An international
health-care worker cares for an Afghan child. Improved healthcare will
help reduce Afghanistan.s child mortality rate, at one time the highest in
the world. The current plan calls for renovation or construction of over
400 basic health centers nationwide.
U.S. Commitment to Afghanistan
"Now and in the future, we will support
our troops and we will keep our word to the more than 50 million people
of Afghanistan and Iraq."
-- President Bush, September 7, 2003
The U.S. government has provided more than $3.7 billion since September 2001 to programs and activities
throughout Afghanistan. Congress authorized an additional $1.28 billion in supplemental funding for Fiscal
Year 2004 in advance of the regular appropriation, and the Administration has reallocated nearly $400 million
from existing accounts to accelerate progress in Afghanistan. The U.S. is working to revitalize agriculture,
provide security, expand educational opportunities, improve basic health, build effective government, and
encourage citizen participation in the democratic process.
These efforts have borne fruit for Americans and Afghans alike. Afghanistan is no
longer a safe haven and base of operations for terrorists who would attack the United States, and Afghans have returned
to their homes from refugee camps. With the Taliban no longer in power, all Afghans are free of the vigilantes and
judges who exacted harsh punishments for playing music, flying kites, or shaving. Afghans are taking the first steps
to provide not only their own democratic government, but their own national defense and internal security as well.
Thanks to road improvements, farmers can get the inputs and supplies they need and send their harvests to market.
The important highway from Kabul to Kandahar was repaired ahead of schedule, opening new opportunities for commerce,
health, agriculture, and family life. giving renewed life Schools have reopened, with girls attending and women
teachers taking their places in the classroom once again. New clinics and hospitals are being opened, and women and
children are gaining access to the health care they need. Children have been immunized against diseases such as
measles, which had taken thousands of Afghan childrens lives.
"My vision of Afghanistan is of a modern State that builds on our Islamic values, promoting justice, rule of law, human rights and freedom of commerce, and forming a bridge between cultures and civilizations; a model of tolerance and prosperity based on the rich heritage of the Islamic civilization."
-- Afghan President Hamid Karzai, September 12, 2002
Support for
Democracy/Constitutional Government
A post-Taliban rebirth of civil society is underway in Afghanistan.
The successful Emergency Loya Jirga, or grand council, completed last year has been followed
by a vigorous constitution-drafting process. The draft constitution has been distributed
throughout Afghanistan, and Afghans from all walks of life have joined the Constitutional
Debate. A Constitutional Loya Jirga beginning December 14, 2003, will discuss and revise
the draft, then adopt the final constitution. The peace process agreed to in Bonn, Germany,
in January 2002 has been kept on track. Judicial and Human Rights Commissions are in place,
and programs are underway to demobilize factional fighters in the countryside. Numerous radio
stations are up and running, a journalist-training center operates in Kabul, and a functioning
Ministry of Women's Affairs has established women's centers across the nation.
- The Afghan Constitutional Commission has submitted a draft constitution that creates an Islamic republic with guarantees of individual freedoms, including freedom of worship and rights for women.
- The draft constitution establishes a presidential system with a bicameral legislature. The lower house would be chosen by direct elections, while the upper house would be evenly divided between representatives selected by provisional councils, representatives selected by district councils, and presidential appointees.
- The constitution also provides for a four-tiered judicial system culminating in a Supreme Court.
- In the autumn of 2003, meetings were held at the local and provincial levels to select delegates for the loya jirga meeting in December to debate the draft and adopt the new constitution. Presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in the first half of 2004.
- More than 90 of the 500 delegates participating in the loya jirga will be women.
- To support responsible journalism and the development of a free and independent media, the U.S. has trained 326 broadcast and print journalists.
- Because Afghans rely heavily on radio for their news, information, and entertainment, the U.S. has supported the creation of 31 community radio stations and provided equipment and logistical assistance for Kabuls first independent FM radio station, Arman (Hope) FM.
- Four provincial courthouses are under construction, and new courthouses will be built in all 16 provinces.
- A telecommunications system that connects each of Afghanistan's thirty-two provinces with Kabul is in place, a first step in helping the Afghans improve their ability to run their own affairs.
- The U.S. has helped rebuild 13 Afghan ministries, including the Ministries of Agriculture, Health, and Education, and other institutions wiped out during the conflict and Taliban oppression. We are repairing buildings and record-keeping systems, and training competent managers and teachers
"Today we are entering the last stages before the Afghan people can, for the first time in their history, freely elect their country's leader and legislature. Let us not forget that direct election of a legitimate and fully representative government by the men and women of Afghanistan as scheduled for next year was but a distant dream two years ago."
-- Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah
Abdullah, November 10, 2003
Security and Defense
Security and stability are improving as the new Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police grow in size. The central government is gradually but surely extending its authority throughout the country. And the U.S. military is helping the Afghan people help themselves through provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs), which carry out both civil-military operations and security functions.
- Twelve ANA battalions consisting of 6,000 troops have been trained and are on full-time duty, with a goal of 10,000 by June 2004 and 70,000 eventually. The ANA is a disciplined fighting force capable of conducting both combat and civil-military-affairs operations in conjunction with coalition forces.
- The new ANA has completed its first combat operation. In the Zormat Valley, six ANA companies conducted major combat operations and established a permanent presence in support of the central government.
- Eight Provincial Reconstruction Teams now operate throughout Afghanistan. The United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Germany each sponsor teams, and several coalition countries provide team members.
- Coalition members have trained 1,000 police, with a June 2004 goal of 20,000 police in 8 provinces, plus 6,000 border police and 2,600 highway police.
- Pilot programs in disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration have begun the process of eliminating Afghanistan militia in three provinces. The demilitarization of Kabul has begun, and militia leaders have agreed to transfer their heavy weapons to the Afghan National Army.
- President Karzai has begun to remove provincial warlords whose control over large parts of the country complicates the security situationincluding the powerful warlord-governor of Kandahar Province. He has extended central government control to the provinces by forcing warlords to send customs they collect to Kabul and by replacing governors, police chiefs, and other officials who support the warlords. The U.S. has actively supported this process by building central government capacity and providing resources.
- The U.S. will continue to support the counternarcotics efforts of the Afghan government and the U.K.-led international program by expanding Afghan security services and providing resources the government needs to control its territory. At the same time, the U.S. will support the Afghan eradication effort aimed at reducing the 2004 opium crop.
"We have conducted a thorough assessment of our military and reconstruction needs in ... Afghanistan ... (to) support our commitment to helping the Iraqi and Afghan people rebuild their own nations, after decades of oppression and mismanagement. We will provide funds to help them improve security. And we will help them to restore basic services, such as electricity and water, and to build new schools, roads, and medical clinics. This effort is essential to the stability of those nations, and therefore, to our own security."
-- President Bush, September 7, 2003
Humanitarian Assistance
In the largest refugee repatriation in the world in the last 30 years, over 2.5 million Afghan refugees have returned home since March 2002. Another 2 million continue to receive assistance in neighboring countries.
- Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. has provided $216 million to support Afghan refugees, returnees, and other conflict victims in Afghanistan and neighboring countries, including over $40 million to non-governmental organizations and $105 million to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
- Through the provision of emergency food, shelter, and medical care, the U.S helped prevent a major humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan. Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. has delivered more than 400,000 metric tons of food to Afghanistan.
- To meet the needs of returning refugees and help winterize dwellings for Afghan families, the U.S. has provided winterization kits, door and window kits, and other forms of shelter improvement.
Afghanistan was already one of the poorest places on earth before the Soviet incursion of 1979 precipitated more than two decades of conflict and destruction. In 2003, Afghanistan remains at or near the bottom of every socio-economic indicator used to measure human and economic progress, and the country's overall human-misery index is among the highest in
the world. One in four Afghan children dies before the age of five. Afghanistan and Sierra Leone have the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.
While Afghanistans infrastructure suffered severe damage during more than 20 years of conflict, its institutional devastation was equally severe. In January 2002, we found a nation without a viable security apparatus, courts, or functioning ministriesa place where the basic structure of a nation-state had been obliterated. Compounding these reconstruction challenges, Afghanistan suffers some of the harshest climatic conditions and most difficult terrain on earth, and much of that terrain is laced with millions of unmarked landmines.
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Agriculture
Since 85 percent of Afghans depend on the agricultural sector for survival, the U.S. assistance program emphasizes agricultural recovery and rural reconstruction. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported an 82 percent increase in production of wheatAfghanistan's staple grainsince the fall of the Taliban. The expected wheat harvest for 2003 is 4.4 million metric tons (mt), Afghanistans best harvest in over two decades.
- Afghan farmers achieved this abundant harvest in part due to 12,439 mt of fertilizer and 9,252 mt of seeds for drought resistant, higher yielding varieties of wheat. Both were supplied by the U.S. through private dealers to over 100,000 farmers in 13 provinces during the fall 2002 planting.
- To improve vital irrigation in this chronically dry country, the U.S. has rehabilitated 7,443 canals, underground irrigation tunnels, reservoirs, and dams by de-silting and cleaning waterways, repairing stone masonry, and building retaining walls.
- Working with the Afghan government, the U.S. has rehabilitated 7,269 km of rural roads and completed over 600 related road-reconstruction projects, including repair of retaining walls and culverts. This allows humanitarian supplies to reach the needy and helps the Afghans employed in the agricultural sectormore than 70 percent of the populationship produce to markets and receive needed supplies.
- The number of Afghans dependent on food aid dropped from 10 million to 6 million in 2002 and continued to drop in 2003.
Infrastructure and Economy
Afghans are working hard to overcome years of war and Taliban rule, which left the public infrastructure in a state of ruin. According to the International Monetary Fund, Afghanistan is in the midst of a strong recovery. Growth in the legitimate economy reached 30 percent this year and is expected to continue at a rate of 20 percent in 2004. The recovery is most visible in agriculture, but includes the construction and services sectors, driven by the international reconstruction effort.
- At the direction of President Bush, the Kabul-to-Kandahar highway has been rebuilt and repaved--and ahead of schedule. It is the first leg of a joint project by the U.S., Japan, and Saudi Arabia to rebuild the highway connecting Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat. This is the most heavily-traveled portion of the road and is critical to commerce, transportation, and communication in Afghanistan.
- Rural road reconstruction (see Agriculture section) is also key to revitalizing Afghanistans infrastructure and economy.
- The U.S. has also rehabilitated 74 bridges and tunnels, which are critical parts of the highway infrastructure in mountainous Afghanistan.
- Highway-improvement projects provided Afghans with 23 million person-days of laborthe equivalent of one months wages for over 1 million Afghans.
- Improving irrigation infrastructure is important to improving the lives of Afghan people. The U.S. has rehabilitated 7,443 canals, underground irrigation tunnels, reservoirs, and dams by de-silting and cleaning waterways, repairing stone masonry, and building retaining walls.
- In support of private sector investment, a new national currency, the Afghani, is in circulation, the Afghan central bank is on a sound footing, new central bank and banking laws have been enacted, and a new investment code is being prepared.
Education
In 2000, only about 32 percent of school-age children were enrolled in school, and an overwhelming 97 percent of the country's girls did not attend school at all. By the end of Taliban rule, 80 percent of existing schools were either severely damaged or destroyed. Today, the situation has improved dramatically:
- The U.S. has printed and distributed 25,631,000 textbooks in Dari and Pashtu for the 2002 and 2003 school years, contributing to tremendous growth in school enrollment.
- Enrollment has grown from approximately 1 million children in 2001 to 3 million in 2002 to an estimated 4.2 million in 2003.
- The U.S. has repaired or constructed 205 schools, including primary schools, kindergartens, teacher-training colleges, vocational schools, and a university.
- A total of 3,107 teachers have been trained, including 1,600 primary teachers during the 2002 school year (74 percent of whom were women) and 1,500 in 2003. Thirty thousand teachers received teacher-supply kits for the 2002 school year.
- Since March 2002, 50,000 Afghan teachers have been receiving an in-kind salary supplement in the form of vegetable oil, a valued commodity in Afghanistan. The supplement represents 26 percent of their monthly income.
Health
The U.S. is working to improve the basic health and nutrition of Afghans, particularly women, children, and displaced persons. It is bringing basic services and health education to under-served communities, focusing on maternal and child health, hygiene, water and sanitation, immunization, and control of infectious diseases. In this effort, we have:
- Rehabilitated 140 health clinics, birth centers, and hospitals. Provided operational support, including staffing, equipment, and pharmaceuticals, for 163 basic health clinics, obstetrics centers, hospitals, and feeding centers.
- Provided funding to UNICEF to treat 700,000 cases of malaria and provide malaria-prevention education and supplies to 4.5 million people.
- Vaccinated 4.26 million children as part of a larger international effort that vaccinated over 90 percent of Afghan children against measles and polio, likely preventing some 20,000 deaths.
- Provided basic health services to more than 2 million people in 21 provinces; 90 percent of recipients are women and children. Since spring 2002, 1.1 million people have been treated.
- Provided, through CARE, one-quarter of Kabuls water supply, focusing on the poorest districts.
- Rehabilitated 3,637 potable-water supply projects, as well as the municipal water systems in Kandahar and Kunduz, improving water quality, availability, and reliability for 700,000 people.
li> Surveyed all health facilities and services and supported plans to expand basic health services for 11 million women and children and to rebuild 400 rural health centers.
International Cooperation
- At the Tokyo Conference in January 2002, the international community pledged $5 billion for Afghanistan over several years, including humanitarian and reconstruction assistance. In 2002, the international community spent or obligated about $2 billion of the $5 billion pledged.
- In Afghanistan, our coalition partners are contributing nearly 8,000 troops to Operation Enduring Freedom and to the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul making up over half of the 15,000 non-Afghan forces in Afghanistan.
- Our NATO allies have deployed 5,500 military personnel to Afghanistan. On August 11, 2003, NATO took over command and coordination of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). NATO had already played a significant role in support of ISAF, with NATO member countries contributing more than 90 percent of the troops involved at any time.
- In April 2003, the North Atlantic Council, the Alliances top decision-making body, agreed to significantly expand NATOs support to the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, paving the way for NATO's first mission beyond the Euro-Atlantic area. The Alliance is responsible for the command, coordination and planning of the force.
- UN Security Council Resolution 1510 (10/14/03) extended ISAFs mandate to December 20, 2004, and authorized ISAF expansion for the first time outside Kabul.
We've seen in Afghanistan that the road to freedom can be hard; it's
a hard struggle. We've also seen in Afghanistan that the road to freedom
is the only one worth traveling. Any nation that sacrifices to build a
future of liberty will have the respect, the support, and the friendship
of the United States of America.
-- President Bush, October 11, 2002
Progress for Women
The Afghan people face continued struggles in rebuilding their government and the nation. But the days when women were beaten in streets and executed in soccer fields are over.
-- President Bush, May 9, 2003
No society can prosper when half of its population is not allowed to contribute to its progress. Educated and empowered women are vital to democracy and important for the development of all countries.
-- First Lady Laura Bush, October 10, 2003
People around the world are looking closely at the roles that
women play in society. And Afghanistan under the Taliban gave the world a sobering
example of a country where women were denied their rights and their place in
society... Today, the world is helping Afghan women return to the lives that they
once knew.... Our dedication to respect and protect women's rights in all countries
must continue if we are to achieve a peaceful, prosperous world.... Together,
the United States, the United Nations and all of our allies will prove that the forces
of terror can't stop the momentum of freedom.
-- First Lady Laura Bush, March 8, 2002
President Bush has made womens human rights in Afghanistan a foreign
policy imperative and a cornerstone of all U.S. humanitarian efforts in the region. Before
the Taliban came to power, women were important contributors to Afghan society. Many Afghan
women were professionals teachers, doctors and lawyers; they had the right to vote as early
as the 1920s. Under the Taliban, women had few rights. They were denied the right to
education and employment and were not allowed to leave their homes without an appropriate male
escort. Since female doctors could not legally work and a womans contact with unrelated males
was severely limited by law, women were effectively denied access to medical care. Under the
Taliban, women were forbidden to work outside the home, which forced many widows to beg for
survival, and women who laughed out loud in public could be beaten.
- More than 200 women voted in the Emergency Loya Jirga, which established Afghanistans provisional government in 2002.
- The provisional government includes two female ministers--the Minister of Womens Affairs and the Minister of Public Health. A woman is Chair of the Human Rights Commission. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently created an Office of Human Rights, Health and Womens Affairs, and the Ministry of Commerce has set up a department to help women establish their own businesses.
- Two of the nine members of the committee that drafted the new draft constitution and seven of the 35-member Review Commission were women. Almost 20 percent of the 500 seats in the Constitutional Loya Jirga are held by women.
- Afghan women are beginning to participate in the economy again. Assistance projects throughout the country have helped women establish businesses in traditional artisanry, small manufacturing, agriculture, and trades such as tailoring and bread-baking. Seventeen day-care centers for government ministries and offices were built to enable women to return to work.
- Under the Taliban, girls were allowed only minimal schooling, and many were educated illegally in risky clandestine schools. Today, one million of the nearly four million children in school are girls.
- Women are teaching again. Of 1,400 newly-trained teachers, 900 are women.
- The Ministry of Education established accelerated learning programs to help 15,000 older children who had been denied education under the Taliban catch up with their age groups. Fifty percent of those children are girls.
- The United States has established over 175 projects that support Afghan women and many more that benefit all Afghans. These projects increase womens political participation, build civil society, create economic opportunities, support the education of girls and women, and increase access to health care.
- The U.S.-Afghan Womens Council, inaugurated by Presidents Bush and Karzai in January 2002, has mobilized the U.S. private sector to support Afghan women. U.S. businesses have provided computer education and leadership training for women working in government ministries. The U.S.-Afghan Womens Council has sponsored 17 multi-service womens centers offering vocational training, networking opportunities, counseling, child care, and social services for widows and orphans.
Americas Fund for Afghan
Children
Since President Bush announced America's Fund for Afghan Children in October 2001, the fund has raised $11.8 million, including more than $1 million in the past three months. This money purchased 3,750 school chests serving 150,000 students, 750 teacher kits, and 140,000 school bags, and built new playgrounds for schools in Afghanistan. Winter relief items, health kits, and rehabilitation of clinics were also provided with these funds. The American Red Cross processed over 790,000 letters and donations to the fund. For more information, see http://kidsfund.redcross.org.
The Kabul-Kandar Highway: Bringing Unity, Progress, and Hope
- The highway from Kabul to Kandahar is 482 kilometers (300 miles) long. It is one segment of a ring road connecting the major cities of Kabul, Kandahar, and Heart. Thirty-five percent of the population of Afghanistan lives within 50 km of this segment of the road and will benefit immediately.
- This major highway, which originally was built by the U.S., had deteriorated to a nearly impassable state over the last 30 years and was plagued by land mines.
- Because of the vital importance of this road to the economic, social, and political life of the country, President Bush directed that rehabilitation of the road be a top priority of the U.S. government.
- The U.S., Japan, and Saudi Arabia have committed to jointly fund the reconstruction of the entire road. The U.S. and Japan have completed this first phase together, and the governments of both Japan and Saudi Arabia are collaborating with the U.S. in the second phase.
- Because of the state of Afghanistans economy and infrastructure, nearly all materials and equipment needed to complete the project had to be imported, and an asphalt-manufacturing plant had to be built in Afghanistan. Mines were cleared along the construction route before work could begin, and workers had to be protected from threats and attacks.
- The highway links diverse regions of Afghanistan and strengthens the governments ability to reach communities outside of the Kabul region.
- The new road permits speeds of over 60 miles an hour and cuts travel time from Kabul to Kandahar from over a day to six hours.
- For Afghans, this road means lower transportation costs, better access to education and health facilities, increased labor mobility, and greater diversity of products and services through increased inter-provincial trade.
- The highway will improve access to health care for Afghans by permitting quicker transportation to hospitals in Kabul.
- Afghanistan is more secure because of the highway, since the U.S. and new Afghan military will be able to patrol larger areas of the country more quickly and easily.
- With the completion of the first layer of pavement, the road can now be opened to traffic. In the spring and summer of 2004, a second layer of pavement will be completed and highway signage added. The U.S. has already begun surveying for reconstruction of the second section of the Kabul-Kandahar-Herat ring road. Work will begin in spring 2004.
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Important
Activities in November and December 2003 |
November
24 |
Zalmay Khalilzad sworn in as American
Ambassador to Afghanistan |
November 25 |
American Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad
arrives in Kabul |
December 7 |
Taliban Withdraws from Last Stronghold
City of Kandahar, Afghanistan (2001) |
December 14-24 |
(TBC) Constitutional Loya Jirga |
December 16 |
(TBC) Afghan Road Ribbon Cutting |
December 18 |
Second Anniversary of Raising Flag over
former U.S. embassy in Kabul (2001) |
December 20 |
The ISAF mandate expires on December 20,
2004,
by UNSCR 1510,which also authorized ISAF expansion outside Kabul |
December 20 |
24th Anniversary of the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan and
beginning of 10 year occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviets |
December 22 |
Hamid Karzai sworn in as leader of the
Afghan Interim Government (2001) |
December (TBD) |
Launch of the Conservation Corps Project
(with U/S Dobriansky) |
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November 3, 2003
Statement on Draft Constitution in Afghanistan |
July 7, 2003 The Rights and the Aspirations of the People of Afghanistan |
July 1, 2003 President Discusses Progress in Afghanistan, Iraq |
May 19, 2003 Rebuilding Afghanistan |
February 27, 2003 President Bush Meets with President Karzai of Afghanistan |
January 13, 2003 Statement on Afghanistan |
November 11, 2002 Afghanistan: Then and Now |
November 10, 2002 President Bush Welcomes Highway Construction in Afghanistan |
October 11, 2002 Fact Sheet: American Assistance to the People of Afghanistan |
October 13, 2002 Statement by the Deputy Press Secretary |
May 21, 2002 Radio Address of First Lady Laura Bush to Radio Free Afghanistan |
May 3, 2002 To Restore Nondiscriminatory Trade Treatment to the Products of Afghanistan |
January 29, 2002 Remarks of Mrs. Laura Bush at USAID Event with Interim Chairman of the Afghan Authority Hamid Karzai |
January 28, 2002 Fact Sheet: Assisting People of Afghanistan |
December 31, 2001 President Names Special Envoy for Afghanistan |
December 14, 2001 Afghanistan Combat Zone Executive Order |
November 26, 2001 President Welcomes Aid Workers Rescued from Afghanistan |
November 19, 2001 President Discusses War, Humanitarian Efforts |
November 6, 2001 President Bush: "No Nation Can Be Neutral in This Conflict" |
October 16, 2001 Afghan Children's Fund Launch |
October 4, 2001 President Directs Humanitarian Aid to Afghanistan |
September 28, 2001 Presidential Determination |
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