The following report will focus on the
NCA/ACT (Norwegian Church Aid/Action by Churches Together) activities in
Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan for the above mentioned period.
A: AFGHANISTAN.
1: Supplementary feeding.
NCA/ACT has for the time being project agreements with 7 Afghan NGOs in the field of supplementary food-distribution to vulnerable destitute families in different Provinces in Afghanistan. The seven Afghan NGO's are: CAWC, CCA, GRSP, SIEAL, ADA, RRAA and COAR.
The total number of beneficiaries to be covered by the 7 NGOs were according to the signed agreements 21380 families in 8 different provinces: Ghazni, Herat, Farah, Kabul, Bamyan, Wardak, Samangan and Kunar.
The rations are given as 2-3 month packages and are supposed to meet the needs of the winter period for most vulnerable families based on the following criterias:
- Poor widows and female-headed families
- Poor IDPs who do not belong to the area
- IDPs who are accommodated with the relatives but meet the above criteria
- Families with disabled males
- Landless with no major source of income
- Small landowners (less than 3 jeribs)
- Poor families among the host population identified by the Shura.
The contents of the supplementary food packages is : Rice 10 kg, sugar 3 kg, beans 5 kg, ghee 5 lt.
WFP supplies wheat flour throughout Afghanistan and several of our p0artners have signed agreements on distribution with WFP.
As WFP, however, didn't make allocations for food-supplies to the big cities, some of our partners included wheat in their project proposals with NCA/ACT.
Last week (week 49) we received the following reports from our implementing partners:
CAWC (Central Afghanistan Welfare Committee): Distribution of food to 860 families in Behsud district of Wardak Province was completed last week. Distribution of food to 870 families in Saighan district of Bamyan Province and to 350 families in Char Asyab district of Kabul is completed this week.
Food-packages for 393 families in Bamyan city was prepared and transported to the site. The accumulated number of families who have received food-packages by the end of the reporting period: 2607.
CCA (Cooperation Center for Afghanistan): Two vehicles, each containing 435 food packages arrived Behsud II in Wardak Province. Distribution is ongoing. Food-packages are being prepared for 870 families in Dar-e-Suf district of Samangan Province.
CoAR (Coordination of Afghan Relief): 1000 families have received their food packages following the survey in 25 villages in Char Asyab district of Kabul Province. Survey is ongoing in 3rd district of Kabul city where 2000 families are expected to be selected as target families.
GRSP (Ghazni Rural Support Programme): Survey is completed in the selected target areas of Qarabagh, Malistan and Jaghori districts of Ghazni Province. 1572 food packages are transported to the sites. Distribution of food to 860 families is completed.
RRAA (Rural Rehabilitation Association for Afghanistan): The organization signed an agreement with NCA/ACT on a contribution in kind of some 500 cartons of BP-5 high protein biscuits to be utilized to malnourished children in Kabul (estimated number of beneficiaries: 600 children). They also report the completion of the two relief-programs signed with NCA/ACT:
1: 3000 families in the 6th an 7th district of Kabul City have received their food-packages. 2: Small -scale distribution of winter cloths to especially destitute people
SIEAL (Sanayee Institute of Education and Learning): reports the successful completion of the emergency relief project in Kabul and its surrounding districts. The project reached out to a far greater number of families than planned due to financial gain on the exchange rate (prior to the present currency situation!) and large-scale purchase. Number of families planned for assistance: 3380. Total number assisted: 4508. Total quantity of food commodities distributed: Cooking Oil: 45.08 MT, Wheat: 450.8 MT
General comments:
As mentioned last week, the distributions of food carried out by our partners in some districts of Kabul City, were organized according to discussions at an ACBAR session. Such cooperation strengthens the harmony among the organizations working in the area and prevents duplication.
Our partners report that communication is improving, but still they wait for the possibility to reach the western provinces along the main road through Kandahar.
Expat NGO-staff may travel to Kabul and Herat by UN-flights. Expensive, but possible!
Traveling outside the big cities is, however, still insecure for westerners due to local groups of foreign Taliban-supporters roaming around in the countryside.
2: Shelter/blankets
NCA/ACT has signed a contract with a manufacturer in Lahore on the delivery of 5000 tents. We have by the end of week 49 received 3760 tents of the total consignment.
25000 blankets were ordered by our office in order to meet some of the demands identified by partners. Beneficiaries: IDPs and EDPs suffering from the cold season. We have received 3,600 blankets from the dealer, and we expect several trucks arriving from Karachi next week. We have some storage capacity-problems in Kabul, but the Partners have on request offered some storing-facilities. This enables us to continue the transport to Kabul . November 21st we had our first 2 trucks with tents shipped from Peshawar to Kabul. Since then, we have managed to get all truckloads of non-food items safe through to Kabul without delay of any kind..
Partners are requested to forward project-proposals regarding non-food items as soon as they come across the need of these items.
By the end of this reporting period, NCA/ACT has signed an agreement with SIEAL on delivery of 9000 blankets and 100 tents for distribution in Ghazni and Kabul Provinces. AREA has also requested 401 tents to be distributed in Herat.
3: BP5 (High protein biscuits)
At present we have half a container (10,2 tons) in our store in Kabul. 8 containers have arrived Karachi of which 6 are scheduled to arrive Peshawar this week. The BP5 biscuits represent a donation from the Ministry of Foreign Affaires in Norway. A Norwegian nutritionist is at present in Peshawar working out guidelines regarding the use of BP5 and is preparing courses in order to train and guide the staff of our Partners in correct use of BP5 in nutrition programs. The course will take place on Dec.10th and 11th.
B: PAKISTAN.
1: Water & Sanitation
The water/sanitation equipment pre-positioned in Peshawar for installation in camps in the Khyber Agency is still in the ACT/NCA store .The Norwegian water-engineer is preparing a two-day training course for Afghan NGO Partners on how to install the equipment.
2: Emergency relief
Our involvement with UNHCR on the situation of the urban refugees in Peshawar was mentioned last week. The survey in "our" 10 districts carried out by 3 of our Partner NGOs -- SIEAL, GRSP, CAWC -- revealed approximately 4200 needy newly arrived families. The meetings with UNHCR this week, concluded that they would probably not be able to release the quantity of food-commodities necessary for this operation.
We have now asked our implementing Partners to make preparations for a one-time food-distribution on our own cost. The food-package will contain 40KG of wheat-flour and 5 KG of cooking-oil per family. Final decision on the details regarding the distributions will be taken in a meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 11th .
We also decided to go on with the one time distribution of food for 600 families. In addition there will be a distribution of 200 tents and 600 blankets. These newly arrived refugee families near Attock City were identified by an Afghan women organization by the name of Afghan Women Skills Development Center (AWSDC) involved with some educational program in the area. After paying a visit to the site ourselves we agreed upon the above mentioned program. Distribution of 200 tents and 600 blankets will take place on Dec.11th . Food-commodities will be distributed as soon as the purchase is arranged- immediately after Eid.
Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) is a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) , a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.