WFP、アフガンの冬を目前に食糧援助を急ぐ(和文サマリー、本文は英文）

WFP、アフガンの冬を目前に食糧援助を急ぐ

カブール発：冬の到来を目前に、WFPはアフガニスタンでの食糧の配給に追われている。アフガニスタンでは、これからの季節にかけて大雪や凍結により多くの村が孤立するため、食糧の配給が極めて困難になるからだ。特に山岳地方では、道路が舗装されていないうえ、降雪や凍結により危険性が増大し、すでに閉鎖された道路もある。WFPは、道路が遮断され多くの村が孤立する前に、2万1,000トンの食糧を60万人に届ける予定だ。
またアフガニスタンでは今年、多くの地域が洪水の被害を受けた。WFPは、2万4,000人の洪水被害者への支援も行っている。



AFGHANISTAN: WFP IN RACE BEFORE WINTER SNOWS AND FLOODING

KABUL ? Ahead of the winter freeze, the United Nations World Food Programme
(WFP) is racing to complete deliveries of food for impoverished Afghans living in communities that will be cut off once the bitter cold arrives and heavy snows set in ? and in other parts of the embattled country, the food agency is providing assistance to victims of severe floods.

With winter approaching, 21,000 metric tons of food ? including wheat, beans, oil and salt ? need to be positioned and then distributed to 600,000 vulnerable people located in over half the provinces of Afghanistan, before the heavy snows set in. The operation is beset with difficulties posed by bad weather and increased insecurity due to the continuing conflict.

"Winter is a brutal time in Afghanistan. Hundreds of villages that are remote today will be impossible to reach within the coming weeks," said Corsino. "Right now our focus is on positioning food in these areas, as well as moving forward with our drought relief efforts in more readily accessible areas."

Many areas of the country, especially the west, northwest and far east, are also affected by localised flooding at this time of the year. WFP is now assisting Government and other agencies in relief efforts for over 24,000 flood victims in the provinces of Nangarhar, Badghis, Farah, Uruzgan, Faryab and Jawzjan.

In preparation for oncoming snows, WFP has already delivered 16,000 tons of food, or all of its planned winterization assistance to the winter-affected provinces of Badakshan, Nuristan, Kunar, Ghor, Wardak, and Nangarhar - and more than 80 percent to Bamyan and Badghis provinces.

But poor road conditions, worsened by early snows and heightened insecurity along some key road corridors have impacted food deliveries to thousands of people in areas of higher elevation. "Winterization" deliveries to the central highlands province of Daikundi, in particular, have been hampered. Some higher mountain passes have already been closed due to early snows. Because of rains and snow, trips that might take three hours in the summer are now taking up to a day, or more.

"In the higher passes roads are barely wide enough to allow a single truck to move. So when a vehicle breaks down, or cannot progress because of snow or mud, traffic in both directions can be halted for several hours, or even longer," said Corsino. More than 1,000 tons of food are still en route to these locations.

"Thousands of people are in need of our assistance. We have to reach them before winter does ? and that means within the next few weeks," said Corsino.

WFP uses creative schemes to support both relief and development efforts. These include food for the construction of roads to achieve or improve access, and wells to provide permanent water supply and other community assets; food for people attending training; and food for school children.

The very timely and generous response of donors has ensured there is food to meet these challenges and get the beneficiaries through the winter. But because of the very long lead time between confirmation of a contribution and the distribution of the food to a hungry person, by March 2007 the Programme will face shortfalls in all commodities. Further donations are
urgently needed now to avoid such shortfalls, including 6,000 tons of
fortified biscuits needed to enable the school meals programme to commence at the start of the new school year in March.

Contributions to WFP's Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation, launched in January 2006, have been received from the United States (US$78 million), India (US$22 million), the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (US$10 million), Japan (US$9.2 million), the Netherlands (US$3.6 million), Switzerland (US$3.4 million), Canada (US$2.7 million), Luxembourg (US$2.3 million), France (US$2.3 million), Germany (US$2.3 million) Italy (US$2.3 million), Sweden (US$972,000), Belgium (US$638,000), Spain (US$381,000), Denmark (US$324,000), Poland (US$200,000), Australia (US$192,000), the
Faroe Islands (US$177,000), Norway (US$121,000), the United Kingdom
(US$23,000), as well as US$2 million in multilateral contributions. A further US$212,000 has been received from the private sector.

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