News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

KABUL - The situation for women in Afghanistan is very mixed. There’s a lot to point to institutionally in terms of what has been accomplished in the last five years. The National Action Plan for Women and the Afghanistan National Development Strategy contain specific provisions on gender equality…

KABUL - I welcome today’s statement by the Independent Election Commission reaffirming 20 August as the date of Afghanistan’s 2009 presidential and provincial council elections. This date will provide the time needed for the IEC with the support of the international community to make practical and…

NEW YORK - The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says the escalation of the conflict in Afghanistan has had a “significant impact on civilians.” Press Release: English - Dari - Pashto Ms. Navi Pillay presents her annual report on Afghanistan to the Human Rights Council in Geneva…

BALKH - For the first time ever a group of law students from Balkh University in Mazar-i-Sharif will compete in the internationally prestigious Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. “Jessup has linked law students of the third world with modern systems; now I can see the…

KABUL - President Hamid Karzai has kicked off a United Nations-backed polio vaccination drive targeting some 7.7 million children in Afghanistan, one of four countries, along with India, Nigeria and Pakistan, where the disease is still endemic. By administering the vaccine to children at the…

19 March 2009 - The remains of the former President of Afghanistan Mohammad Daoud Khan and 16 members of his family have been buried with full honours in Kabul. On 28 April 1978 Kabul woke up not even guessing what would happen for the next thirty years in the country. A coup had taken place. The…

19 March 2009 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will embark next week on a trip that will take him to Russia, Qatar, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Turkey to tackle issues such as consolidating stability in Afghanistan, the Middle East peace process and the current economic turmoil…

KABUL - International priorities in Afghanistan - including security, long-term institution-building and stability throughout the coming elections - remain valid, but what is lacking is adequate resources and political will, the top United Nations envoy to the strife-torn country said today. In a…

20 March 2009 - Mazar-i-Sharif is the iconic and popular host for the New Year celebrations in Afghanistan as it’s known as Umulbelad or Mother of Cities. Mazar, the capital of Balkh province, is popular because of the Shrine of Hazrat Ali (the Blue Mosque). Mazar-i-Sharif is the iconic and popular…

KABUL - The United Nations drug control agency has signed agreements with the Government of Iran to provide HIV prevention and care services to women and Afghan refugees there who are dependent on drugs. HIV programmes for such vulnerable groups represent “an often neglected and humanitarian side of…

KABUL - The Security Council today extended the United Nations presence in Afghanistan for another year, while recognizing the key role played by the world body in coordinating international efforts in the country and in supporting upcoming elections. Dari - Pashto In a unanimously adopted…

8 March 2009 - Seldom have I been as shocked and saddened than by what I saw recently in the eastern Congo. There, I met a young woman - a girl, really, just 18 years old. She told me this story. One day, toward the end of last year while working with other women in a field near her village of…