KEY developments
=B7 Conflict and natural disasters continue to affect populations in southern, eastern, and northern Afghanistan. Conflict has displaced approximately 155,000 people since November 2009, according to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). U.N. agencies expect that the number of people displaced by conflict will continue to increase due to the deteriorating security situation.
=B7 Moderate to heavy rainfall that started in late January and continued into March may have mitigated the adverse effects of dry winter weather on wheat germination, according to USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). FEWS NET expects below-normal wheat harvest yields; however, harvest yields will likely be higher than previously forecast.
=B7 To date in FY 2011, USAID/OFDA has provided more than $20.7 million for activities in health, nutrition, protection, logistics and relief commodities, natural and technological risks, economic recovery and market systems, humanitarian coordination and information management, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), benefiting up to 1.8 million individuals, including up to 320,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan.
