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Rebuilding Afghanistan
Weekly Activity Update for December 7- 14, 2004
Issue #70
Program Goals
 | | Minister of Agriculture Sayed Hussian Anwari, Minister of Rural Development Mohammad Haneef Atmar and Governor of Nangarhar Hajji Din Muhammad hand a bag of wheat seed to a Nangarhar farmer.
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- Support the Bonn process: the Constitutional, Human Rights and Judicial Commissions; the 2004 elections; and a free and independent media.
- Strengthen government budgeting, revenue generation (e.g., customs), monetary management, private-sector related legal and regulatory frameworks, and promote private enterprises.
- Build capacity to carry out other legitimate government functions and support reconstruction of health, judicial, education, economic, agricultural and transportation infrastructure.
Wheat Seed for Alternative Livelihoods
On December 4, in Jalalabad, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad announced a wheat seed distribution program for farmers in Nangarhar Province. This is part of the US Government’s alternative livelihoods program, and will allow over 19,000 farmers to plant 4,000 hectares of wheat instead of poppy. Minister of Agriculture Sayed Hussain Anwari, Minister of Rural Development Mohammad Haneef Atmar, and Governor of Nangarhar Hajji Din Muhammad participated in the launching. "The United States is committed to working with the Afghan Government…to ensure that the successes achieved over the past three years are not put at risk by the scourge of narcotics." said U.S. Ambassador Khalilzad.
 | | Children from Takhar’s orphanage read a poem that they had written especially for Children’s Day
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World Children’s Day Celebration
On November 20th, Children’s Fund Afghanistan (CFA) hosted World Children’s Day to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the UN-chartered Universal Rights of Children. The ceremony took place at Dr. Said Husein Shahih School in Taloqan City, Takhar. CFA engaged about 40 children to help plan the event. More than 1,000 boys and girls participated in the celebration, as well as representatives from the Ministries of Education, Labor and Social Affairs and mullahs from religious institutions. The children gave speeches, read poems, and sang songs. The event was broadcast on Radio Afghanistan as well as on Takhar Television.
 | | Test batches of asphalt being placed in Gulsan-Cukurova’s camp, produced during the commissioning of the new asphalt plant, Kandahar-Herat Highway.
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Kabul Kandahar Road Operational
The Kabul-Kandahar road is open and the final surfacing expected to be completed by the end of 2004.
On Kandahar-Herat road, the Japanese government is tasked with construction of the first 71 miles; work should begin in mid-December. Saudi Arabia is funding the next 71 miles, with the United States completing the final 200 miles. The United States has built camps for workers, established construction control systems, and begun work on concrete and asphalt plants while preparing the existing concrete road for new surfacing.
Construction has also begun on six of the ten secondary roads projects.
Security Incidents Directly Affecting USAID Reconstruction Programs
Note: Hostile attacks are reported through USAID's security contractors and the Associated Press.
- Number of Hostile Attacks: From December 7-December 14, there were seven hostile attacks, an increase from two in the previous reporting period. During this reporting period, six people were injured and seven were killed.
- USAID Related: Of the seven attacks during this reporting period, one directly affected USAID activities and resulted in a fatality.
- Latest Attack: December 14, around 1600, a vehicle belonging to Ser Hat Co., a subcontractor on the Jalalabad to Asmar road project, was found empty on the road at approximately Km 50. One local bodyguard was found dead at the scene. Four armed men kidnapped three others from the vehicle: Eyup Orel, a Turkish camp coordinator, Ceval, an Afghan driver, and Nur Mohammed, an Afghan interpreter. Eyup Orel was subsequently killed; the other two men were released.
 | | This graph shows the number of hostile attacks against aid programs. From August 2003 to December 2004, attacks that have affected USAID indirectly have gone from 0 to approximately 155 incidents. During the same time period, attacks affecting USAID directly have risen from zero to approximately 80 incidents. ANSO Security Reporting began in September 2004.
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