Afghanistan

A seven-year-old girl holds her younger sister in an IDP camp in Kandahar, southwestern Afghanistan.
© UNICEF Afghanistan

UN commits to staying in Afghanistan, with basic services close to collapse

31 August 2021
Humanitarian Aid

The flights evacuating civilians from Afghanistan may have come to an end, but a deepening humanitarian crisis remains, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared on Tuesday, as several senior UN officials restated their commitment to stay and deliver urgently needed supplies to the millions in the country who need humanitarian aid to survive.

A community in an isolated area of Afghanistan relies on mobile clinics run by humanitarian agencies for primary health care.
IOM

Security Council urges Taliban to provide safe passage out of Afghanistan

30 August 2021
Peace and Security

The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Monday that calls for the Taliban to facilitate safe passage for people wanting to leave Afghanistan, allow humanitarians to access the country, and uphold human rights, including for women and children.

Many Afghan families were displaced when the Taliban advanced on Kabul.
© UNHCR/Yama Noori

UN health agency secures life-saving medical supplies to Afghanistan

30 August 2021
Humanitarian Aid

Lifesaving medical supplies reached Afghanistan by air on Monday, the first UN shipment to arrive since the Taliban takeover more than a week ago, as UN human rights experts called on the country's new rulers to live up to their promise to fully protect the rights of women and girls in the country.

Early morning in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Unsplash/ Mohammad Rahmani

UN condemns 'abhorrent' terrorist attack at Kabul airport

27 August 2021
Peace and Security

The UN Security Council on Friday underlined the importance of combatting terrorism in Afghanistan following the deadly attack at the airport in the capital, Kabul. 

 

A view of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
Photo UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

Afghanistan: UN chief condemns terrorist blasts near Kabul airport

26 August 2021
Peace and Security

Secretary-General António Guterres condemned on Thursday the terror attacks around Kabul airport in Afghanistan and expressed his support for both the injured and the families of those who have been killed. 

A father and his daughter in a camp for displaced people, two of 18 million people in Afghanistan who are in need of humanitarian aid, .
© UNICEF Afghanistan

UN migration agency launches $24 million appeal for Afghanistan

26 August 2021
Humanitarian Aid

In response to the growing humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Thursday launched a $24 million urgent appeal to assist hundreds of thousands of people displaced within the country over the past two months.

Grain is loaded for distribution at a World Food Programme warehouse in Kabul in May 2021.
© WFP/Arete/Andrew Quilty

Amidst turmoil, displacement and plunging economy, Afghanistan’s future ‘very difficult…to see’

25 August 2021
Peace and Security

A crisis of incredible proportions is unfolding in Afghanistan as conflict, combined with drought and COVID-19, is pushing Afghans into a humanitarian catastrophe, the UN food relief agency said on Wednesday.

A mother and her children fled conflict in Lashkargah and now live in a displaced persons camp in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan.
© UNICEF Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Negotiations to bring in urgent medical supplies ongoing, says WHO

24 August 2021
Health

Negotiations are underway to bring 500 metric tonnes of urgently needed medical supplies into Afghanistan, senior regional officials with the World Health Organization (WHO) said during an online briefing on Tuesday. 

Trucks from the UN's World Food Programme leave Kabul in May 2021 to deliver food to vulnerable communities.
© WFP/Arete/Andrew Quilty

Afghanistan women’s rights are ‘red line’, UN rights chief tells States

24 August 2021
Human Rights

UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet led calls on Tuesday for Afghanistan’s new Taliban leaders to respect the rights of all Afghans and warned that the treatment of women and girls is a “fundamental red line” that should not be crossed.

More than 400 families from Kunduz, Sar-e Pol and Takhar provinces have taken shelter in a high school in southern Kabul.
© UNICEF Afghanistan

First Person: Health workers in Afghanistan brave safety fears, to continue treating the sick

24 August 2021
Humanitarian Aid

An Afghan doctor has told UN News that he is committed to providing essential healthcare services to people who have fled their homes due to conflict in Afghanistan, but safety fears mean that his future and that of his colleagues, particularly women health workers, is uncertain.