Asia Times: Annan calls for international donors


	September 29, 2001	atimes.com

Central Asia/Russia

Annan calls for international donors
By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations (UN) has launched a US$548 million emergency program to help some 7.5 million Afghans caught up in the unfolding military crisis in their country. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to international donors on Thursday to respond "as soon as possible and in the most expedient and flexible fashion".

"The plight of the civilian population is indeed desperate," he said. Annan pointed out that over two decades of conflict, seven years of oppressive rule by the Taliban, and three years of severe drought have left more than five million Afghans dependent on foreign aid for their very survival. Yet, this aid has been "tragically" interrupted. "Those who deliberately withhold food supplies from starving people, and attack or impede humanitarian relief workers, whether local or international, should know that the international community will hold them responsible," he said.

The bulk of the proposed aid, about $275 million, is earmarked for the UN's refugee agency, with an additional 188 million dollars for food aid. "These figures are based on the worst-case scenario, but then we simply must be prepared for the worst," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers. Lubbers said that his agency is preparing for an influx of up to one million refugees into Pakistan, 400,000 into Iran, and 50,000 each into Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Additionally, it is making contingency plans to supply aid to some 500,000 people inside Afghanistan "if the necessity arises".

"Today, we are witnessing an unprecedented global effort to combat terrorism." Lubbers said. "We need a similary unique effort to deal with possible humanitarian consequences of whatever happens in Afghanistan. We count on the generosity of donors."

Dispensing the relief will be a major challenge because UN and international aid workers have withdrawn from Afghanistan, Annan said. UN workers were pulled out last week in anticipation of US strikes, which Washington has threatened if the Taliban fails to hand over Osama bin Laden, suspected of being the mastermind behind the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon. Annan paid tribute to the remaining aid workers in the country, all of them Afghani. UN agencies left their communications equipment behind when they pulled out.

The Taliban subsequently forbade local aid workers from making contact with the outside world. Michael Sackett, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, met Taliban officials in Pakistan this week to discuss the communications shut-off. The talks were described as inconclusive. In a "Donor Alert" released on Thursday, the UN said the "food situation in Afghanistan is alarming", and "large numbers of vulnerables will be trapped by conflict, winter, and prevailing chaos in many parts of the country".

It also said that security is deteriorating in Afghanistan's cities and along its borders. Criminality and looting, including of aid agency assets, may increase. Vehicles and communications equipment are likely to be targeted. Institutions of governance will become non-functional. Prices of basic commodities will increase.

The alert also warned of possible "growing unrest" in neighboring Pakistan, which has agreed to cooperate with the United States in tracking down bin Laden. "If military intervention is sanctioned by the Security Council, there is a risk that UN personnel will be perceived as 'the enemy' by segments of the Afghan and Pakistan population," the alert said.

(Inter Press Service)