 |
|
|
|
 |
| USAID
Information:
External Links:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rebuilding Afghanistan
Weekly Activity Update for January 25 – February 2, 2005
Issue #73
|
| Heavy snowfall at the Dar-ul-Aman Palace in Kabul.
|
|
|
| The Balkh University radio team in their new USAID
funded production facility.
|
|
|
| Female journalism students at the University of Herat.
|
|
Record Snowfall in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is experiencing record snowfall and severe weather
conditions this winter. Afghanistan’s harsh climate and the severity
of its winter is accentuated by high altitude in much of the country,
leading to a danger of exposure, wind chill, and frostbite. In the last
several weeks, the snowfall has left many people stranded and has
caused several major accidents. More than 400 vehicles were
stranded when a snow slide blocked the road from Kabul to
Jalalabad. In Kabul, temperatures at night have dropped to -18
degrees Celsius; average temperature for this time of year ranges
from -8 to 2 degrees. The severe weather has impacted progress in
reconstruction efforts, particularly infrastructure rehabilitation. On
the positive side, the heavy snowfall will help ameliorate the effects
of Afghanistan’s six-year drought.
Strengthening the Government
Budget and Operational Reform
Budget and operational reform is a key component of the USAID
Afghanistan Economic Governance (AEG) program. AEG is helping
facilitate the Afghan FY 1384 Budget process and to date nearly all
Afghan Ministries have presented draft submissions. AEG’s Budget
Project within the Ministry of Finance has focused on capacity building
and will continue to enhance Afghanistan’s ongoing budget process.
This year has seen significant improvement, with increased
standardization in budget submissions and greater compliance with
budget proposal guidelines.
Enhancing Capacity of Afghan Media
Increasing citizen awareness of and confidence in the process of
recovery, rehabilitation and democratic political development is critical
in post-conflict Afghanistan. One of the ways USAID is accomplishing
this is by increasing the capacity of the Afghan media. The newest
media center, Novice Journalism Training Program (NJTP), is housed
in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province. The NJTP provides practical
journalism training to Afghan university students and links them with
300 fellow journalism colleagues and students in Herat, Mazar-e
Sharif, Kabul, and most recently Khost and Kandahar provinces. The
NJTP continues to be successful as it expands. The NJTP now runs
Kabul University Radio and will increase its air time and its coverage
area. Currently, the station only airs one hour per week and can not
be heard beyond the university campus. The NJTP’s radio station at
the University of Herat was the only Afghan media outlet that went live
real-time with the speeches of President Karzai and Iran’s President
Khatami in Iran last week. The speeches were covered by student
journalists. Upon his return, Karzai was interviewed live on the
student station.
Revitalizing Agriculture
 | | Cold storage packed with red grapes.
|
Enhancing Rural Agricultural Development
USAID’s is enhancing food security and income for the rural population
through its Rebuilding Afghanistan’s Agricultural Markets Program
(RAMP) project. The project’s objectives are to increase agricultural
output and productivity as well as boost incomes by linking producers
and markets. The program supports the expansion of knowledge and
technologies (new crop varieties, fertilizers, crop management and
protection, equipment and machinery) through extensive field
demonstrations, information dissemination, and building private sector
capacity. In the last several weeks, 1,422 farmers attended crop
demonstrations and 98 participated in agricultural training programs
and field days.
RAMP also supports market center construction, providing Afghan
farmers with a place for cleaning, sorting, cold and dry storage and
packaging for their products. The facilities are strategically located to
capitalize on project improvements in irrigation and road rehabilitation.
They also give buyers and traders easier access to farmers and their
produce. To date, 141 market centers have been
constructed. Construction on a vegetable dehydration factory in
Parwan province is nearly complete and the factory will contract with
1,400 Afghans to provide vegetables for the international dehydrated
vegetable market. The factory is expected to employ several hundred
workers.
Security Incidents
Note: Hostile attacks are reported through USAID's security contractors and the Associated Press
- Number of Hostile Attacks: From January 25 – February 2, there were no direct attacks and two
indirect attacks on USAID related activities and/or staff. During the reporting period, one person was
injured and two were killed.
- USAID Related: During this reporting period, there was one hostile attack on an international
company assisting on road reconstruction. No casualties were reported; attack described below.
- Latest Attack: On January 28th, in the Khwaja Du Koh district of Jawzjan province, a group of about
four armed men attacked the camp of an international company working on the road reconstruction
project between the cities of Sheberghan and Andkhoy. The incident took place at Khwaja Du Koh
village and the armed group retreated after an hour of fire exchange with security personnel. No
casualties were reported. Consequently, the local police has reinforced its presence in the area in
order to avoid further incidents.
 | | The graph on the left shows the cumulative number of hostile attacks against aid programs. From January 2004 to January 2005, attacks that have affected USAID indirectly have gone from 20 to a little over 160 incidents. During the same time period, attacks affecting USAID directly have gone from roughly 15 to approximately 80 incidents.
The bar chart on the right shows the number of hostile attacks by month.
In September 2004, there were 7 hostile incidents directly affecting USAID related activities and 17 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities.
In October 2004, there were 3 hostile incidents directly affecting USAID related activities and 18 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities.
In November 2004, there were 2 hostile incidents directly affecting USAID related activities and 10 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities.
In December 2004, there were 3 hostile incidents directly affecting USAID related activities and 4 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities.
In January 2005, there was 1 hostile incident directly affecting USAID related activities and 8 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities.
ANSO Security Reporting began in September 2004.
|
| | View pdf version of this report |
Back to Top ^
|
