Afghan

Conducive environment for Afghan elections still does not exist – Annan

31 July 2003
While the peace accord leading to elections in Afghanistan next year is largely on track despite considerable obstacles, a conducive environment still does not exist and the international community must address the threat of insecurity in the country for several years to come, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s says in his latest report.
Refugees returning from Pakistan's Katcha Garhi camp

300,000 Afghan refugees have returned home so far this year with UN help

29 July 2003
The United Nations refugee agency has helped more than 300,000 Afghans return home from Pakistan and Iran so far this year, but the rate is far below last year’s unprecedented flow, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today.
Afghan farmer preparing his field

Afghanistan set for biggest wheat crop in two decades – UN agency

24 July 2003
Afghanistan, where 85 per cent of the population depends on agriculture and chronic under-nutrition remains a major problem, is about to harvest its biggest wheat crop in two decades due in part to help from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the agency said today.
UNHCR worker supervises transfer

UN refugee agency closes makeshift camp along Pakistani-Afghan border

22 July 2003
The wait is finally over for thousands of Afghans stranded for the past 18 months – a makeshift camp on the Pakistani-Afghan border was closed today after the United Nations refugee agency moved the last remaining residents to a new settlement inside Afghanistan.

UN resumes full de-mining activities in Afghanistan

17 July 2003
Thanks to a new technology, all de-mining work has resumed along the Kabul to Kandahar road, one of Afghanistan’s most important routes for commerce and relief aid, and is proceeding at a fast pace after a nearly two-month long suspension following a rash of attacks, the United Nations said today.
Kunio Waki & others inside X-ray room

UN agency helps refurbish Afghan maternity hospital

15 July 2003
Although Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, mothers and infants in north-west Kabul now have a far better chance of surviving childbirth following the inauguration of a modern hospital rebuilt and refurbished with support from the Government of Italy and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).