Informant38

Drought, Isolation Creating Crisis in Afghanistan
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By Janet Chismar
Religion Today Editor
Since the events of Sept. 11, the vast majority of humanitarian aid agencies have
left the country.
"Out of 1,100 wells in our area, only some 150 wells still hold a little water," a
health worker at a clinic outside Jalabad in eastern Afghanistan told Action by
Churches Together (ACT). "Malnutrition is growing very rapidly in the district, and
along with malnutrition and poor water come a whole range of diseases which
first and foremost hit our children."
The health clinic, run by Church World Service, a member of ACT, offers basic
services to a large, rural community badly affected by drought. ACT is an
international alliance of churches and relief agencies assisting thousands of
people recovering from emergencies in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Even before the Sept. 11 attack on America and the resulting sanctions against
Afghanistan, the BBC had reported, "One-third of the Afghan population has fled
abroad - despairing of a future at home."
Afghanistan, a country of 26 million people, already had one of the largest
refugee populations in the world, according to World Concern, a Seattle-based
relief organization. The people have been fleeing war, their worst drought on
record, persecution and near famine conditions. At least one-fifth of the country
already faced starvation and had become almost totally dependent upon
humanitarian aid.
But since the events of Sept. 11, the vast majority of humanitarian aid agencies
have left the country.