News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

KABUL - In an exclusive interview for UNAMA, the head of Afghanistan’s environmental agency calls for more trees to be planted in the country. In May 2005 President Hamid Karzai issued a special executive presidential order creating the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), an independent…

16 May 2009 - The district of Surkh-e-Parsa lies at the upper end of the Ghorband Valley, not far from where the road begins to climb the bare hills to the Shibar Pass. Three green valleys converge at the district centre of Lolinj. The local people grow wheat and tend their fruit trees, but they…

16 May 2009 - As UNAMA's latest Afghan Update Magazine on the environment is published, the work of the United Nations Environment Programme in Afghanistan is highlighted. The work of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Afghanistan started in 2002 with the undertaking of a detailed…

BAMYAN - Five years ago, in the central province of Bamyan in Afghanistan, one woman walked into a police station to join up. At a time when women were scared of even walking in front of police stations, Nahida Reza, 26, took this brave step; now there are 14 more policewomen in Bamyan. Detective…

18 May 2009 - Afghanistan has joined other countries worldwide to take precautions against Influenza A (H1N1). So far no cases of the new influenza have been detected in Afghanistan, but in the meantime an emergency centre has been established, surveillance teams are monitoring any potential cases…

18 May 2009 - The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has joined the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in calling for safe humanitarian access to reach 500 needy families in western Farah province. A spokesperson for UNAMA told reporters in Kabul today that a convoy…

KABUL - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has assisted more than one million six hundred thousand people across the country with nearly 19,000 tons of food in the month of April alone. More than 500,000 Afghans received nearly 9,000 tons of food through WFP’s food for work projects…

KABUL - Travelling from Jalalabad to Torkham on the border with Pakistan, you pass the district of Mohmand Dara. In the past this district of the eastern province of Nangarhar was known for poppy cultivation and the number of illegal armed groups. But today the image is one of peace and security…

21 May 2009 - Takhar province is one of the most populated provinces in the north east of Afghanistan with 16 districts and a long river border with Tajikistan. During the Soviet invasion and Taliban regime Takhar was one of the most war-affected provinces with its strategic location and centre of…

KABUL - The UN’s Mission in Afghanistan is set to increase its number of offices across the country this year. With two recent office openings in the southern province of Uruzgan and the northern province of Sar-i-Pul, the Mission is expecting to open another three offices. In March 2009 the UN…

24 May 2009 - A UN programme is reaching out to isolated areas of Afghanistan to encourage young people to study and then to seek employment. The UN-HABITAT Youth Empowerment Project encourages students through a variety of courses such as English and computer classes. One example is the story of 22…

25 May 2009 - Floods and landslides in the five northern provinces of Faryab, Jawzjan, Balkh, Samangan and Sari-i-Pul have caused widespread destruction and casualties. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan (UNOCHA), floods caused by…