Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
November 23, 2001
Summary of U.S. Assistance to the Afghan People Since Oct. 1, 2001
Humanitarian Funding Since October 1, 2001
|
USAID/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance |
$ 49,320,444 |
|
USAID/Food for Peace |
$ 38,555,000 |
|
USAID/Office of Transition Initiatives |
$ 1,687,820 |
|
State Dept/Population, Refugees, and Migration* |
$ 36,760,000 |
|
Department of Defense |
$120,438,732 |
|
Total U.S. Government Assistance |
$246,761,996 |
Food Deliveries into Afghanistan:
Since mid-October, the World Food Program has sent more than 52,000 metric tons of food to Afghanistan, enough food to feed 6 million hungry Afghans for 1 month. The United States contributes 80% of all food provided to Afghans through the World Food Program.
A USAID/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance airlift is scheduled to depart Italy today, November 23, to deliver 350,000 empty wheat bags to Turkmenibad, filling a critical gap in the emergency food assistance effort. The bags are scheduled to arrive on November 24 to assist World Food Program emergency food distribution activities. The cost of the wheat bags and airlift totals $65,490.
On Tuesday, November 20, 2001 a ship carrying 10,000 metric tons of food left Port Lake Charles, Louisiana destined for Iran and Afghanistan. The estimated date of arrival is December 20.
As of November 21, 2001, the U.S. Department of Defense has airdropped 1,725,840 humanitarian daily rations into Afghanistan.
When the Government of Uzbekistan is able to re-open the ‘Friendship Bridge’ crossing the Amu Darya River, the World Food Program will be able to move larger quantities of food more quickly over land rather than relying solely on slow-moving barges.
Other Assistance:
- The U.S. Agency for International Development has delivered 5 additional medical kits to Turkmenistan, for a total of 10 medical kits to the region, providing 100,000 people with basic medical supplies and medicines for 3 months.
Afghan refugees:
- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 135,000 Afghan refugees have crossed into Pakistan since September 11. There are no hard figures on how many have returned home.
The UN High Commissioner estimates that 12,000 Afghans have voluntarily left Iran to return to Afghanistan since the beginning of the month, and predicts November's total will surpass the October returns of 15,000.
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*Includes $4.5 million provided in September 2001.
Released on November 23, 2001
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