News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

KANDAHAR - Noted religious scholars from southern provinces of Afghanistan have called on the international community to mount pressure on Afghanistan’s “neighbours” to end their support to the armed insurgents fighting in Afghanistan. The Ulema (religious scholars) came together at a Regional Ulema…

KUNAR - The Eastern Regional Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) donated electronic equipment and furniture to a newly established public information centre at the Kunar Provincial Council (PC). Council Chair Haji Mia Hasan Adil and UNAMA Head of the regional…

NEWYORK - The Security Council today extended the authorization of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan for another year, welcoming the agreement between the country and troop-contributing States to gradually transfer key security responsibilities to the Afghan…

NEWYORK - The cultivation in Afghanistan of opium poppies – the crop used to make heroin and other drugs – has increased by seven per cent this year because of continued insecurity and higher prices, a United Nations-backed survey reveals today. UN News Centre Cultivation reached 131,000 hectares…

BAMYAN - Afghanistan’s only Olympian athlete today urged Bamyan youth to keep playing for peace during the final match of the month-long Bamyan Peace Day Football Tournament. Taekwondo champion Rohullah Nikpa, who also served as an ambassador for the tournament, told the Peace Day crowd in Bamyan’s…

KABUL - This year’s International Day of Rural Women falls at a time of heightened awareness of the important contribution women are making to social progress. Women have been rightly recognized for their role in supporting movements for democracy, human rights and peace. Their contribution to…

KABUL - For decades the United Nations has worked to free people from poverty. We have made great progress — but today those gains are in doubt. Too many people are living in fear: Fear of losing their jobs; Fear of not being able to feed their families; Fear of being trapped forever in poverty…

KABUL - With winter approaching, the top Afghan agricultural official said more than the usual 30 per cent of the population is expected to fall under the poverty line due to a poor harvest spurred by dry conditions, rising food prices and instability. “Afghanistan harvested 28 per cent less than…

KABUL - An apple from Paradise is an award winning film on the frantic search of a beleaguered father to find his son, who is a madressa student and has been tasked by his masters to commit a suicide attack against the enemies of religion. Homayon Morowat, a 46 year old Afghan filmmaker, took the…

KUNDUZ - An ancient regional type of wrestling and body building is being revised in northern Afghanistan, where the Kunduz Zurkhaneh Sports Federation was established with support from the Afghan Olympic Committee. “Zurkhaneh is an ancient sport of our nations. Now it became as an international…

NEW YORK - Days from now, the human family will welcome its seven billionth member. Some say our planet is too crowded. I say we are seven billion strong. The world has made remarkable progress since the United Nations was born 66 years ago today. We are living longer. More of our children survive…

MAZAR - More than 300 people in Mazar-i-Sharif came out to hear what their government is doing for them. They sat in two long tables facing each other, government officials on one side, provincial council members representing local residents on the other. District representatives, local elders…