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U.K. Charity in Pakistan Keeps Low Profile
Friday September 21, 2001
By Staff and agencies
ActionAid is one of the charities working in Pakistan, with a staff of 60 to deal with development issues. Roger Yates, ActionAid's head of emergency services, describes the situation on the ground

The Guardian
Today our staff say there is increasing tension and a feeling of time running out. Any attack on Afghanistan is going to exacerbate an already serious situation in the region.

The drought in Afghanistan and Pakistan is already very bad - people are saying they have seen nothing like it. Military raids are going to create more refugees and make people even more vulnerable.

We are tightening security procedures in the office and our staff have had to stop going to projects outside Islamabad.

We are acutely aware of people associating Tony Blair and British people in general with the US. As a British charity we have had to keep a low profile. Normally in an emergency we would display the charity's name more prominently to ensure security but we are taking stickers off the side of cars.

One of the major difficulties is going to be access to Afghanistan if there is sustained military action. Already those charities trying to get food through are finding it almost impossible.

If we end up having to drop food in from the air, the people nearest to where it lands will end up with control and with such desperate food shortages it will not necessarily reach those most in need.

Another difficulty is gathering and distributing information. All charities are struggling to get reliable news of what is happening in Afghanistan. One of our priorities is ensuring information reaches the poorer rural areas that do not have access to news sources.
(More: The Guardian News Source)

Dan