Following is a fact sheet released by the Department of State's Office of the Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues summarizing U.S. contributions to humanitarian projects in Afghanistan.

FACT SHEET

Office of the Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues

Last Updated: April 2002

U.S. Assistance to Women in Afghanistan

Current U.S. Policy

The reconstruction of Afghanistan must be an Afghan-led effort. Within this context, the United States is stressing that Afghan women and men must work together in the reconstruction of their countries as

-- Recovery planners
-- Program implementers
-- Recipients

Although the Afghan Interim Authority's Ministry of Women's Affairs has an essential role to play, women's needs cut across all sectors of society and must be addressed by all the ministries.

U.S. is Largest Contributor to Humanitarian Efforts in Afghanistan

The United States is the largest and one of the longest continuous supporters of humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan and will continue to be so.

* Since 1979, the United States has contributed more than $1 billion to assist the Afghan people.

* From October 2000 to January 2002, we have contributed a total of $400 million in humanitarian assistance.

* At the January 21-22 Conference in Tokyo on reconstruction assistance for Afghanistan, donors pledged $4.5 billion -- of which $1.8 billion will be contributed this year.

* In Tokyo, the United States pledged the largest amount of any donor for 2002, $296.75 million.

Education

On March 23, schools opened in Afghanistan and both boys and girls openly went to school for the first time in years. To assist with the return to school, the United States is:

* Supplying almost 10 million Dari and Pashto language textbooks for science, math and reading to grades 1 -- 12, five million of which were delivered for the opening of schools;

* Supplying 4,000 teacher training kits;

* Funding teams of teacher trainers and helping educators develop curricula;

* Working with a global consortium of government agencies, firms, individuals, and NGOs to send fabric and sewing machines so that Afghan women can make school uniforms for girls;

* Sending thousands of chests of school supplies;

* Through the American Fund for Afghan Children, the United States is supplying toys, clothes, and books for Afghan children. This fund, to which President Bush urged American children to contribute one dollar each, has so far raised over $4.6 million;

* The State Department has funded the refurbishment of the women's dormitory at the University of Kabul, allowing women to remain on campus, in a safe environment;

* The Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration has contributed $2 million to UNICEF's back-to-school program in Afghanistan.

Health

Through the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Health and Human Services, the United States has contributed $10 million to provide:

* Funds and staff to support UNICEF's vaccination campaign targeting 9 million girls and boys against measles and polio;

* Support to the Ministry of Health; and

* Health services nationwide, including maternal and child care services.

Water and Sanitation

* The United States has contributed $8.3 million since October 2000 to address the water and sanitation needs of the Afghan people.

Food Assistance

The United States has led a world effort to provide record amounts of food to the Afghan people. The U.S. Agency for International Development is providing at least $100 million to the World Food Program to fund:

* Emergency Food for families and refugees;

* Food-for-Education to supply children, especially girls, with in- school meals and take-home rations; food for non-formal education for women (e.g., literacy programs);

* Food for Civil Servant Salary Supplements, including teacher salary supplements; and

* Food-for-Work to pay laborers engaged in rebuilding Afghanistan's infrastructure, especially schools.

Economic Participation

The United States is also assisting Afghan women to re-enter their local economies and gain some measure of economic self-sufficiency.

* The Department of Labor is contributing $1.5 million to provide women with vocational training and information about career possibilities and job creation, as well as $300,000 for training and start-up wages for the girls' uniform project.

* The U.S. Agency for International Development is sending wheat to 21 bakeries run by widows who earn a living and feed their own families; these bakeries help feed a quarter of Kabul's population, and more will be built. With U.S. assistance, the World Food Program has been able to reopen bakeries in March in Mazar-e-Sharif that had been closed since last fall.

Refugees

The United States has not forgotten those Afghan women who were forced to flee their country to refugee camps in Pakistan and elsewhere. In March 2002, more than 140,000 refugees returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan.

* The State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration will provide $148 million this year to support refugees, internally displaced persons and other vulnerable persons. Total assistance provided since the beginning of the current emergency has been $89.7 million.

* The State Department has pledged $52 million to facilitate the repatriation and reintegration of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Funding the Interim Afghan Government

* The U.S. has contributed $4 million for start-up costs of the Afghan Interim Administration.

U.S. Assistance to the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA)

Through contributions to the UNDP's Afghan Interim Authority Fund and through direct bilateral assistance, the United States has:

* Assisted in refurbishing the Ministry building, including removing the rubble from the auditorium, providing for the renovation of 11 offices with some office equipment, and supporting technical advisers to establish operations and develop programs.

* Provided Minister Samar with a vehicle, office furniture and supplies, two computers and a satellite phone.

* In a meeting on February 19 with U.S. Charge Ryan Crocker, Minister Samar noted her pleasure that MOWA was the first ministry to receive a grant from the United States government. The grant helped to renovate the Ministry and assisted in funding technical advisers.