Approaching Days of Tranquility: Afghanistan Polio Eradication Initiative

This PowerPoint was one of the communication presentations made at a technical consultation on polio eradication in Afghanistan and Pakistan, held in Egypt from February 3-4, 2008. The objectives of the meeting included:

1. Reviewing progress towards polio eradication in the two countries, with a focus on 2007.
2. Discussing planned activities for 2008.
3. Making recommendations to enable the programme to address constraints facing the two national programmes.

The two-day meeting consisted of a programme of presentations and discussion looking at the epidemiological situation and programme activities in both countries, with a strong emphasis on programme communication.

The presentation begins with a background on Afghanistan's experience with Days of Tranquility (DOT) in the past and then goes on to a review of progress since 2005 towards reintroducing this approach to gaining access to areas of poor security. It concludes with an analysis of where these efforts are now.

Afghanistan practised DOT in the 1990's, when they were announced to last for one week but were actually observed for more than a month. During this period, campaign posters were displayed on tanks, and military vehicles were used for transporting vaccines and teams into difficult to approach areas. Both Taliban and Northern Alliance frontlines remained quiet during the polio campaign days.

Since 2005 when a P1 outbreak began in the southern region the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) requested a meeting of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representatives and a joint letter was sent resulting in a meeting to brief President Karsi on the deteriorating polio situation in the country. This led to further discussions and directives to the governors of Kandahar and Helmand Provinces to lead the process. However, it was difficult to find anti-government element (AGE) leadership to speak to and, while military operations attempted to coordinate with polio campaign dates, operations were delayed and ended up starting at the same time as the campaign.

Subsequently, the Advisor to the WHO Director General (DG) visited Afghanistan and an appeal to all parties of the conflict was made resulting in the AGE responding through the media to announce their support for PEI in Afghanistan. After this the WHO DG visited Afghanistan, meeting with the President and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)/North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), after which the military agreed to what was called "Days of De-conflict" during which information on polio campaign days and areas would be shared, but military operations would continue to be conducted. Following this, further briefings at NATO headquarters were conducted, resulting in a promise to continue with the Days of De-conflict. The Country PEI team explored the possibility of approaching AGE and, after discussion and approval, the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent (ICRC) agreed to support PEI activities. The Taliban issued a letter of support, made an announcement in the media, and communicated with their field formations. The UN Peace Day was used to highlight the need for DOT.

This resulted in accessing 80,000 children who had not been reached for one year.

This process and its limited but clear success have continued the progress towards DOT. There is a sense that there is a current transition phase from Days of De-conflict to Days of Tranquility. The AGE is now approachable through the ICRC and discussions are ongoing between the President and other PEI partners and ISAF/NATO.

Click here to download the full PowerPoint presentation.