Afghanistan: Time is Running Out
Published: October 2001
Publication Summary
Oxfam and other aid workers are desperate to speed up the delivery of food to the 400,000 Afghans already suffering acute food shortages as a result of drought, failed harvest and conflict over several years. Another half a million will be cut off by snow from normal aid supplies within 4 weeks. And an additional one and a half million still do not have enough food aid to last the winter.
The UN estimates that around 50,000 tons of food must get into Afghanistan in the next month. That is the minimum needed. Only a tiny fraction of even that--around 10,000 tons--has gone into Afghanistan in the last month, from the combined efforts of the UN and other aid agencies, including Oxfam. At this rate, Oxfam fears a humanitarian catastrophe looms.
Most of the food arriving in Afghanistan has come from the UN World Food Program. But their distribution, especially from Pakistan, has been interrupted and delayed by several obstacles. If these problems are not addressed immediately, it will be virtually impossible to get sufficient food to the 400,000 already suffering acute food shortages, or to the further half a million who will be most likely to be cut off by snow from mid November. The exact scale of deaths that would result is difficult to predict, but we know that millions will face avoidable hunger and suffering.
Oxfam and others have been calling for urgent action for over 3 weeks for food to be trucked into Afghanistan. We have urged all parties to uphold international humanitarian law respecting principles of independent and impartial assistance to civilians. Some food has been delivered, but far short of what is required.
Time is quickly running out. There are a number of factors making the situation dramatically worse. Many of WFP's staff, laborers and truckers are afraid to load and unload food, or to drive it deep into Afghanistan. In addition, in the last two days two bombs have damaged World Food Program (WFP) and International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) relief stores. A convoy of 250 tons of food being loaded at the time was to have gone to an Oxfam distribution site in Hazarajat. This would have been the first food into the Oxfam Hazarajat project since September 11. Events such as these are further disrupting relief and increasing fear.
At the same time, the Taliban have in the past few days begun to demand extortionate payments from WFP convoys seeking to cross from Chaman in Pakistan. The Taliban's restrictions on aid workers communicating between Afghanistan and the outside world, brought in on September 22, are still undermining the aid effort.
The window for delivering humanitarian relief is closing. Oxfam has already run out of food, supplied by WFP, to distribute to ordinary Afghans. If we had it, we could distribute to 335,000 people.
The current rate of food deliveries is woefully inadequate to supply enough food by mid November. All the obstacles to those food deliveries must be lifted. That means all the parties to the conflict, including the Taliban, Northern Alliance, and the US and UK-led coalition, must:
1. Publicly guarantee that the urgent programme to feed the people in Afghanistan at risk of starvation will in no way be impeded or targeted by either political or military forces engaged in the conflict.
2. Pause all military action until winter. This would give WFP and others the greatest chance to deliver the maximum food before some areas become inaccessible.
Oxfam laments the loss of life in the U.S. on September 11 and recognizes the need to address the threat posed by terrorism, but remains concerned that any response by the U.S. and its allies respect international law and ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need. The utmost should be done to prevent the further loss of civilian life, consistent with their stated goal to address humanitarian concerns.