The United States is providing historic amounts of humanitarian aid to the Afghan people to help them prepare for the opening of school, and to recover from years of civil war, decades of drought and the effects of terrorist rule.

The Taliban have left the Afghan people without even the most basic infrastructure and health, education, and medical services. President Bush has a comprehensive and compassionate program to bring a brighter future of freedom, hope and opportunity to Afghan families.

While humanitarian relief efforts continue to meet immediate needs, reconstruction activities have begun as well. The government has pledged nearly $300 million in this fiscal year alone to help Afghans with relief and reconstruction in the following areas:

Education:In helping the Afghan people rebuild their country, President Bush has placed a central focus on education. When school opened in March 2002, Afghan children began the year with new textbooks, supplies and uniforms.

USAID is printing and distributing nearly 10 million textbooks for science, math and reading for grades 1-12, 4 million of which will be distributed in time for the first day of school. The textbooks are printed in the Afghan languages of Pushtu and Dari and will be accompanied with teachers' kits and other school supplies.

Vaccinations: Rhe American Red Cross, World Health Organization and UNICEF are working together to support a comprehensive campaign to vaccinate 9 million Afghan children against measles.

Health Care: The United States is spending over $10 million to improve health care in Afghanistan. Funds are being used to rehabilitate health clinics, provide primary health care, train community health workers and vaccinate children.