Additional Aid for Health Care for Women and Girls

Germany this week announced $819,000 in additional aid for Afghanistan targeted at medical care for women and girls. The money, from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, will support clinics, consultation and information centers, family-planning and health-care measures, mother-child programs, and local doctors, midwives and nurses. Among the 1.5 million refugees who may try to leave Afghanistan, are an estimated 66,000 pregnant women, with many of those having high-risk pregnancies, according to the UN Population Fund. The aid is in addition to the $47 million in humanitarian aid already being spent by the German government.

Afghanistan Support Group

Germany this week is hosting the annual conference of the Afghanistan Support Group in Berlin. The group, which Germany chairs in 2001, brings together donor countries, international organizations and NGOs involved in supporting the country.

As many as 6 million people in Afghanistan and 1.5 million Afghan refugees outside the country are in need of food aid for the winter, according to the World Food Program.

The talks on December 5 and 6 will focus on taking stock of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, short-term and medium-term support measures, the refugee situation, internally displaced persons and returnees from neighboring countries, and prospects for reconstruction.

The Afghanistan Support Group, founded in 1996, includes 15 donor countries, the European Commission, and international and non-governmental organizations. The member states are the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany. Norway will succeed Germany as chair of the group in 2002.

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