News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

KABUL - Harmful traditional practices that violate the human rights of women and girls are pervasive in Afghanistan, occurring in varying degrees in all communities throughout the country, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report released today. English Press…

Human rights are the foundation of freedom, peace, development and justice -- and the heart of the work of the United Nations around the world. Dari - Pashto version Laws to protect and promote human rights are indispensable. But quite often, progress comes down to people… courageous women and men…

12 December 2010 - On Saturday 11 December, on the outskirts of Kabul, Minister of Education, Farooq Wardak and Japan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Shigeyuki Hiroki, inaugurated the newly-constructed Mohamed Mussa Shafiq high school for boys and girls. This school, which has 30 classrooms and will…

KHOST- Government officials in Khost urged ulemas in the province to explain and educate the public in women’s rights, through the teachings and principles of Islam. This call by the director of women’s affairs took place at a function that was attended by officials, religious leaders, elders and…

14 December 2010 - The United Nations (UN) refugee agency, UNHCR, has built 200,000 houses across Afghanistan for returning refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) since 2002. This longstanding reintegration programme focuses on vulnerable returnee families identified by local communities…

KABUL - The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Staffan de Mistura learned with profound sadness of the sudden and untimely death of Richard Holbrooke. Ambassador Holbrooke has been a friend of the United Nations here in Afghanistan and a first-class diplomat. Ambassador Holbrooke's…

KHOST - As many as 1,500 development projects, benefiting more than 20,000 families, have been executed under the National Solidarity Programme (NSP) of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) in Khost province. Since 2003, NSP initiated in Khost, 27 types of 1,500 basic projects…

NEW YORK - There is an increasing sense that conditions for reconciliation in Afghanistan are becoming more favourable and that there may soon be a real opportunity for a political dialogue leading to a settlement, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in his latest report on the war-torn country. SG…

NEW YORK - The members of the Security Council heard a briefing today by the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, received an assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, including the recent election, and voiced full support for the Special…

In the face of increased successes by international forces and the national army in Afghanistan, the Taliban may attempt spectacular attacks in the coming weeks, the top United Nations envoy in the country warned today. “In other words, our sentiment is: before it gets better it may get worse,”…

BAMYAN - Today the UNAMA human rights team held a public meeting in the capital of the Central Highlands Region to share the results of its December 2010 report on violence against women, titled Harmful Traditional Practices. Around 30 people from Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, civil…

KANDAHAR - Daman district, Kandahar - Saffron has been introduced in this southern district in recent months in a pilot project aimed at exploring economic options for farmers as alternatives to poppy crops. The world’s most expensive spice by weight, saffron has been used as a seasoning, fragrance…