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U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-51392001-087
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 15, 2001Contact: USAID Press Office
KHWAJA BAHAWUDIN, AFGHANISTAN (Nov. 15) - Senior U.S. official, Andrew S. Natsios, Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), visited internally displaced Afghans in Khwaja Bahawudin, Afghanistan today.
Natsios, is spending a week in Central Asia reviewing U.S. humanitarian operations into Afghanistan. He has already met with government officials and United Nations and non-governmental organization (NGO) leaders in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
USAID is providing $5.5 million to the French Humanitarian Organization ACTED, more than half of its operation in Khwaja Bahawudin, for food, blankets, winter clothing, and shelter for internally displaced persons. USAID is funding similar humanitarian efforts across northern Afghanistan.
Natsios is also reviewing opportunities for small-scale, spot reconstruction in northern Afghanistan for roads, wells, irrigation systems, as well as schools and housing.
"In areas where there is peace and stability, President Bush has instructed us to begin reconstruction at the village level," said Natsios, who was also appointed Special Coordinator for International Disasters by President Bush in September.
In a speech to the United Nations on November 10, President Bush said, "I can promise, too, that America will join the world in helping the people of Afghanistan rebuild their country."
Afghanistan was the U.S. government's number one recipient of humanitarian assistance prior to Sept. 11, and remains so today. Since October 1, 2001, the United States has provided nearly $120 million in aid to Afghanistan and has supplied more than 80 percent of all food aid to vulnerable Afghans through the United Nations' World Food Program.
USAID is the U.S. agency providing humanitarian assistance and economic development worldwide for 40 years.
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