/pda/response/USDisasters/USBombing/index.shtml or visit
the CWS Web site: www.churchworldservice.org.
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