The publication of the draft is the culmination of over a year of hard work by the Drafting Commission, followed by the Constitutional Commission. The draft has also benefited from a nationwide process of public consultation held in the spring and substantive debates within the Government.

The document reflects a serious attempt to reflect the views of Afghans on many important and complex issues: the nature of the rights and freedoms of individuals, the form of government, the respective powers of central government and local institutions, equality among all Afghan citizens, the role of Islam, the status of languages and religious sects existing in Afghanistan, among others. It is a valuable effort, which will be put to the test at the Constitutional Loya Jirga to be held in five weeks time in Kabul.

The draft is now available to the Afghan people. The Secretariat of the Constitutional Commission is currently disseminating it to every district of the country. It will also shortly issue shortly a report outlying the views expressed during the public consultation and how they were incorporated in the draft. This will give Afghans the tools to thoroughly consider the issues involved and have an informed debate about them.

The Afghan constitution, like constitutions of other countries, addresses fundamental issues, on which people have different views. Much hard work remains to be done over the next few weeks in order for these views to be reconciled and consensus to be reached. Success at the Loya Jirga will require leadership and a spirit of accommodation and moderation. The United Nations will work with the Afghans to help ensure that it will be the manifestation of national unity to which the people aspire.

As stated in the Council's final press conference here last Thursday this report is intended to give food for thought to the Council and help it in the discussions ahead so that is better equipped to support the process of political, economic and social reconstruction of Afghanistan which is high on the agenda of the Council and of the international community.

At the demobilization stage the most popular choice indicated by the ex-soldiers was agricultural work followed by vocational training and job placement. ANBP reported that many ex-soldiers seemed surprised to be offered a range of options for reintegration.

Meanwhile in Gardez the second pilot phase of DDR is underway and tomorrow there will be a parade and ceremony to mark the disarmament. Senior officials from the Afghan Transitional Administration, the provincial authorities and the ANBP will be attending the event tomorrow.

Journalists who wish to go to Gardez tomorrow on a UN-organized trip should speak to Sarah Telford after the briefing.

[Following the briefing the spokesman's office was informed that the disarmament ceremony has been postponed. For further information contact Jim Ocitti at ANBP on 070 222 360.]

MCPA is a local implementing partner of the United Nations Mine Action Centre of Afghanistan (UNMACA)

The group after entering the camp by force and beating the team leader took the keys of the vehicles by force from the drivers, searched the pockets of team members and collected cash and other items of value before leaving in the two stolen vehicles.

Local authorities were notified and are investigating the incident. A team comprised of UN security and UNMACA are currently on their way to Qalat to ascertain the extent of injuries and losses, investigate the incident and to meet with local authorities including the Governor of Zabul to see how best security can be enhanced to prevent any future such occurrences.

Among those representing the group at the press conference today will be the State Minister and Deputy Minister of Women's Affairs, Professor Mahbuba Hoquqmal and Dr. Suraya Subhrang respectively and the Supreme Court Judge, His Honour Wali Ahmad Asim.

The press conference is at 1pm today (Sunday 9 November) at the Ministry of Women's Affairs conference room.

The Gender and Law Working Group was set up in December 2002 by a group of lawyers and representatives from civil society and has carried out various studies into women's human rights and related issues.

We have more details about the press conference available in English and Dari on the table.

UNHCR Spokesperson, Maki Shinohara

The total number of Afghans, who had been either refugees or internally displaced, who have returned to their homes in Afghanistan over the past two years has reached 3 million.

So far this year, over 462,000 refugees have returned with assistance mainly from Pakistan and Iran, making the total number of assisted returns to over 2.2 million since the Afghan repatriation operation began in 2002. If we include those trekking back on their own, Afghanistan has now received around 2.5 million returning refugees in the past 19 months. Moreover, at least half a million Afghans who had been displaced internally have returned to their homes in the past two years either with assistance or on their own.

The daily figure of returning refugees is declining since the month of October, mainly due to the temperature drop in Afghanistan. Compared to at least 50,000 returning during the months of August and September, the total number of assisted returns was about 38,400 in October. While we used to receive weekly returns of more than 10,000 refugees through the month of September, the rate has steadily declined in October to about 5,000 per week.

Around 30% of the returning refugees are coming back to Kabul province, where people expect relative security and job opportunities. Among those having difficulties with housing Kabul, UNHCR has identified over 1,000 families who have returned to their home plots in Kabul area, but are unable to rebuild their homes. Based on the Afghan government's winterization programme, UNHCR has begun providing shelter assistance for up to 1,500 returning families in Kabul to rebuild their homes. Shelters for over 500 families are expected to be completed by the end of this year and rest will continue next year.

We have also agreed with the authorities to rehabilitate public buildings where homeless people are currently squatting. Work is underway on 13 buildings to benefit nearly 800 families. The rehabilitation of these buildings is very basic in nature, as it is a temporary solution and also to avoid creating pull-factors.

According to the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, there are another 1,100 families currently living in tents on public land. We are waiting for the authorities to identify unoccupied public buildings which we could then refurbish to house those who may have problems during winter. Meantime, the authorities have agreed not to evict those squatting on government land.

As you know, UNHCR concentrates on providing rural housing and water, so that returning Afghans to rural areas can stay in their home villages and will not be compelled to move to cities. We are about to complete 92,000 housing units since 2002. However, what UNHCR can do in providing solutions to urban housing is very limited. We hope that larger housing projects will begin in the Kabul city, to address the complex urbanization problems in the longer-term -- not only to benefit the returning refugees, but also to address the very difficult problems of the urban poor.

Last Wednesday, a canal was opened in Charikar, bringing water to 21,000 people in villages stretching for 10 km between Charikar and Qraqol in Qrabagh district in the Shomali Plain. A ceremony was held Wednesday with the local communities with the presence of Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Mr. Nazari, Deputy Minister of Rural Reconstruction and Development Mr. Nazami, Governor and Deputy Governor of Parwan and Kabul as well as UNHCR's Chief of Mission Mr. Grandi.

This is a second canal project this year in Shomali -- the first project cleared 11 km of canal between villages in Bagram and Qarabagh districts. The canal cleaning is a community-based project, where the returnees propose and participate in rehabilitation of canals and supported jointly by the authorities, UNHCR and local aid agencies.

Some 20 km have been cleaned this year in the area, bringing water to 6,000 hectors of land, benefiting around 39,000 people living in 36 villages. UNHCR has provided USD 184,000 for these projects, 81% of which (USD 149,120) was direct cash injection to the communities paying US$ 2 per day to some 6,000 villagers who worked on the canals.

Last year, a similar project in the Shomali Plain had employed 7,700 villagers cleaning 18 km of canal.

Only two years ago, the villages in the Shomali Plain were destroyed and completely deserted, with over a quarter of a million people fleeing the fighting in the late '90s. We now count over 214,000 people returning to Shomali since the end of 2001, with aid agencies helping in the reconstruction of houses and water sources, and supporting income-generation activities.

Questions and answers

Question: Can you say DDR in Kunduz was successful?

Media Relations Officer: Let me give you an answer then you can tell me if you think it's a success. A total of 1008 soldiers were disarmed in Kunduz, the original estimate for the pilot project was 1,000, so we went 8 over that's a plus right. 926 weapons were collected and 26 destroyed. The ANBP Weapons Storage Container (WSC) has been safely transported to Kabul under the escort of the Ministry of Interior forces on 1 November and will be further relocated to a permanent site at Pol-i-Charkhi. I think all of those figures there spell success. Regarding the training, 450 of the ex-soldiers have indicated a preference for agriculture; 267 for vocational training; 136 would like to go into demining; 93 would like to go into small businesses; 46 into other areas; 10 would like to join the Afghan National Army or the police and 6 of them are interested in wage labour. The other choices included driving, returning to education, painting and decorating, and government service. Can you repeat the last part of your question for me?

Question: I think there was some analysis saying that they gave you old weapons and then intend to use the money to buy new weapons?

Media Relations Officer: I don't know about the issue of old weapons. In Kunduz there was a criteria established for weapons that could be handed in that were reliable, safe and in working condition. A very stringent check was done on those weapons. Weapons that were considered unsafe and old were taken and destroyed. We have heard nothing about the ex-soldiers taking their money to buy new weapons. [The criteria that weapons must be safe, eligible and operational applies throughout the DDR programme, not just in Kunduz.]

Question: The funds spent on DDR in Kunduz - were they more or less than you expected?

Media Relations Officer: I think pretty much everything was within budget and there was no over-expenditure.

Question: What impression do you have of the sustainability of these new job options?

Media Relations Officer: These professions are being made available. What is noteworthy to remember here is that many of these soldiers who have been interviewed and talked to by the ANBP are genuinely tired of war. They are tired of living by the rule of the gun, they want to go back home, they want to go to their farms or get jobs. The United Nations in partnership with the Afghan Government will make every effort to ensure that those who genuinely would like to be reintegrated into society can have their desires fulfilled.

Question: Gardez is a very sensitive area, the commanders are more effective than in Kunduz. In Gardez do you expect you will be as successful as in Kunduz?

Media Relations Officer: Kunduz has been a success and we go to Gardez always optimistic that the same success of Kunduz will be repeated. For me to go any further on Gardez which is beginning today is asking me to speculate and that is not my job as a spokesperson.

Question: Have you any update on the negotiations regarding the Turkish engineer [who was kidnapped]?

Media Relations Officer: We know from reports that he is still alive and that there are talks between the people who have captured him and the Ministry of Interior but the people qualified to comment on that would be the Ministry of Interior.

Dr. Wardak will talk about the need for public debate on the draft constitution now that it has been published; how the Commission will take people's views into account before the final draft is prepared and he will update you on the registration and elections for the Constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ) including for the special categories.