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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Tom Arnold

Aired December 15, 2001 - 10:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands of more Afghan refugees are making the pilgrimage home. The U.N. Refugee Agency says this week, 7,000 Afghans returned through the border, crossing in Pakistan. Also, more than 7,600 people returned from Iran. The U.N. says that it's a new weekly record for this year.

Well, with Ramadan set to end tonight, the U.N. expects even more Afghans may start coming home, but will there be enough humanitarian aid to support them once they return. Joining me from New York is Tom Arnold. He's with the relief organization, Concern Worldwide.

Hi, Tom.

TOM ARNOLD, CONCERN WORLDWIDE: How are you, Kyra? Hi.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's get right to it. When looking at this overall situation with the humanitarian crisis, is it getting any better at all?

ARNOLD: Well, there's still a very big problem there in the short term. There's very big problems with both food and shelter. A lot more food has been getting into the country and has been getting distributed, but we certainly would be concerned that a lot of people still in a very vulnerable position and they do need more food and that's not going to be a short term problem, it's going to be a longer term problem.

PHILLIPS: I mean I was reading that there are six million people in Afghanistan and most are dependent on foreign food, is that right?

ARNOLD: That is correct. There is six million people who are dependent on foreign food aid and I think that's going to be one of the big challenges for next year. It's not a sustainable position that a quarter of the country's population is dependent on foreign food aid.

So one of the key priorities as of the early spring would be to start getting seeds and tools into the hands of Afghani farmers so they can grow their own food next year and reduce that level of dependence.

PHILLIPS: Well, you gave some pretty powerful pictures so let's get right to them. Let's bring up the first one. It's a shot of an Afghan school. Let's talk about the schools that are being repaired now and refurnished. Your organization is taking part in that, correct?

ARNOLD: That's right. It's one of the -- one of our key priorities in Afghanistan to get the schooling system going because I mean that's the basis for any long term development and the particular emphasis on getting girls back to school. Very few girls in Afghanistan go to primary school and that has to be a key priority.

PHILLIPS: That's good to see that that's an effort being made.

Another picture you have are the families that are displaced in the northeast of Afghanistan. This is basically what it's like right now. What's the main concern right here with regard to what they need?

ARNOLD: Well, it's -- for people like that, they need better sheeting, better plastic sheeting. I mean that's as basic as that. They need blankets for the cold.

One really important thing though which needs to happen is that as many people as possible get back to their homes and their villages because obviously, if they do that, it's a lot easier to attack the shelter problem.

PHILLIPS: And then of course, there's the issue of food. I know you've got an incredible work program going on distributing food.

ARNOLD: There's food in different ways. I mean it's food -- up to now, we've been doing food for work schemes, which means that people get paid for doing work like building roads with food.

Now, that has two advantages: A, it gets food to people; but B, they're creating something from their work and that, down the road, can be used to distribute food more effectively.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about that. I know we even have a picture. This next picture is of the group within your organization that has rebuilding the roads since the air strikes. How's that progress coming along and are the refugees able to travel easier? Is it getting any better with regard to travel?

ARNOLD: Well, I think so. I mean obviously, the fact that the military campaign is actually finished in most of Afghanistan is a huge factor here. So there are better possibilities to travel. And a lot of people have come home already. I mean that's -- they were displaced either because of drought or because of the military campaign. And in both cases, they're coming home, a fairly natural -- a fairly natural instinct for people, I think, to try and get home and get their lives back together again.

PHILLIPS: When you say, "get home and get their life back together again" is this a reality for the majority of these people?

ARNOLD: Well, we're starting from a very low base here. We -- I mean the problems of Afghanistan didn't start post-September the 11th, they go back a very long way. This is one of the poorest countries of the world. And in the whole area of food, I mean, as you said earlier, this country is 25 percent of its population is dependent on foreign food aid. So I mean there has to be a major effort to get people, get their livelihoods back together again, get them growing their food, get education systems started and get women involved more in the whole life and development of this country.

PHILLIPS: And if you want to get involved with Concern Worldwide, I know you have a Web site. Once again, Tom Arnold joining us from New York. Thank you so much.

ARNOLD: Thank you very much, Kyra.

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