The United Nations and the Afghan Government are jointly preparing a humanitarian aid effort for the coming winter, when some 2 million people will be vulnerable to isolation.
With temperatures expected to drop in Afghanistan, the number of people returning home has recently decreased, but since March, over 1.7 million have repatriated, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today.
With the coming winter adding urgency to Afghanistan's need for homes, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) has begun work reconstructing 3,000 houses in the Shomali area of the country to provide shelter for some 21,000 people.
Security remains the most pressing concern in Afghanistan, the chief United Nations envoy to the country told the Security Council today, warning that chaos could return if the Government is unable to tackle the problem.
Giving their full backing to the efforts of Afghanistan's Transitional Authority, members of the Security Council today appealed to the international community to fulfil financial and material pledges for the reconstruction of the country.
The situation in Afghanistan has improved, but the international community must remain vigilant in helping the country to contain instability and recover from decades of war, the senior United Nations official in the country said today.
Unstable security conditions in parts of Afghanistan, coupled with the approaching winter, are contributing to the significant downturn in the numbers of Afghans retuning home, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in Geneva today.
Offices of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan were hit by rocket fire today in an incident that the agency said underscores the difficult conditions facing relief workers.
Senior ministers from more than 20 countries meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York today hailed recent progress in Afghanistan and pledged to support security efforts aimed at meeting ongoing threats.
Scientific teams organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) were deployed today in Afghanistan to examine the impact of 30 years of conflict on the country's natural resources.
