Afghanistan Update: Programs Going Forward

Mercy Corps International
Thursday, 27 September 2001

Taliban seizes Mercy Corps' Kandahar office; Focus turning to refugees.

Despite confusion, disruption and security concerns, Mercy Corps' humanitarian operations in Afghanistan are still functioning; providing assistance to thousands of Afghans desperately in need of lifesaving help.

With millions of Afghans fleeing their homes in anticipation of expected United States military action, humanitarian concerns are growing and Mercy Corps' staff is working to meet the challenge.

In Helmand province where Mercy Corps operates a network of health facilities which service more than 370,000 people, local staff are continuing to attend to those in need of medical assistance.

Mercy Corps' programs in Badakshan and Takhar, two provinces in the northern part of the country controlled by the Northern Alliance, are also fully operational. Mercy Corps is distributing non-food items such as blankets, bedding, stoves, fuel, water and fuel storage containers, kitchen utensils, and clothing to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the area, which has seen an influx of IDPs with the recent escalation of civil war.

The situation is tenser in Kandahar where the ruling Taliban officials have taken control of Mercy Corps' office and transport vehicles, impacting its ability to communicate effectively with its Afghan staff.

In neighboring Pakistan, Mercy Corps' four-person international team, currently based in Islamabad, is engaged in contingency planning for the mass influx of refugees from Afghanistan. Team members will accompany UNHCR staff this week to assess possible new refugee campsites in the Baluchistan province and are preparing to offer health, water and sanitation services in these to-be-created refugee camps.

Mercy Corps staff in neighboring Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan is also working on response plans in the event that refugees cross the Afghanistan border.

For more information, or to contact Mercy Corps International, see their website at: www.mercycorps.org