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Afghanistan: A lasting commitment [IRC at 75]


July 31, 2008
By The IRC

An Afghan boy at an IRc hospital shows his scar from surgery. (IRC photo)

An Afghan boy at an IRC hospital shows his scar from surgery. (IRC photo)

As we observe our 75th anniversary this year, International Rescue Committee president George Rupp is blogging about one moment from our rich history each month. In December 1979, the Soviet Union airlifted troops into the mountainous country of Afghanistan.  The Soviets and their Afghan allies took the capital, Kabul, and launched nine years of war with indigenous resistance groups. Thus began three decades of conflict and massive displacement for the Afghan people, along with the devastation of their country.Within weeks of the Soviet invasion, the IRC rushed to the aid of Afghan refugees who poured into bordering Pakistan. In 1988, when the Soviets withdrew, the IRC established operations in Afghanistan itself to help its people rebuild. The IRC has remained at work with suffering Afghans in both places—through the rise to power in Kabul of the extremist Taliban regime in 1996; the U.S.-led invasion to overthrow the Taliban in 2001; elections establishing a permanent Afghan government in 2004; and, by 2008, renewed concern over a resurgence of Taliban guerilla fighters. The IRC’s efforts in Afghanistan are now the IRC’s most longstanding. The consistency and quality of the IRC’s work in Afghanistan owe much to the skill and determination of our staff members, both international and Afghan. It is doubtful, however, that when then IRC board president John Whitehead made his first visit in 1980 to the makeshift refugee camps springing up on the Afghan-Pakistan border, he could have known what a long and difficult commitment the IRC was about to make. What John did know was that a terrible human tragedy was unfolding on the border: one in three Afghans—some five million people—had fled their homeland and were living in terrible conditions. By the end of 1980, the IRC was operating an extensive program of relief. We dispatched mobile clinics and set up dispensary tents. Scouts went into the scattered encampments to bring sick refugees to the medical tents. Vocational and self-help programs were developed. One of the IRC’s greatest accomplishments was its educational programs, which ranged from preschool to postgraduate courses and included a high school for refugee girls in Peshawar. Among the young refugees who passed through the camps was Mohammed Haneef Atmar, now minister of education, who worked for the IRC as program director in Kabul before joining the government of President Hamid Karzai.  And when I met him in 2002, President Karzai reminded me that he had once taught English at our IRC school in Peshawar, Pakistan.  In 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, ushering in, not an era of peace, but a new round violence and civil war. The IRC was one of the few aid agencies that continued to operate inside Afghanistan under the Taliban, with a team of Afghan national staff members who, among other activities, organized home schooling for Afghan girls forbidden an education under the regime’s rules. Even before we established an official presence in Afghanistan following the Soviet withdrawal, the IRC was sending teams into the Afghan countryside to repair roads, rebuild irrigation systems, and establish public health and sanitation facilities. With the overthrow of the Taliban, the IRC ramped up efforts to help Afghans rebuild. In 2007, the IRC enrolled some 11,000 students in 400 schools and trained over 1,000 teachers.  Nearly 2,000 people graduated from our vocational programs. And we helped to establish locally elected community development councils in which villagers make the decisions. Despite the continuing instability in Afghanistan, the IRC remains as committed to the land and its people as it was nearly 30 years ago.  Our staff is now 99% Afghan – talented colleagues, many of whom have been with the IRC for decades.  As Razia Stanikzai, an Afghan refugee and a field manager for an IRC education programs in Pakistan remarked, “We Afghans have bled a lot, and now we want our children to experience peace.” You can read all of George Rupp's history posts here.
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3 comments

Comments

Greetings, I am a former IRC

Submitted by Bahram Barzin (not verified) on January 28, 2009 - 9:49am.

Greetings,

I am a former IRC employee 2001 - 2003 in northern region of Afghanistan. The IRC office was opened in Mazar city of the north in 2001 to address the IDP crisis in the region. I was the Senior Program Manager for more than a year and also served as Officer in Charge of the Northern Program during the last four months of my employment at IRC.

IRC was the lead agency in providing shelter and food for more than 40,000 families in the north. The program also offered a comprehensive reintegration package to IDP and refugee returnees in Balkh Province. We had a strong, dedicated, and experienced team of Afghans and a genius expatriate Coordinator on the ground. A team I have ever worked with during my over ten years of humanitarian and development work in Afghanistan.

I see IRC not as an Education organization. We did not have an Education project in the north. My picture from IRC is a hero in rescuing Afghan men, women, and children from starvation - a champion in providing shelter and heating for thousands of Afghan families in cold winters - a lead in brining many Afghans back home and facilitating their reintegration.

Bahram Barzin

As an Afghan, I consider the

Submitted by Zaman Parwani (not verified) on August 13, 2008 - 7:05pm.

As an Afghan, I consider the humananiterian assistance which IRC has been providing for the people of Afghanistan noble. It saddens me to hear in the news that the aid workers who had gone to Afghanistan to help their fellow human-being have lost their lives in this way. It is also important to recognise the perpetrators of this evil act. IRC provides vital assistance to the Afghan people, withdrawing its operations from Afghanistan will have enormous impacts on poor Afghans.

It is important to note that the entire insurgency is in the South and East, areas dominated by PASHTOONS. The North is peaceful and free of insurgency activities or Taliban. Therefore, IRC should continue its operations in Northern Afghanistan where peace and stability is continuing.

Regards,

Zaman Parwani

It is with sincere concern

Submitted by shannon norris (not verified) on August 2, 2008 - 12:38pm.

It is with sincere concern and hope that your Afghanistan will return to peace and stability for all of it's citizens soon. You have had such an incredibly terrible change in the past 30 years. I have had the opportunity to read more about your country and understand how beautiful it once was. You must do your best to get that back for your people. They have been through too much to comprehend, especially the women and children. Education for all is key to your success. Please know that you have a friend in our county. It might not seem that way right now but our citizens wish you peace, education and a bright future for all.

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