Japan announces huge new aid

The Japanese government announced on Monday an aid package of US $42 million for Afghanistan, bringing its total assistance and humanitarian aid to the impoverished country to about US $200 million since 11 September, a government statement from Tokyo said. The Embassy of Japan in Pakistan said in a statement to IRIN that the announcement of the assistance was made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo. "Japan welcomes the fact that the political process in Afghanistan is making steady progress on the basis of Bonn Agreement," it said. "The latest assistance package has been formulated in accordance with the concept of 'consolidation of peace', which focuses Japan's efforts to help a brighter future for the people of Afghanistan," the statement noted. Among other things, the latest aid will be aimed at assistance for the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund; supply of office equipment for the Afghan government; help for reintegration and resettlement of refugees and support for the Kabul emergency water supply project. "With this package, Japan's restoration and reconstruction assistance for Afghanistan will reach a total of about 102 million dollars, and Japan's total assistance including humanitarian support implemented after the multiple terrorist attacks in the United States will reach about 200 million dollars," it maintained. The United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, last week hailed Tokyo's donation of US $10.8 million - included in the latest package - for educational programmes for displaced and refugee children returning to their homes in Afghanistan.