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Press ReleaseNo child should die of cold: UNICEF Afghanistan1 February 2001: In Herat, western Afghanistan, due to the severe cold on the night of 29/30 January (-25 degrees Celsius at night and 20 cm of snow) over 110 displaced people died. "NGOs and UN agencies have been providing considerable support since the summer of 2000, but this support has simply not been enough," stated UNICEF Afghanistan Representative, Louis Georges Arsenault. This is because the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has increased very quickly due to fighting and the worst drought in 30 years, as well as lack of sufficient additional funds to address their needs. The number of IDPs in the Herat camps has almost doubled since November, and now totals 80,000. Children make up more than half the population. After visits to IDP camps last month in Herat and Badakhshan, the UNICEF representative said that the situation in Afghanistan is one of the worst he has seen. "Parents put their children asleep in freezing tents, and they do not know whether they will survive until the next morning," he said. UNICEF spent over $500,000 for the IDP camps in Herat and over $800,000 for other IDP camps and emergency interventions in Afghanistan (water/latrines, clothes, blankets, shoes, hygiene education, basic household utensils, therapeutic feeding). UNICEF's top priority this month is to reduce the mortality in the camps: to provide additional baby and children's clothes, shoes, and heating stoves. In February-April, UNICEF will continue to provide support via the implementing partners: vaccinations, water and sanitation facilities, environmental cleaning, therapeutic and supplementary feeding, women's health services, antenatal care, and midwifery kits. Nutritional expertise will also be provided. Arsenault stated that UNICEF and its partners would also consider longer term support to address psycho social needs (traumatised children) and education needs of the IDP children. In all UNICEF-assisted activities in the IDP camps, priority will be given to female-headed households. Arsenault also expressed appreciation for the quick response of various donors for UNICEF's emergency programmes for the drought and the IDPs, in particular the US, Danish and Norwegian governments. He also stated that without the implementing NGOs such as MSF, DACAAR, IRC, Save The Children, and many others (including local and international NGOs), the progress made so far could not have been achieved. UNICEF also collaborates closely with the other UN agencies such as WFP, Habitat, and UNOCHA in Herat. Not all UNICEF's funding requirements for 2001 are met yet, and the increasing number of IDPs require continued and additional support. The UNICEF Representative strongly supports the appeals made by the UN Co-ordinator for Humanitarian Assistance, who called upon the international community to respond as quickly as possible to the UN Appeal for Afghanistan for 2001. Read UNICEF's Humanitarian Action Donor Update (December 2000) and UNICEF's Humanitarian Appeal for Children and Women 2001 (December 2001). *** For further information, please contact: Louis Georges Arsenault Jet van der Gaag |
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