Italy has announced a donation of EUR 3.1 million to an IOM action
plan for the socio-economic reintegration of returnees, internally
displaced people (IDPs) and vulnerable Afghans in Herat and
surrounding western provinces.

The Italian contribution will support thousands of Afghans who
fled to Iran to escape the instability, natural disasters and
conflict of the past to seek safety and jobs in Iran. In 2008, some
406,000 Afghans, including seasonal workers, returned voluntarily
to Afghanistan or were deported.

Together with Afghanistan's 270,000 IDPs and other vulnerable
groups, they now live in conditions of abject poverty and are
desperately in need of the socio-economic reintegration support
that the action plan will provide.

Italy's ambassador to Afghanistan, H.E. Claudio Glaentzer,
signed a multilateral agreement on the funding with IOM and the
Afghan government at the Italian Embassy in Kabul yesterday.

The Italian funds will be managed by IOM and the relevant Afghan
institutions, including the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation,
the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and local
authorities.

The project will provide immediate assistance, including food
and shelter, and long-term support, including vocational training,
community assistance, communal infrastructure projects and capacity
building.

For more information please contact:

Farhad Tarzi

IOM Kabul

E-mail: "mailto:ftarzi@iom.int">ftarzi@iom.int