*EPF306 03/20/2002
Fact Sheet: U.S. Offers Historic Amounts of Aid to Afghanistan
(Contributions from government, individuals and companies) (1910)

Following is a fact sheet on the historic amounts of humanitarian aid that the United States is providing to the Afghan people to help them prepare for the opening of school and recover from years of civil war, drought and terrorist rule:

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THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary March 20, 2002

FACT SHEET

Celebrating A New School Year for the Children of Afghanistan

"In one week, with textbooks in hand, the young girls of Afghanistan will begin school. This will be a remarkable moment in the history of Afghanistan, and a proud moment for the people of America."
-- President George W. Bush in his Radio Address to the Nation, March 16, 2002

Today at Samuel W. Tucker School in Alexandria, Virginia, the President and First Lady will highlight important U.S. contributions to the women and children of Afghanistan as they prepare for the first day of school. The First Lady will also announce a new global partnership of government agencies, private organizations, individuals and corporations to help provide school uniforms and jobs to the women and girls of Afghanistan.

School Uniforms for Afghan Girls & Jobs for Afghan Women

March 23 marks the beginning of the new school term for Afghan students. Schools, however humble and damaged, will open once again to girls and boys. Afghan girls, in particular, are in need of school uniforms, shoes and socks so that their families will be willing and able to send them to join their classmates. The Vital Voices Global Partnership has worked with the First Lady to organize the Afghan girls back-to-school uniform project at the request of Sima Simar -- the Afghan Minister for Women's Affairs. Sima Simar has asked Vital Voices for help in getting uniforms, shoes and socks for 150,000 Afghan school girls. The project will supply the girls with school clothes and strengthen Afghan women by providing much needed jobs and training to Afghan seamstresses.

Vital Voices has solicited the support of corporations and individuals who have agreed to provide fabric, sewing machines, shoes and socks, and other aid to enable the Afghan women to get back to work and the girls back to school. Many of the partners in this endeavor are companies in other parts of the world -- making this a truly global effort. For example, Liz Claiborne reached out to its vendor partners around the world and is donating more than 500,000 yards of fabric to the project. Examples of other confirmed donors include:

-- J.R. United donating through its partners in Pakistan 200 sewing machines and at least 50,000 yards of fabric.

-- Springs Industries in Fort Mill, SC, is donating 12,000 yards of fabric.

-- LL Bean, Inc. in Freeport, ME, will support 10,000 pairs of shoes, jackets and blankets.

-- Bass is donating 400 pairs of shoes.

-- Sebago, Inc. of Westbrook, ME, is donating 500 pairs of shoes.

-- New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. of Boston, MA, is donating 28,500 pairs of shoes valued at $988,000.

-- General Motors is donating $20,000 to cover needed supplies.

-- Robert Stein and Ellen Perry are donating $10,000 to cover needed supplies.

-- Sara Lee Corporation is donating socks.

-- Wal Mart is donating $25,000 to the project.

-- Timberland is providing important support and resources to the project.

The U.S. Department of Labor is providing funds to the project to help support the seamstresses in Afghanistan that will be making the new uniforms. Labor is awarding a $300,000 grant to Vital Voices to help support the school uniforms project. And Labor will conduct a $1.5 million program over three years to help enhance women's inclusion in the workplace by providing information on career possibilities and rights, as well as specific skills and capabilities that will enable women to find and hold jobs.

America's Fund for Afghan Children

At his formal news conference in the East Room on October 11 of last year the President announced the creation of the America's Fund for Afghan Children. Since that announcement, American children have sent in more than $4.6 million to the Fund. The Red Cross has used these funds to purchase thousands of relief items, including gift parcels, equipment for providing clean drinking water, health and medical items, tents, tarps, winter clothing, kitchen sets, and blankets. The Fund is also supporting a comprehensive campaign to vaccinate 9 million school children against measles.

-- The emphasis of today's event will be the 1,000 school chests that the Red Cross has already sent to the children of Afghanistan. The chests contain notebooks, pencils, pens, crayons, chalk, rulers, compasses, jump ropes, soccer balls and other school supplies. The chests are already in Afghanistan and will be distributed to schools in and around Kabul on the first day of school this weekend. The first 1,000 school chests will provide school supplies for 40,000 Afghan children.

-- The President today will thank America's children for supporting the Fund, which facilitated these school chests. He will also deliver a call to action to America's school children to contact their local Red Cross to help build an additional 2,000 school chests for planned distribution in June.

The U.S. Commitment to the Afghan People

The United States is providing historic amounts of humanitarian aid to the Afghan people to help them prepare for the opening of school, and to recover from years of civil war, decades of drought and the effects of terrorist rule. The Taliban have left the Afghan people without even the most basic infrastructure and health, education, and medical services. President Bush has a comprehensive and compassionate program to bring a brighter future of freedom, hope and opportunity to Afghan families. While humanitarian relief efforts continue to meet immediate needs, reconstruction activities have begun as well. The government has pledged nearly $300 million in this fiscal year alone to help Afghans with relief and reconstruction in the following areas:

-- Education. In helping the Afghan people rebuild their country, President Bush has placed a central focus on education. When school opens next week, Afghan children will begin the year with new textbooks, supplies and uniforms. Beginning this month, USAID is funding 20 teams of five teacher-trainers to conduct four-week training sessions with 4,000 educators. The State Department will also bring 10 Afghan women teachers to the United States for an intensive 3-week refresher class. The teachers will then mentor other teachers upon their return to Afghanistan. USAID is also printing and distributing nearly 10 million textbooks for science, math and reading for grades 1-12, 4 million of which will be distributed in time for the first day of school. The textbooks are printed in the Afghan languages of Pushtu and Dari and will be accompanied with teachers' kits and other school supplies.

-- Vaccinations. Scheduled for May 2002, the American Red Cross, World Health Organization and UNICEF will work together to support a comprehensive campaign to vaccinate 9 million Afghan children against measles.

-- Health Care. The United States is spending over $10 million to improve health care in Afghanistan. Funds are being used to rehabilitate health clinics, provide primary health care, train community health workers and vaccinate children. The U.S. government and others are educating Afghans -- especially women -- on basic health, nutrition, childcare, hygiene and maternal health. USAID is granting an additional $1 million to support the social and economic rehabilitation and integration of landmine victims and other disabled people. These funds will provide training and specialized technical expertise to Afghan orthopedic technologists. The U.S. government is supporting Afghanistan's Ministry of Health and working to establish a health surveillance system to meet the health care needs of the Afghan people.

-- Helping Afghan Refugees Return Home. The Taliban's oppressive reign and war on women and children has ended. Afghan refugees who fled in fear now wish to return to their homes, and the U.S. is doing everything it can to help these refugees in Pakistan, Iran and other neighboring countries re-enter their homeland. The State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) has already provided a total of $65 million to UN agencies, other international organizations and NGOs to assist Afghan refugees and conflict victims receive health and nutrition services, education for children, teacher training and safe water and sanitation facilities. PRM has pledged an additional $52 million to support the repatriation and reintegration of Afghan refugees who wish to return to their communities.

-- Food Assistance. The U.S. government has led a world effort to provide record amounts of food to the Afghan people. As of March 1, the World Food Program has delivered 333,000 metric tons of food into Afghanistan since October 2001. In December alone, the WFP delivered 116,000 metric tons of food -- more than ever before in one month, anywhere in the world. Despite this tremendous success, there are still people in remote areas who need help. The U.S. will continue to provide food assistance. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide $45 million in food aid this fiscal year. USAID is providing more than $117 million in food assistance to Afghanistan in this fiscal year.

-- Agriculture. Agriculture is way of life for 80 percent of Afghanistan's people, and the United States is committed to helping farmers re-establish production and become more profitable and efficient. Our efforts include rehabilitating the irrigation system and providing the necessary agricultural inputs, including seeds, fertilizer, tools, agricultural equipment and animal vaccines to Afghan farmers.

-- Water & Sanitation. USAID has contributed more than $8.3 million since October 2000 to address the water and sanitation needs of the Afghan people. This includes funding the drilling of wells and rehabilitation of water sources, the installation of pipelines and the construction of hand pumps and pit latrines. Afghans have received water purification tablets, soap, and drinking water as well as education on safe hygiene practices, sanitation and waste disposal.

-- Critical Infrastructure. The United States is beginning to rehabilitate key infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, health clinics, schools, government buildings, and markets, as well as the water and sanitation systems in provincial capitals to show that recovery is underway. USAID, through the French humanitarian organization ACTED, rehabilitated the Salang Tunnel, thus opening a major supply route, allowing greater quantities of goods, services and humanitarian aid to flow more quickly from commercial centers to vulnerable populations. Innovative cash-for-work and food-for-work programs hire Afghans to complete necessary work, thus stimulating the local economy.

-- Freedom of Information. USAID and International Organization for Migration (IOM) have distributed 30,000 radios and launched the Humanitarian Emergency Afghan Radio Project (HEAR) to provide news and information concerning good distribution, humanitarian aid and security. USAID is spending $1 million through Internews to train and equip local newspapers, radio and television stations, and Internet providers, as well as support journalist associations and freedom of expression organizations throughout Afghanistan. USAID is providing funds to VOA for the salaries of 10 Afghan-, Dari-, and Pashto-speaking service correspondents to expand news coverage for the VOA inside Afghanistan.

-- Funding the Interim Afghan Government. The coalition is committed to helping the people of Afghanistan rebuild their homeland. Operations of the Afghanistan Interim Authority are being funded through the $4.5 billion that the nation received in pledges from international governments including Germany, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States at an international conference in Tokyo in January.

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

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