Following are the texts of the USAID fact sheet and press release on the progress being made in Afghanistan:

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FACT SHEET
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
April 11, 2002

AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION INITIATIVES

The U.S. government has pledged nearly $300 million in fiscal year 2002 alone for Afghan relief and reconstruction. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is working with the Afghanistan Interim Authority (AIA) and the international community to begin the process of building a safe, stable society that meets the needs of the Afghan people. Key strides have been taken already. These include:

Rehabilitating Agriculture

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USA1D) is providing 7,000 metric tons of wheat seed, technical assistance and 15,000 tons of fertilizer to farmers in Afghanistan for spring planting. The seed will increase domestic production of wheat by approximately 175,000 acres, thus decreasing Afghanistan's dependency on food aid. The seed is being delivered to more than 40,000 farmers. Other efforts include rehabilitating irrigation systems and providing tools, agricultural equipment, and animal vaccines to Afghan farmers. Experts are training Afghans in animal husbandry, planting techniques, and crop protection.

Infrastructure

USAID financed the rehabilitation of the Salang Tunnel, thus opening a major supply route and enabling greater quantities of goods, services and humanitarian aid to flow more quickly from commercial centers to vulnerable populations. The U.S. government is working with local communities to rehabilitate key infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, health clinics, schools, government buildings, and markets, as well as the water and sanitation systems in provincial capitals. Under innovative cash-for-work and food-for-work programs, Afghans are hired to complete necessary work, thus stimulating the local economy.

Improving Health

USAID has provided the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) with $600,000 to provide life-saving measles vaccinations for more than 2 million Afghan children. USAID also is supporting a $5 million, six-month quick-impact initiative to expand basic health services to reduce mortality and morbidity from the most common diseases, particularly among children and women. Community health workers will receive the training, medicines, materials, and other supplies needed to deliver education, basic health services, and simple treatments for common illnesses to their villages. USA1D is supporting the Ministry of Public Health's efforts to reestablish the health sector and extend services into under-served rural areas.

Education

USAID is working with the AIA and the United Nations to ensure that Afghan children who returned to school on March 23 -- and their teachers -- have books, educational materials, teacher training, and nourishing meals. USAID funded the editing and printing of nearly 10 million textbooks for grades one through 12. The textbooks, accompanied by teachers' kits and other school supplies, are being distributed by UNICEF. USAID also is supporting the World Food Program's (WFP) food-for-education program. WFP is distributing food to schoolchildren, starting in northeastern Afghanistan and expanding nationwide to reach 1 million children. The program increases school attendance, reduces dropout rates, and encourages families to send girls to school.

Creating Jobs

A healthy economy is a key foundation for a stable society. USAID is helping build Afghanistan's economy by creating jobs that enable Afghans to support their families and meet their country's most urgent needs. In fiscal years 2001 and 2002, USAID has provided more than $25 million in support of humanitarian assistance projects with a cash-for-work or food-for-work component. Local Afghans receive cash or food payments for providing services that benefit entire communities, such as repairing infrastructure. USAID has provided $700,000 to help Afghans begin small-scale income generation activities at the village level, such as growing kitchen gardens, embroidering, producing cheese and yogurt and crafting shoes.

USAID is working with the non-governmental organization, Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) to support the establishment of a women's center on the Shomali Plains. The center will provide basic education, health instruction, and training for income-generation projects such as making clothing and quilts for distribution to hospitals, orphanages, schools and families. ACTED is opening four more centers in Kabul, Pul-e-Khumri, Maimaneh, and Taloqan that will benefit more than 5,000 women.

Empowering Women

USAID is rehabilitating the Ministry of Women's Affairs' building in cooperation with its implementing partner, the International Organization for Migration (IOM). USAID funding enabled the removal of rubble from the Ministry's auditorium, providing for the renovation and equipping of 11 offices, and providing support for technical advisors. In addition, USAID is provided a technical assistance package to assist the Ministry in establishing operations and developing programs. The support will help the Ministry help women throughout Afghanistan.

Restoring Media

USAID and the IOM distributed 30,000 radios and launched the Humanitarian Emergency Afghan Radio Project to provide news and information concerning food distribution, humanitarian aid and security. Daily bulletins produced in the local languages of Pashtu and Dari are distributed to a growing network of local radio stations in Afghanistan and are aired on Voice of America (VOA) and other international broadcasters in the region, such as the British Broadcasting Company. USAID is providing much-needed resources to help start local newspapers, radio and television stations, and Internet providers, as well as train journalists and support journalist associations and freedom of expression organizations throughout Afghanistan.

Food Assistance

As of March 20, the World Food Program (WFP), with USAID support, had delivered 376,657 metric tons of food into Afghanistan since October 2001. Of this, 309,797 metric tons have been distributed to feed 6.6 million people. In December alone, the WFP delivered 116,000 metric tons of food -- more food than ever before in one month, anywhere in the world. Despite this tremendous success, there are still people in remote areas who need help. The U.S. government will continue to provide food assistance.

In fiscal year 2001, Afghanistan was the United States' top recipient of humanitarian aid, receiving $174 million before September 11. The U.S. has pledged nearly $300 million in fiscal year 2002 for Afghan relief and reconstruction.

(end text of fact sheet)

(begin text of news release)

U.S. Agency for International Development

Washington, D.C.
April 11, 2002

USAID Announces $5 Million Initiative to Improve Public Health Services in Afghanistan

Washington, DC -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a $5 million initiative to address the immediate health needs of Afghans. USAID will support a six-month quick impact initiative, the Afghanistan Health Services Enhancement Project, to rapidly expand basic health services to reduce mortality and morbidity from malaria, pneumonia, and diarrheal diseases, particularly among children and women. This initiative will expand the ranks of community health workers. It will include a national assessment of health facilities to provide the Ministry of Public Health with information for health and human resource planning, as a prerequisite, to reestablish the health sector in Afghanistan.

USAID Administrator Andrew S. Natsios, in describing the dire health situation in Afghanistan said, "A robust health program focused on training health workers and providing immunizations and medications is required to drive down disease and save children's lives. The Afghanistan Health Services Enhancement initiative is a positive step toward reaching that goal."

USAID, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health, will work through its implementing partner, Management Sciences for Health, to enable Afghan and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide basic health education and care for diseases, in Afghanistan. Pharmaceuticals and medical supplies will be purchased and minor rehabilitation of health facilities will be conducted as part of this initiative.

"This program is one way in which the U.S. is helping to meet the immediate needs of the men, women and children of Afghanistan," said Dr. E. Anne Peterson, USAID's Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Global Health. "By engaging communities in program decisions and hiring local representatives, the programs will be equitable, and will help to build much-needed local capacity over the long-term."

The Afghanistan Health Services Enhancement will train community health workers, both men and women, who will be identified by the communities. These health workers will be given the training, medicines, materials, and other supplies needed to deliver education, basic health services, and simple treatment for common illnesses in their villages, extending services from existing clinics out into underserved rural areas.

Afghanistan has had a long-neglected health care system -- the country is estimated to have only 12 percent of its needed public health facilities.

(end text of press release)