*EPF504 11/23/2001
Fact Sheet: U.S. Assistance to Afghan People Since Oct 1, 2001
(Totals more than $246 million) (430)

The U.S. government has given more than $246 million in assistance to the people of Afghanistan since October 1, 2001, the State Department said in a fact sheet issued November 23.

Following is the text of the fact sheet:

(begin fact sheet)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman
November 23, 2001

Fact Sheet

Summary of U.S. Assistance to the Afghan People Since October 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
(Includes $4 million provided in September 2001.)
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 six million hungry Afghans for one month. The United States contributes 80 percent 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 three months.


Afghan refugees:

The U.N. 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 U.N. 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.

(end fact sheet)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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