Afghanistan

Students in grades 1 to 6 have restarted school in Herat, Afgahnistan, but girls in grades 7-12 have not been attending classes.
© UNICEF/Sayed Bidel

Afghanistan: Girls’ education must be a given, urges deputy UN chief

24 September 2021
Human Rights

Ensuring all Afghan girls can be educated must be “a zero condition” for the Taliban, before international recognition of their de facto authority, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Friday.

As schools slowly reopen in parts of Afghanistan, it is important to ensure that both girls and boys are able to return safely.
©UNICEF

Afghanistan: ‘Palpable’ fear of ‘brutal and systemic repression’ of women grows

21 September 2021
Women

Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last month, they have made some commitments to uphold human rights. However, their subsequent actions have “sadly contradicted” those promises, the UN rights chief told a side event of the General Assembly on Tuesday.

UN News' Assumpta Massoi interviews Secretary General António Guterres.
UN News/Leah Mushi

UN chief's message to world leaders: ‘Wake up, change course, unite’ 

19 September 2021
UN Affairs

In a wide-ranging interview with UN News, Secretary-General António Guterres is calling on world leaders to ‘wake up’, make an immediate course correction at home and abroad, and unite. 

Two Afghan women walk near an ancient mosque in western Herat province.
UNAMA

Support Afghans in their most perilous hour, urges UN’s Guterres

13 September 2021
Humanitarian Aid

The international community should urgently offer a “lifeline” to millions of vulnerable Afghans “who face perhaps their most perilous hour”, the UN Secretary-General said on Monday.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths speaks to UN News ahead of a crucial international conference on the needs of the Afghan people.
UN Geneva/Srdan Slavkovic

INTERVIEW: UN aid chief on humanitarian relief for Afghanistan, women’s rights and the Taliban

11 September 2021
Humanitarian Aid

A major funding appeal for Afghanistan is due to take place on Monday, 13 September. Ahead of the launch, Martin Griffiths, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, took part in an interview with UN News, in which he reiterated his belief that the country’s new Taliban leaders understand the significance placed by the international community on upholding women’s rights, and on providing guarantees so that aid agencies can function. 

More than 400 families have taken shelter in a school in southern Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
© UNICEF Afghanistan

‘No way out’ for imperilled Afghans, broader international response needed

20 August 2021
Peace and Security

Despite a prevailing “sense of fear” among vulnerable citizens, UN humanitarian agencies and their partners reiterated their commitment to the people of Afghanistan on Friday, informing that they are still accessing those in need throughout the country. 

The crisis in northern Ethiopia has resulted in millions of people in need of emergency assistance and protection.
© UNICEF/Christine Nesbitt

Ethiopia: UN chief gravely concerned over ‘unspeakable violence’ in Tigray

19 August 2021
Peace and Security

Speaking outside the Security Council chamber on Thursday, UN chief António Guterres told journalists that he is gravely concerned about the situation in Ethiopia, particularly the “unspeakable violence” against women and others in Tigray.
 

The UN says there are over 18 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.
© UNICEF Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Medical lifeline to millions must not be cut, warns WHO 

18 August 2021
Health

The delivery of lifesaving aid and medical supplies to millions of Afghans must not be cut, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, citing a more than threefold rise in the number of trauma cases.

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

Afghanistan: UN chief following escalation in fighting ‘with deep concern’

12 August 2021
Peace and Security

With Taliban fighters continuing to gain ground in Afghanistan, the UN Secretary-General is following events “with deep concern” said the UN Spokesperson on Thursday, including the battle for Herat and Kandahar, the country’s second and third largest cities.

 

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

Shocking’ escalation of grave violations against children in Afghanistan: UNICEF

9 August 2021
Humanitarian Aid

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed shock on Monday at the rapid escalation of grave violations against children in Afghanistan, following the deaths of 27 children in the country in the past 72 hours, and 136 who were injured.