18 January 2002

U.S. Releases Additional $19 million for Afghan People

State Department acting spokeswoman Lynn Cassel has issued a statement that the U.S. government is contributing an additional $19 million to assist the people of Afghanistan.

Following is the text of Cassel's January 18 statement:

The United States is pleased to announce an additional contribution of $19 million to assist the people of Afghanistan. This contribution, which comes from the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, is part of the overall $320 million aid package announced by President Bush on October 4, 2001. This disbursement will bring the total U.S. funding provided to the Afghan people in fiscal year 2002 to $237,305,125. In Fiscal Year 2001, the U.S. provided nearly $180 million in assistance to Afghanistan.

Of the $19.1 million provided by the United States, $10 million will be contributed to humanitarian programs of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), $7 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and $2 million to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF.) An additional $125,000 will be provided to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in support of its field coordination unit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

The United States believes that humanitarian assistance for refugees, displaced persons, conflict victims and other persons at risk and the pursuit of solutions for humanitarian crises are a shared international responsibility. We call on other donors to be generous in their response to the humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan.