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Zabul PRT Facilitates Provincial Winterization Planning Efforts.

  • Published
  • By Andrew Manhart
  • Zabul PRT
ZABUL, Afghanistan --  Chronic drought conditions in Zabul Province in recent years have made winter season food security a priority for GIRoA, ISAF and international donors. The U.N. World Food Programme, Winterization Program provides humanitarian food commodities to affected districts in Zabul Province affected on an emergency response basis. The WFP 2008 - 2009 winter season emergency allocation was recently increased from approximately 166 metric tons to approximately 700 metric tons of wheat, beans, cooking oil, and salt humanitarian rations for approximately 1,400 beneficiaries.

Zabul Province's mountainous terrain and limited accessibility presents challenges to program implementation in the mildest of winters. Proactive implementation planning for this 2008 - 2009 winter season has been made more challenging due to increased security concerns and concomitant priority preparations for voter registration operations.

Within a week of its transfer of authority in mid November, the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team facilitated a series of operational planning meetings between province level GIRoA stakeholders (including the governor's office, the ANA and ANP), WFP representatives, and respective Coalition elements (e.g. embedded training teams and police mentor teams) for implementing the 2008 - 2009 winter season.

This implementation plan involves the leadership of the governor's office for coordinating ANA and ANP convoy security for WFP implementing partner transportation contractors and the PRT procuring portable storage containers to serve as secure storage facilities at the district level. Synchronized with security efforts for voter registration, progress to date includes procurement and pre-placement delivery of storage containers to the districts south/east of Highway 1, shipment and storage of WFP commodities to the south/eastern districts, and procurement of storage containers for the districts west of Highway 1.

Looking ahead to next year's winter season, the Zabul PRT is already involved in preliminary discussions with provincial officials and WFP representatives working towards a more comprehensive and robust distribution infrastructure, tentatively including construction of a network of permanent district level storage structures.

The combined effort on 2008 -2009 winterization preparation demonstrates a model for inter-agency and inter-government governance coordination in the name of essential service delivery to needy residents of Zabul Province.