News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

WASHINGTON - The World Bank today approved an additional grant of US$12.5 million from the International Development Association (IDA), its concessional lending arm, to finance the continuation of a project to provide safety nets to the country’s poorest people and improve the public pension schemes…

KHOST - Schools should not be used as polling stations during the upcoming provincial council and presidential elections, Khost Provincial Governor Abdul Jabar Naeemi, said in a school inauguration ceremony on Tuesday. Although upcoming elections are vital, schools and education institutions will…

KABUL - United Nations staff in Afghanistan are mourning the loss of one of their colleagues, Barbara De Anna, who died yesterday at a hospital in Germany from injuries sustained during the attack on 24 May on the compound of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Kabul. Ms. De Anna…

BAMYAN - Two villages with a large number of returnee families on the eastern fringes of Band-i-Amir Lake in central Afghanistan’s Bamyan province are benefitting from stepped-up assistance provided by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The UN refugee agency is…

KABUL - Sustainable and equitable management of Afghanistan’s vast natural resources can contribute to peace-building in the conflict-affected country, but it also can trigger and fuel conflict unless managed properly, according to a United Nations report released today in the Afghan capital, Kabul…

KANDAHAR - A United Nations-supported three-day exhibition of handicraft items – made by widows and other disadvantaged women – kicked off today in southern Afghan province of Kandahar. On display at the exhibition – supported by the Afghanistan Sub-national Governance Programme of the UN…

KABUL - National and international police officials and experts today exchanged knowledge on community policing in Afghanistan, including on ways to build trust and confidence between police and local communities, at a United Nations-supported conference on Police-e-Mardumi (‘community policing’) in…

NEW YORK - Marking the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the world body’s Member States to step up efforts to assist all those who have suffered from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment…

KABUL - Local and international officials and experts highlighted the importance of protecting Afghanistan’s rich cultural heritage for peace-building in the conflict-affected country, at a United Nations-supported conference in the capital, Kabul, on Wednesday. At the conference, ‘Ghazni Through…

GENEVA - The United Nations human rights chief has warned that recent appointments to Afghanistan's top human rights body compromise its independence and effectiveness and undermine its high standing with the public and international partners, and has called on the Afghan Government to review the…

KABUL - The Government of Pakistan has agreed not to expel Afghan refugees who had permission to stay in the country until today, with the governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan also agreeing, at a recent United Nations-backed meeting, to continue their efforts in finding solutions to the…

GHAZNI - Work has been started on construction of an airport in south-eastern Afghan province of Ghazni. The construction of the region’s first airport is scheduled to be completed in a year. Speaking at a ceremony organized to mark the start of the construction, the provincial Deputy Governor of…