The White House Coalition Information Center

The U.S. is providing historic amounts of food to the Afghan people to help them recover from terrorist rule. But Afghans need more than food. The terrorists have left the Afghan people without even the most basic infrastructure and health, education, and medical services. The U.S. is funding a comprehensive and compassionate program to bring a brighter future of freedom, hope and opportunity to the Afghan people. Since October 1, 2000, the U.S. has spent $384,599,456 to help Afghans in the following areas - among many others:

**Education. The U.N. Food-for-Education program - with U.S. assistance - is distributing food to schoolchildren in Afghanistan. Thousands of children and teachers in Afghan schools are currently receiving assistance through this program that increases school attendance, reduces dropout rates, and encourages families to send girls to school.

**Agriculture. USAID is giving more than $9 million towards the rehabilitation of Afghanistan's agricultural sector. Specific initiatives include distributing seeds to more than one million people as well as seedlings, fertilizer and agricultural tools. The U.S. is also rehabilitating irrigation systems, providing veterinary services, and educating Afghans in agricultural methods, animal husbandry, pest control and environmental improvements.

**Water & Sanitation. The U.S. is providing $7 million to help address the water and sanitation needs of the Afghan people. This assistance will help foster the drilling of water wells, the rehabilitation of water sources, the installation of pipelines, the construction of latrines, and education on hygiene and waster disposal.

**Health Care. The Afghan people face critical medical needs, and the U.S. is leading the world effort to help the Afghan people recover by delivering massive shipments of vital medicine & health care supplies (since October 1 enough medical supplies have been delivered to support 100,000 Afghans for three months), providing emergency medical care, and educating Afghans on how to rebuild their health care system. The U.N. Children's Fund and the World Health Organization have launched a nationwide campaign to vaccinate 9 million children against measles. In the first two days of the campaign in Kabul, more than 142,000 children were vaccinated. This is three times the number of children vaccinated from January to October 2001 (in Afghanistan, an average of 35,000 children die each year from measles alone).

**Critical Infrastructure. The U.S. is providing $3.8 million to repair roads, clinics, schools, local markets, homes and water supply facilities in hard-hit areas of Afghanistan.

**Shelter. The U.S. is contributing $6.9 million to provide emergency shelter for more than 325,000 people and rebuild the damaged homes of approximately 62,000 Afghans.

**Freedom of Information. The U.S. government has funded a radio program to provide humanitarian information to Afghans in their local languages. 30,000 radios are being funded by USAID to inform Afghans of information on immunizations for children, distribution points for food, health care, and security issues.

**Funding the Interim Afghan Government. The coalition is committed to helping the people of Afghanistan rebuild their homeland. Operations of the Afghanistan Interim Authority are being funded through the $19.5 million it has received in pledges from international governments including Germany, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Later this month a ministerial meeting of donor countries will be held in Tokyo to discuss the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

**America's Children Respond to Help Afghan Children. President Bush launched America's Fund for Afghan Children, asking U.S. children to send $1 - or whatever they could afford - to help the children of Afghanistan who have suffered under the Taliban regime. The Fund has raised more than $2.1 million and shipments have already been sent to Afghan children - including hats, socks, coats, tents, school supplies and other important humanitarian items.

**Helping Afghan Refugees Who Fled the Taliban Return Home. The Taliban's oppressive reign and war on women and children is ending. Many Afghan refugees who fled in fear now wish to return to their homes, and the U.S. is doing everything it can to help these refugees in Pakistan, Iran and other neighboring countries return home. In fact, the U.S. government has already spent more than $32 million this fiscal year (since October 1) to help refugees return to their homes in Afghanistan. The U.K. has given 26 million pounds sterling to Pakistan for their support of Afghan refugees.

**Food Assistance. The U.S. government has led a world effort to provide record amounts of food to the Afghan people. In December alone, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) delivered more food than ever before in one month. Millions of meals have been provided to the Afghan people so far. And while conditions are far from ideal, famine in Afghanistan has been averted this winter.

**Other Key Needs. USAID is giving more that $7 million to supply approximately 600,000 Afghans with emergency supplies such as mattresses, blankets, stoves and cooking sets, winter clothes and fuel.

#  #  #