UN keeps humanitarian pipeline in Termez open during winter

As Afghanistan enters into a new developmental and reconstruction phase, the United Nations is keeping its aid corridor to the north of that country open by extending a protocol signed with the Government of Uzbekistan for another year to facilitate the delivery of much needed humanitarian assistance through the winter. The Friendship Bridge over the region's Amudarya River served as a critical humanitarian gateway to Afghanistan's north during and after the US-led coalition's war on terror. According to an official of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, a two-year protocol between the UN and the government in December 2001 was a historic document, which proved vital for millions of Afghans facing starvation, hunger and disease following the demise of the hard line Taliban regime in late 2001. Meanwhile, Tashkent's adherence to the obligations taken under the document had also been very important, the official said, adding the Protocol had allowed 45 international NGOs to access Afghanistan using the Termez supply route. But Anvar Kholboev, the head of the OCHA office in Termez, told IRIN that Uzbekistan still very much played a key role in the provision of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. To date, some 160,000 mt of food and non-food items have been transported from Uzbekistan into Afghanistan, while since January this year 610 Russian-made four-wheel-drive vehicles and more than 3,000 mt of vegetable oil, 200 mt of biscuits have been dispatched to the country. “Another advantage over other countries in terms of delivering assistance to northern Afghanistan is the railway running over the Friendship Bridge right into the Afghan Hayraton river port," Kholboev said, adding this allowed cargo trains going through the border bridge to reduce the time usually spent for unloading and loading while using barges. And while Uzbekistan shares the shortest border with Afghanistan among its neighbours - only 137 km - it still offers the best access to northern Afghanistan. Termez, once a major supply route for the Red Army during Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, still has a well-equipped aid delivery infrastructure, including a port warehouse, which can accommodate up to 20,000 mt of cargo. As soon as the Soviet Army withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in 1989, the UN opened its office in the southern border town to supply humanitarian aid into northern Afghanistan. Moreover, it was the first UN office ever established in the territory of the former Soviet Union. Piter Bogilov, head of World Food Programme (WFP) office in Termez told IRIN that the extension of the protocol encourages them to continue the humanitarian aid they were offering Afghans using the easiest access to the so called Northern Corridor that includes Northern Afghanistan and also Tajikistan. “We have closed down our offices in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, and in Turkmenabad, Turkmenistan, as the emergency phase is over in Afghanistan and the country is entering a new developmental and rehabilitation phase,” he explained. According to the WFP official, the Termez office remains important for the UN food agency that is now transporting a total 1,637 mt of biscuits to Afghanistan, 200 mt of which had already been sent last week. Additionally, WFP is working on a new project to establish a bagging station in Termez, allowing packing and milling of locally bought grain. Bogilov estimates that 50 percent of the bagging station's work would be in the form of wheat, while the other 50 percent would be in the form of flour, destined for Afghanistan and Tajikistan. “We are just planning, looking for solution points on that end, of course hoping for the assistance which may come from the Government of Uzbekistan,” he explained, noting that the fate of the project might depend on conditions that local authorities offer. Meanwhile, Kholboev, praised the assistance being provided by the Uzbek government to keep the aid corridor operational. “We work with the authorities very closely and brief them on humanitarian issues inside Afghanistan in order to give them an understanding why we are here," he said. As traffic becomes intense over the Friendship Bridge UN agencies located in Termez conducted several trainings for Uzbek border guards to improve the border crossing procedures and familiarise them with the activity of international organisations, international regulations and human rights for the past years. The last training for Uzbek border guards on rights of refugees was held by UNHCR in February 2004.