Japan announces more aid

Japan is to provide US $3.02 million in assistance to the population of Tajikistan in response to the acute drought conditions, Political Counsellor Masami Kinefuchi told IRIN on Tuesday. The Japanese donation of food aid is to be channelled through the World Food Programme (WFP) for the benefit of internally displaced persons and those affected by drought. The aid will be primarily targeted at 585,000 people considered to be at risk of starvation. A further one million people will receive urgent food aid. Meanwhile, Japan announced an additional aid package for Afghanistan comprising 160 tents, 1,200 blankets and 1,600 vinyl sheets to help improve the living conditions of Afghans who have fled their homes. This follows a further US $7 million emergency assistance package for Afghanistan announced on Thursday, to comprise US $5 million in food aid, and a further US $1.86 million for sanitation, water supply, health and medical activities facilitated through UNHCR and other relief organisations. The third element of the package was a grassroots project to assist camps in Afghanistan and to support water supply efforts for Afghan refugees in camps in Pakistan. While Japan was one of the countries to voice an outcry over the recent destruction of pre-Islamic artefacts in Afghanistan, including two giant Buddhas, it maintains that humanitarian assistance efforts must continue. Since 1979, Japan has extended more than US $400 million in humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people through UN agencies and other international organisations, according to the embassy. The funds have been used for mine clearance, food distribution and refugee assistance.