Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
June 25, 2003
United States - European Union Support for AfghanistanThe United States and the European Union are jointly committed to the reconstruction of Afghanistan and share a vision for an Afghanistan that is prosperous, democratic, self-governing and respectful of human rights. The U.S. has committed over $2.0 billion in assistance to the people of Afghanistan since 2001.
In March 2003, the European Commission announced a €400 million package of reconstruction support for Afghanistan for 2003-04, concentrating on rural development and food security, economic infrastructure, public sector reform, and healthcare.
The United States, with assistance from France and others, is helping to train and equip a new Afghan National Army. Germany, with American assistance, is helping to rebuild the Afghan police force. Italy has done important work on judicial sector reform. Among the EU member states, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have all served as International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) lead.
Among the highlights of progress made in specific fields of reconstruction are:
Health
Afghanistan has improved its health care system, and with a U.S commitment of $133 million planned for a three-year program, access to health services will be expanded.
Successes since April 2002 include:
- Reopening Rabia Balkhi Women's Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, after a six-month renovation project supported by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense;
- Vaccination of 4.3 million children against measles and treated 700,000 cases of malaria;
- Revitalization of the polio eradication programs surveillance system;
- Revising the national curriculum for midwives;
- Completing the rebuilding of 72 hospitals, clinics and women's healthcare centers;
- Planning to build or rehabilitate 550 heath care centers.
Education
Afghanistan has made great strides in revitalizing the education system. Recent successes include:
- 4 million children are now enrolled in school;
- Eleven men and six women graduated from the University of Kabul's new Cisco Networking Academy;
- The U.S. is initiating a $60 million program to build or repair 1,000 schools, train 30,000 teachers, offer accelerated learning programs to 60,000 students and print 15 million textbooks for 2.9 million students, 30 percent of whom are girls.
Refugees and IDPs
The Afghan government, donor nations and international organizations are assisting returning refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Since the fall of the Taliban in December 2001, more than 2.2 million Afghan refugees and 600,000 IDPs have returned home, the largest refugee repatriation in the world in the last 30 years. UNHCR’s voluntary refugee repatriation program, which provides assistance to returnees, has received $105 million from the USG to fund its programs.
Agriculture
Rehabilitating agriculture is key to the growth of the Afghan economy and the local farmers are working to re-establish production. The U.S. is helping by providing the following:
- $6 million to assist the Afghan people in managing the water system;
- $15 million to restore irrigation systems and other essential services;
- 6,100 water projects (including wells, springs, irrigation canals, urban water systems, dams, and culverts).
Afghan National Army
The Afghan government plans to create an army of 70,000 to defend their country. As of June 19, 2003 the tenth battalion of Army recruits was in basic training.
The new recruits will be trained by fellow Afghan non-commissioned officers, instead of by Coalition Partners.
Released on June 25, 2003
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