News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

KABUL - UN envoy Kai Eide on Wednesday welcomed Afghan Government plans to tie a proposed ‘surge’ of civilian international experts to the country’s most pressing rebuilding needs. Eide, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in…

KABUL - Violence against women, including rape, is widespread in Afghanistan, according to a new United Nations report, which details the extent of the problem against a backdrop of impunity and a failure by authorities to protect women’s rights. “This report paints a detailed and deeply disturbing…

KABUL - More than seven thousand Afghan artefacts which were stolen and smuggled out of the country have returned home over the past two years. In 2007, more than 6,000 artefacts looted from Afghanistan’s ancient sites were returned to Afghanistan. These include more than 4,000 artefacts from…

10 July 2009 - The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan launches a new radio programme this Saturday. . “Afghanistan Today” is a joint production of UNAMA’s press office and the national broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA). The new radio programme, which will be broadcast at…

KABUL - As the election date approaches, debate among the people of central Afghanistan to choose the next president is gaining pace. At lunch break in Bamyan, villagers gather at the local restaurants to talk about the upcoming elections on 20 August, discussing their selection for the best…

13 July 2009 - With elections a little more that one month away and a major military offensive underway, the current situation in Afghanistan is the most complex we have experienced for many years. دری - پشتو However, if managed well, it could also become a turning point in our efforts to bring the…

13 July 2009 - Nearly 400 students at a school in the eastern province of Nangarhar are learning their lessons with new laptop computers. The classes for students in grades four to six are now fully computerized with each student owning a laptop which they can take home to continue the lessons. A…

KABUL - The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has spoken out against the use of suicide bombings and other terrorist activities, which it says kills more civilians than any other military action. The reaction came after last Thursday’s bomb blast in Logar province which killed…

KABUL - It might not quite be in the league of Cannes or even Sundance, but Kabul's International Documentary and Short Film Festival is set to create a flutter among the city's cinema-lovers. Starting 18 July, organizers will screen more than 50 films from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, France…

KABUL - Bring us all your complaints about the electoral process directly – not through texts nor telephone calls. This was the advice given today by the Electoral Complains Commission (ECC) to the campaign managers and staffers of the 41 candidates running for president in Afghanistan’s 20 August…

16 July 2009 - With the winter past, the spring rains over and the hot summer upon Afghanistan parts of the country become truly green again. In the north the Green Afghanistan Initiative (GAIN) has been implementing programmes in the provinces of Faryab, Maimana, Jawzjan, Sar-i-Pul and Balkh to…

KABUL - The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Peace Dividend Trust today met with procurement officials from the international community and, again, urged them to buy locally-produced products to boost Afghanistan's growing private sector economy. Today's session…