*EPF308 01/16/2002
Excerpt: WFP Launches Phone Network in Afghanistan
(Communications will support govt., humanitarian workers) (740)

The World Food Program (WFP) begins operations January 17 of the first mobile telephone network ever to be used in Afghanistan. Humanitarian workers and government officials will be the primary users of the system, which is being set up with support and equipment provided by the multinational telecommunications company Ericsson.

WFP spokesperson Khaled Mansour described the communications project at a January 16 press briefing at the U.N. Information Center in Islamabad, Pakistan. He described Afghanistan as one of the world's places most isolated from the global telecommunications network, a situation that has made the relief campaign even more difficult.

"One cannot overstress the importance of having better communications in Afghanistan and the breakthrough that this mobile network will provide," Mansour said.

The network will have 200 users initially, with the potential for 5,000 subscribers.

Ericsson makes the equipment contribution through an ongoing program in which the telecommunications company is attempting to improve disaster preparedness programs around the world working with various U.N. agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Further details about its efforts are available at http://www.ericsson.com/ericssonresponse/

Notes from the U.N. press briefings in Islamabad are available at http://www.reliefweb.int

The following terms are used in the text:

GSM: Global System for Mobile Communication (cellular phone technology)

NGOs: Nongovernmental organization

USD: U.S. dollars

UNSG: United Nations Secretary General

Following is excerpt from briefing transcript:

(begin excerpt)

UN press briefing in Islamabad

16 Jan 2002

PRESS BRIEFING BY THE U.N. OFFICES FOR PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN

Khaled Mansour, Spokesperson for World Food Program

Tomorrow, the World Food Program will start operating the first mobile telephone network in Afghanistan ever. This system will be used by the humanitarian workers and key government officials in Kabul.

Afghanistan is one of the most cut-off countries in the world in terms of telecommunications. The relief workers of WFP and other aid agencies have to depend in many cases on an antiquated and unreliable telephone land network and an unstable electrical power system.

One cannot overstress the importance of having better communications in Afghanistan and the breakthrough that this mobile network will provide.

WFP has been working with the international telecommunication giant Ericsson to set up this mobile telecommunications network. WFP, the leading UN agency in humanitarian aid is responsible for the initial set-up and maintenance of relief telecommunications.

Free of charge, Ericsson is lending all the equipment with a market value of 5 million USD. The GSM system can host up to 5000 subscribers, and it will initially provide communication for 200 users. The system is now in the first test phase and will go into full operation within the coming few days.

Afghanistan is the first project of this kind for Ericsson. WFP and Ericsson plan to use this experience to build a new fast response telecommunications module for use in future similar operations. This is in line with the recommendations made by the UNSG in his millennium report where he stimulates partnerships in humanitarian operations between the private sector and the UN.

Logistics is as important as communications. To augment WFP capacity to move food faster and in a more efficient way into Afghanistan, the agency has received a total of 260 trucks over the past few days to be deployed in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

About 150 trucks, worth over six million dollars, have been donated by the United States, while WFP leased a fleet of 110 trucks from Ethiopia. All the trucks arrived in Karachi port and some of them are already operating in Pakistan. These trucks will help WFP overcome periodic shortages in the local transport market.

Enhancing our logistical and communication infrastructure is part of WFP's drive to become more flexible and efficient in handling the new situation in Afghanistan. It is true that WFP, supported by donors and a multitude of NGOs, has been able to avert a famine in Afghanistan this winter so far, but the humanitarian crisis is not over. We are focusing now on what many see as the harder part, which is pinpointing and addressing the needs various pockets of extreme hunger and poverty especially in the rural areas. This is a fight against snow, bad communication and -- in short -- an almost non-existent infrastructure in these pockets.

The specter of famine has been pushed away for the time being and we are proud of that achievement but the tragedy is far from over.

(end excerpt)

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

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