Afghanistan

Afghan female students participate in a theatre performance at a school in Herat, eastern Afghanistan (file)
UNAMA/Fraidoon Poya

First Person: The ‘bravery’ of Afghanistan's girls and women

22 September 2021
Women

Afghanistan’s girls and women are showing “bravery” in the face of real “fears and pressures” following the formation of the new, de facto authorities in Afghanistan,  according to a UNICEF member of staff, one of the few westerners to remain in Kabul.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (centre) speaks to hospital staff at the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan National Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.
WHO/Lindsay Mackenzie

Afghanistan’s healthcare system on brink of collapse, as hunger hits 95 per cent of families

22 September 2021
Humanitarian Aid

Afghanistan’s health system is on the brink of collapse, the head of the World Health Organisation, WHO, warned on Wednesday, while on the streets of Kabul, the hunger families are suffering is as acute in urban areas as the drought-stricken rural parts of the country. 

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, addresses the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

On Afghanistan, Qatar calls for separating aid from political differences

21 September 2021
UN Affairs

The international community must continue to support Afghanistan, the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, warning against potential boycott in the wake of the Taliban takeover.

Photo: UNAMA/Fardin Waezi
UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

Afghanistan: Security Council resolution calls for ‘equal and meaningful participation of women’  

17 September 2021
UN Affairs

The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Friday, specifying the importance of “equal and meaningful participation” of women in public life. 

Food is distributed by WFP in Herat in western Afghanistan in August 2021.
© WFP

First humanitarian flight to Kabul marks 'turning point' in crisis: WFP 

14 September 2021
Humanitarian Aid

The return of humanitarian flights to Kabul since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is a turning point in the crisis, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday. 

Upwards of 30,000 people live in this displacement site on the outskirts of Herat.
IOM

$1 billion pledge a ‘quantum leap’ in commitment to Afghanistan: UN chief

13 September 2021
Humanitarian Aid

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday hailed significant international financial support pledged to the people of Afghanistan following a meeting in Geneva, which nearly doubled the initial $606 million flash appeal for the country.

The UN continues to provide humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, despite the political upheaval.
© WFP/Arete/Andrew Quilty

Taliban response to protests increasingly violent, warns OHCHR

10 September 2021
Human Rights

Peaceful protesters in many parts of Afghanistan have been met with an increasingly violent response by the new Taliban authorities over the past four weeks, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday, including the use of live ammunition, batons and whips. 

A screen in an interpreter's booth shows Malala Yousafzai addressing the UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan, on 9 September, 2021.
UN Photo/Manuel Elías

Global community can still shape ‘new reality’ in Afghanistan

9 September 2021
Peace and Security

While the choices available in Afghanistan are “not comfortable” ones, continued international engagement and unwavering commitment to the country’s people can help steer the situation to its best possible outcome, the UN’s senior official in Kabul told the Security Council on Thursday.

An Afghan girl was injured when a school in Kabul’s district 13 came under attack. For Mary Robinson, “women’s rights are not Western rights”
© UNICEF Afghanistan

Security Council must not fail women, girls of Afghanistan, Elders warn 

7 September 2021
UN Affairs

The Security Council cannot fail the women and girls of Afghanistan, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson warned on Tuesday, as she reminded its 15 members of the relentless work carried out over nearly 20 years to secure their rights through constitutional, legislative and policy changes. 

A child at the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. Since 14 August, hundreds of children have been separated from their families
© UNICEF/Sayed Bidel

UN warns of 'urgent imperative' to avoid acute Afghan food insecurity

7 September 2021
Humanitarian Aid

With food aid running out, Afghanistan is facing the collapse of basic services, said UN agencies on Tuesday, releasing a flash appeal for more than $600 million to support around 11 million across the crisis-wracked country to the end of the year.