Afghanistan

A young market vendor sells peanuts in Urozgan, a central province of Afghanistan.
© UNICEF/Omid Fazel

Afghanistan: Funding shortfall amid deepening humanitarian crisis

15 July 2021
Peace and Security

A senior UN official on Thursday urged donors to step up support for Afghanistan, where ongoing drought and increased military operations amid foreign troop withdrawal, are displacing scores of civilians, creating a growing humanitarian crisis. 

A UN-supported polio worker in Afghanistan administers a polio vaccine to a young child (file).
UNICEF Afghanistan/Celeste Hibbe

Five polio vaccination workers shot dead in Afghanistan; UN condemns ‘brutal’ killings

15 June 2021
Peace and Security

Five health workers carrying out a polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province were killed on Tuesday, and four others injured, during a series of attacks condemned by a senior UN official on the ground as brutal and “senseless”.

An explosives specialist conducts mine clearance operations after detecting a piece of metal in Afghanistan, where 2,300 casualties as a result of landmines were reported in 2017 alone.
UNMAS/Cengiz Yar

Afghanistan: UN condemns ‘horrendous attack’ on demining partner HALO Trust

9 June 2021
Peace and Security

The United Nations on Wednesday called for an investigation into the deadly attack in northern Afghanistan against the HALO Trust, a humanitarian group working to rid the country of landmines. In a statement issued on Friday, the UN Security Council described the attack as "atrocious and cowardly", underlining the need to hold the terrorist perpetrators to account.

Kabul, Afghanistan. (file)
UNAMA/Freshta Dunia

Kabul school bombing condemned by senior UN officials

8 May 2021
Peace and Security

Saturday’s deadly bombing outside a high school in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, has been condemned by leading UN officials including the Secretary-General António Guterres. The attack led to the deaths of at least 60 people, including several schoolchildren.

The landscape on the southern outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. (file photo)
OCHA/Stephanie Julmy

UN condemns deadly attack at guesthouse in Afghanistan

2 May 2021
Peace and Security

The United Nations strongly condemned Friday’s suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan, in which at least 21 were killed and over 100, including women and children, wounded. 

Morning traffic in downtown Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. (File photo)
UNAMA/Nasim Fekrat

UN and partners announce Afghan peace summit will convene in Turkey this month

13 April 2021
Peace and Security

The UN together with Turkey, and Qatar, announced on Tuesday that a high-level conference aimed at ending decades of conflict in Afghanistan will go ahead beginning on 24 April, bringing together representatives of both the Afghan Government and the Taliban.

A female deminer at work in Bamyan, Afghanistan.
UNMAS

First Person: The Afghan woman putting her life at risk to rid her home of mines

4 April 2021
Peace and Security

Thanks to the bravery and hard work of deminers such as Fezeh Rezaye, the Afghan province of Bamyan has been declared free from mines. On International Mine Awareness Day, she shares her story.

Jean Arnault, then Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Colombia, speaks to the press in Bogota. (file photo)
UNIC Bogotá

Secretary-General appoints Jean Arnault as his personal envoy on Afghanistan

18 March 2021
UN Affairs

The United Nations Secretary-General on Wednesday announced the appointment of seasoned mediator Jean Arnault as his new Personal Envoy on Afghanistan and Regional Issues, reflecting the Organization’s continued commitment to the peaceful resolution to the decades-long conflict in the country. 

A family runs across a dusty street in Herat, Afghanistan. (file photo)
UNAMA/Fraidoon Poya

‘Disturbing spike’ in Afghan civilian casualties after peace talks began: UN report

23 February 2021
Human Rights

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan witnessed a sharp rise since peace negotiations started in September last year, even though overall deaths and injuries dropped in 2020, compared to the previous year, according to a UN human rights report launched Tuesday. 

Migrants at the IOM Islam Qala Reception Centre. The Centre provided services to thousands of Afghan returnees daily, prior to the catastrophic fire on 13 February.
IOM/Nick Bishop

Fire at Afghan-Iranian border hits vital humanitarian assistance: UN migration agency

15 February 2021
Migrants and Refugees

A catastrophic fire on Saturday, at a border between Afghanistan and Iran has damaged an UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) reception centre, stalling services for Afghan migrants returning to their country.