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U.N. Appeals For More Money For Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - The United Nations on Wednesday appealed for extra funds from international donors for Afghanistan amid a relentless civil war and severe drought that has affected millions of people.
The U.N.'s Consolidated Appeal for Afghanistan next year totals $229 million for some 332 projects including mine clearing, drought relief, refugee assistance, drug control and human rights awareness.
U.N. officials said the drought, the worst in at least 30 years, and the plight of women under the Taliban Islamic militia, were top priorities.
"With some of the worst social indicators in the world, the plight of Afghans and in particular Afghan women, is a major humanitarian concern," acting U.N. Coordinator for Afghanistan Mike Sackett said.
"The theme of this year's global common appeal is ‘women and war’ [and] it is hard to think of one more relevant to Afghanistan."
Afghanistan has been at war in one form or another since 1979. The latest conflict has raged since 1996, when the Taliban ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani from Kabul.
U.N. officials have warned that up to a million Afghans could starve by early next year unless urgent relief arrives to mitigate the affects of the drought, which has halved cereal production.
Some 200,000 people are displaced inside Afghanistan due to the drought and the civil war, while another 30,000 have fled to Pakistan since the start of September.
Pakistan this month restricted new refugee arrivals from its western neighbor, saying it can no longer afford to look after them without more international assistance.
"In short, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is poised for a sharp downwards spiral that is expected to continue until at least next summer," Sackett said.
The 2001 appeal for Afghanistan is only slightly more than last year's $220 million, of which less than half was contributed amid signs of donor fatigue.
The Taliban's total budget for 2000 was just $70.9 million, or a meager 0.9% of gross domestic product, although this does not include unofficial sources of income.
Sackett acknowledged the dichotomy between the U.N.'s humanitarian objectives and its political priorities, with the Security Council considering slapping more sanctions on the Taliban.
Financial and aviation sanctions targeting the Taliban were imposed last year after the militia refused to hand over Osama bin Laden to stand trial in the United States or a third country.
Those sanctions sparked a violent reaction against foreign aid agencies in Afghanistan, and concern is high that tougher curbs being advocated by Russia, the United States and India could provoke a similar response.
"Whatever is demanded in political circles risks having a reaction in Afghanistan" that could put humanitarian operations in jeopardy, Sackett said.
"That's something we have to explain to the people of Afghanistan," he said.
U.N. mine clearance and drug control operations were hit by the funding crunch this year, although Afghanistan has the world's largest mine saturation and is the world’s largest opium producer.
The 2.6 million Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan form the largest refugee population in the world, but the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it has struggled to meet the needs of new arrivals since September.
Meanwhile, only 15% of the adult population in Afghanistan is literate, only one third of Afghan children are vaccinated against measles and only five percent of Afghans have access to safe water.
The U.N.'s total global Consolidated Appeal for 2001 totals $2.26 billion.
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