NEWS FROM
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF

October 11, 2001

For more information contact Jonathan Frerichs at (410) 230-2802.

In this news release:

1. On the Ground, Drought and Winter Drive Afghan Aid

2. People Facing Drought, War and Winter: Humanitarian Facts From Afghanistan

ON THE GROUND, DROUGHT AND WINTER DRIVE AFGHAN AID

Baltimore and Peshawar, Pakistan, Oct. 11, 2001 - Some aid work inside the sorely pressed nation of Afghanistan continued during this week of air attacks, thanks to local staff still on the job. Teams working with support from an international church aid alliance were able to distribute seeds and food in at least two rural areas. The teams reached villages around Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif in north central Afghanistan. They are part of a pre-crisis relief and development program that has 1,500 local aid workers based in five Afghan cities.

"The rural areas are much more affected by drought than missiles," said a Pakistan-based official for the church aid alliance that includes Lutheran World Relief, ACT.

In the face of a food crisis that threatens nearly half the country (see next story,) the focus of aid inside Afghanistan has not changed since the military campaign began, said the official, Rainer Lang, in Peshawar, Pakistan. The goal is to help people survive a years-long drought where they live, avoiding the even greater risks of becoming displaced within their homeland. In Peshawar tenuous contact is being maintained with staff inside Afghanistan while preparations continue for an expected influx of refugees from Afghanistan.

Indications are that this week's bomb and missile attacks are steadily raising the humanitarian stakes for the most vulnerable Afghanis, judging from aid contacts and travelers in Afghanistan. Church-related aid workers corroborate what United Nations aid officials have been saying all week: There is some food aid inside the country plus the means to distribute it, but much more is needed before winter. Up to seven million people are at risk of hunger. Re-supply from outside has been greatly hampered by the military campaign and winter is very near. Relief truck drivers want to know when air attacks will end so they can get back to work.

Airdrops of individual rations made from high altitude over remote areas in conjunction with military attacks are, in the words of one aid worker in the region, "like a drop of water on hot stone."

In fact, the people living in remote mountain areas of the north are those in greatest need as winter approaches, according to a Norwegian Church Aid representative in Peshawar. Effective aid delivery by land is the only way to serve them and the millions of people in Afghanistan who need food now and for months to come.

The United Nations refugee agency estimates that 1.5 million Afghanis may be forced to flee their homes in the current crisis. Afghan aid workers inside the country groups are calling for small camps to be set up inside Afghanistan, under United Nations auspices. NCA, in partnership with Afghan aid groups, is prepared to establish such camps for up to 10,000 people each. NCA is a long-time partner of LWR and fellow member of ACT.

LWR has committed an initial $161,500 for work with Afghan refugees, including $10,000 from LCMS World Relief. Further work is in process and LWR is seeking further support.

Click here for information on how to contribute to LWR's efforts to help the Afghan refugees.

PEOPLE FACING DROUGHT, WAR AND WINTER: HUMANITARIAN FACTS FROM AFGHANISTAN

Baltimore, Oct. 11, 2001 - These are the vital humanitarian statistics of the nation at the center of the world's attention a month after the September 11 tragedy in the U.S. The figures reflect many factors, particularly four years of drought and 20 years of conflict and war. Agriculture and the economy have sustained heavy damage; government services are minimal; and the social fabric is in tatters.

Afghanistan has 25 million people. Of these:

• Two million are suffering acute food shortages now.
  
  
• Seven million need food to help them get through the coming winter - one third of the population.
  
  
• An estimated 15 million people are undernourished - 70 percent of the population.
  
  
• More than 21 million people do not have access to improved or protected water sources. Clean water is essential for public health.
  
  
• 3.7 million were already refugees in Pakistan and Iran before the current crisis began.

For the average citizen of Afghanistan today:

• Life expectancy is 40 years.
  
  
• Only one in three has been taught to read and write.
  
  
• One out of every four children does not live to the age of five - perhaps the world's worst infant mortality rate.
  
• More women die in childbirth than in any other country in the world.
  
  
• There are more amputees - mostly from landmines - than in any other nation.

[Statistics are from United Nations Development Program, LWR partner organizations, and U.S. AID. See www.lwr.org/news/01/100801.asp for more information.]

Read the current LWR Afghanistan Fact Sheet.