Violence Leading to Increased Displacement, Worsened Poverty

Washington, DC -- December 1, 2010 -- One year after President Obama announced his strategy for Afghanistan, the Afghan people are largely worse off, Refugees International (RI) said today. RI's latest field report, “Afghanistan: In a Time of Conflict” details how the U.S.-led military “surge” in the south is driving violence north where thousands of people are fleeing from their homes. Conflict is displacing more people now than in the past eight years and many are flocking to urban slums in search of job opportunities, where they live in crude shelters and lack clean water.  The report holds numerous actors accountable for the deteriorating situation and calls on the US Agency for International Development (USAID), UN agencies and international aid organizations to rebuild more effective humanitarian programs that meet the basic needs of the Afghan people.

“Billions of dollars have been spent in Afghanistan, but the current aid system is broken while the violence rises,” said Michel Gabaudan, President of Refugees International. “People have few options and are increasingly living in slums where they are forced to drink out of filthy ditches. The country's health care system is breaking down. This is a recipe for growing instability, not growing prosperity.”

“Afghanistan: In a Time of Conflict” states that attacks in five northern provinces and civilian casualties have both doubled since last year. Over 120,000 were displaced in the past year, a 50 percent increase in the total population of internally displaced people, now estimated to be at least 320,000. At least half a million people in the south have lost access to health services. Despite these statistics, in 2010, the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance had $31 million to respond to humanitarian needs. In comparison, USAID has $3.9 billion largely for short-term cash-for-work projects and infrastructure projects to improve roads and electricity. Massive contracts, some more than $300 million, lack oversight and are often targeted for highly insecure areas, where proper monitoring is impossible. “Political pressure to show quick results often translates into a focus on quantifying how much aid money has been spent, rather than the quality of programming,” states the report.

The report includes the following recommendations:

• USAID must reallocate existing funding and international aid agencies should increase resources and senior humanitarian staff to meet Afghans' growing needs.
• The UN should negotiate with all parties to the conflict to ensure that humanitarian aid agencies can operate in insecure areas.
• The UN Refugee Agency must expand its partnerships with local Afghan organizations to increase access to vulnerable people and monitor the effectiveness of its programs.

“In a country mired in poverty, the international community has worked to improve electricity and roads but has not ensured that Afghans have the basics for survival, including food, water, housing and health care,” said Michel Gabaudan. “Until the aid community refocuses its efforts to meet the immediate needs of the most vulnerable communities, the people of Afghanistan will continue to suffer tremendously.”

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Refugees International is a Washington, DC-based organization that advocates to end refugee crises and receives no government or UN funding. Report author Lynn Yoshikawa and Dawn Calabia traveled to Kabul, Jalabad and Mazar i-Sharif in November 2010 to assess the humanitarian needs of the Afghan population. Learn more at www.refugeesinternational.org.