APPENDICES TO THE MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
TAKEN BEFORE THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTEE
APPENDIX 1
Letter from Oxfam to the International
Development Committee
Whilst Oxfam welcomes the new inquiry of the
International Development Committee into the humanitarian situation
in Afghanistan, we unfortunately are unable to make a full submission
at this time. However, we would like to highlight some key issues
arising from our programme, which we hope the committee will consider
during the course of its inquiry.
Oxfam has been working in Afghanistan since
1991. We opened our country office in Kabul in 1995. Oxfam works
in several regions of Afghanistan. We implement emergency drought
relief programmes in Kandahar and Zabul provinces in southern
Afghanistan, and in four districts in Badghis and Ghor in the
western region. In the central highlands and in the northeastern
province of Badakshan, Oxfam runs integrated rural development
programmes in several districts while also responding to emergency
needs.
Oxfam is making an effort to ensure that local
people, especially women, are empowered as a result of its programmes.
We recognise that a great deal needs to be done to ensure that
Afghan men and women are given the opportunity to take part in
the development of their country. In Badakhshan, the majority
of the direct beneficiaries of Oxfam's programme in the province,
are men, but women as family members have also benefited from
food aid. More directly Oxfam is targeting 250 women in its income
generation centres in Shahr-I-Buzurg district and another 220
women are involved in Oxfam's kitchen garden programme.
In the central highlands, Oxfam is attempting
to target the most vulnerable families and has set up district
level shuras or councils to ensure broader participation
of people, in particular women who head households, elderly women,
widows and orphans. The training refresher course that Oxfam ran
recently in Kabul for 51 women engineers was designed to help
women seek new opportunities in a post-Taliban Afghanistan, to
build their confidence, and to give them a stake in the new order
that is slowly emerging in Afghanistan.
THE SHORTFALL
IN AID
Our primary and most immediate concern is the
substantial shortfall in international aid, which is beginning
to impact negatively on Oxfam's programmes in the country. At
the Tokyo conference, donors pledged $5.25 billion for Afghanistan's
reconstruction between 2002-06, an amount far below the $10.2
billion the World Bank estimated was needed for reconstruction
over five years. About $1.8 billion was pledged for the current
year but only $1 billion had been committed until 1 October 2002.
A recent Afghanistan government report has claimed that of this
$1 billion, only $560 million has actually been disbursed, of
which only $90 million went directly to the Afghan Government.
The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF),
set up in May 2002 and managed jointly by the World Bank, ADB,
UNDP and the Islamic Development Bank has only £5 million
deposited in it as of September 2002. It is expected that $60
million will be deposited into the ARTF for this year, and $380
million over four years, to fund the salaries of civil servants
and physical reconstruction projects. Mr. Ghani, the finance minister,
told an Oxfam trustee who visited Afghanistan in August that over
50 per cent of the government's operating budget of $460 million
remained unfunded.
We have learnt from the UNHCR that it requires
an extra $100 million because the rate of return of internally
displaced people and refugees far exceeded its expectations. The
World Food Programme (WFP) is also facing a shortfall of $64 million,
nearly 23 per cent of the total resources it needs. This is already
having a bearing on Oxfam's humanitarian relief programme. Food
for the summer months has yet to be delivered to us, and we worried
that we may not have sufficient food for distribution for the
winter.
Although the United Kingdom has contributed
$46.2 million for humanitarian assistance since last September,
and as of September 2002 it has disbursed $85 million of the $285
million pledged for reconstruction over a five-year period, much
more needs to be done by the United Kingdom and other donors if
the overall shortfall in funding is to be addressed.
DROUGHT AND
FOOD SHORTAGES
Our local staff report that drought and food
shortages persist in the North Eastern region and the central
highlands. Badakshan province will continue to be food dependent
as we estimate that 50 per cent of the food that is consumed in
this province will have to come from outside. Food shortages and
chronic hunger are likely to continue in Badakshan and other regions
unless investment is put into increasing agricultural production
and reviving local economies an integrating them with the national
economy.
Recent reports from other agencies suggest that
in some western districts of Ghazni in the central highlands,
the impact of the drought is pervasive, and there is a serious
shortage of drinking water. In the central highlands the WFP has
been slow in delivering food to Oxfam as a result of funding shortages.
Food needed for the summer months has yet to be delivered, and
Oxfam is worried that it might not have food for distribution
in the central highlands for the winter months. In Dai Kundi district
in Urozgan where Oxfam runs a programme, the continuation of the
drought and increasing desperation has resulted in the introduction
of poppy cultivation; a worrying development. In many parts of
Bamiyan province wheat production has increased considerably since
last year. However, Oxfam is concerned that the most vulnerable
(women, women-headed households, the elderly) are probably not
getting their emergency food rations in many parts of central
highland region.
OPERATING CONSTRAINTS
On top of a lack of financial resources and
the persisting drought and food shortages in Afghanistan, Oxfam
and other NGOs are facing a number of constraints in the operating
environment.
— Coordination issues. NGO coordination
is an issue in several parts of the country. In the central highlands,
many new agencies have set up shop and have started programmes
without thorough assessments. The Afghan administration is clearly
frustrated by lack of funds, which partly explains its recent
criticism (some of it misplaced) of some sections of the NGO sector
for misusing funds, spending excessive amounts of money on salaries
and vehicles, and focusing too much on meeting humanitarian needs
at the expense of development work. But clearly the NGO sector
needs to be working more closely with the Afghan administration,
coordinating and keeping ministries informed of their work and
ensuring their humanitarian response is linked to rehabilitation
and recovery.
— Weak Government Institutions. Government
institutions are weak in most districts in Badakshan, as are relations
between the central administration and the provincial authorities.
Warlords or other local commanders control several districts in
Badakshan, and there have been reports from outside Oxfam of clashes
between government troops and local chiefs. The lack of provision
of social services by the government and local commanders acts
as a major impediment to Oxfam's work in the province.
— Poor security. The deterioration
of security in some districts of Urozgan province in the central
highlands is an enormous constraint on Oxfam's programme work.
As result of the breakdown in law and order and factional fighting
(reportedly linked to the drug trade), Oxfam has received very
little information about extent of needs in Urozgan province.
In the south, Oxfam withdrew in August from some areas in Zabul
province and many activities were scaled down. The security situation
in Kandahar is still rather volatile, as is the border area between
the western and the southern regions. Ongoing insecurity is also
undermining reconstruction efforts, resulting in rising economic
hardship. A resurgence of warlords is noticeable, and it is endangering
the stability of Afghanistan and threatening to derail its transition
from civil war situation. There are reports that warlords, and
other local commanders are amassing weapons, hampering agency
programmes in several parts of the country and preventing the
safe return of displaced people and refugees. Oxfam is also supporting
the call for an enlarged ISAF presence both in terms of numbers
and geographical scope.
We hope that the Committee will find this information
useful and we look forward to hearing your conclusions at the
outcome of the inquiry. If at any stage during the inquiry you
will be taking oral evidence from NGOs we would welcome the opportunity
to participate.
Mary Kirkbride, Parliamentary Officer,
Oxfam
October 2002
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