This is the news in brief from the United Nations.
Security Council condemns ‘deplorable terrorist attacks’ near Kabul airport
The UN Security Council has condemned the “deplorable attacks” near the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday, which were claimed by Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP).
The bomb blasts reportedly killed at least 85 people and injured over 150 others, including women and children.
The Council members reminded that all parties must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including those related to the protection of civilians.
Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, the Ambassadors stated.
The deliberate targeting of civilians and personnel assisting in the evacuation of civilians is “especially abhorrent and must be condemned”, they said.
The Security Council urged all States to cooperate actively in holding accountable the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these acts of terrorism and bring them to justice.
WHO warns that medical supplies for Afghanistan are running low
Meanwhile, medical supplies to essential health services in Afghanistan are “rapidly running out” the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
The situation in the country “remained very volatile”, with the terrorist attack further exacerbating the situation, Rick Brennan, the Emergency Director of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region told a briefing in Geneva.
The UN agency has staff in all 34 provinces across the country, monitoring health in 2,200 facilities, 97 per cent of which remain open and functioning.
But Dr. Brennan warned that “WHO is not currently able to meet their needs”.
While WHO is “exploring all options to bring more medicines into the country”, there were “multiple security and logistics constraints to doing so” and “Kabul airport is not an option at present”.
However, Dr. Brennan hoped that the UN agency would “be able to do so in the coming days”, with the support of the Pakistan Government.
“We are likely to use Mazar-i-Sharif, with our first flight hopefully going in the next few days”, he said.
More children than ever before live outside their country of birth as migrants or refugees – UNICEF report
More girls and boys than ever are on the move, with 35.5 million children living outside their country of birth in 2020 and an additional 23.3 million girls and boys internally displaced, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed in new report published on Friday.
Gender plays a pivotal role in a child’s decision to leave home and continues to shape their experiences and vulnerabilities throughout their journey.
The UNICEF report Uncertain Pathways found that over the course of the year, there were almost 15 million new displacements or 41,000 each day, and that boys outnumber girls.
“Gender skews certain migration routes and experiences”, said Verena Knaus, UNICEF’s Global Lead for Migration and Displacement.
In 2020, nine-in-ten unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Europe were boys, more than half of whom came from Afghanistan, Morocco and Syria.
Ms. Knaus observed that girls and boys may be motivated to move for different reasons, saying, “boys are often expected to assume the role of bread winner, while girls may migrate as a strategy to delay early marriage or conflict-related sexual violence”.
Girls outnumbered boys by four to three as victims of trafficking, and displaced girls are 2.5 times more likely to be out of school than boys, she added.
Katy Dartford, UN News
