News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

KHOST - Provincial authorities have reported a decrease in wheat production in Khost province during the current year. A Manager of the provincial agriculture department, Noor Shahbaz, said that the yield fell due to heavy rainfall that caused the rust disease to the crops while the imported seeds…

BALKH - A United Nations-supported vocational training and literacy programme has been launched for inmates of the central jail in northern Balkh province. According to the commander of the prison, Colonel Abdullah Azizi, around 140 detainees, including 60 women, learn dressmaking and embroidery and…

KABUL - At the end of a five-day visit to Afghanistan which included a range of high-level meetings and a field trip, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, reaffirmed the commitment of the world body to the country’s future as it undergoes its political and security transition…

KABUL - Below is the near-verbatim transcript of a press conference by the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Jan Eliasson, just before wrapping up his visit to Afghanistan. Jan Eliasson: Thank you very much. Good morning. I am Jan Eliasson. I am the Deputy Secretary-General of the…

KABUL - The first decade of the 21st century was the warmest in the world since modern measurements began around 1850, and 2010 was the hottest year ever recorded, with far-reaching implications for our environment, according to a United Nations report released on Wednesday. The report, 'The Global…

KABUL - An Afghan Government project launched two years ago seeking to address the country’s “highly bureaucratic, time consuming and expensive business licensing regime” has reduced administrative burdens and opportunities for corruption, said a minister in the capital, Kabul, today. “We are happy…

KABUL - As Afghanistan prepares to mark the holy month of Ramadan, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate its people and Government and wish them peace and happiness throughout the coming days. Afghanistan has endured more than three decades of violence and is undergoing a political…

KABUL - Extreme overcrowding, a lack of medical care and poor sanitation. These are just some of the challenges facing the Afghan corrections system, and which the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is helping the authorities to deal with. “Prisoners come to prison not to be…

KABUL - The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) strongly condemns the killing by a roadside bomb of at least 18 civilians – including eight women, eight children and two men – in the Obeh district of the western province of Herat. The explosion also seriously wounded six…

KABUL - The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) strongly condemns the killing by a roadside bomb of at least 18 civilians – including eight women, eight children and two men – in the Obeh district of the western province of Herat. The explosion also seriously wounded six…

KABUL - The Ghazni Governor asked the Taliban to shift their political office from Doha to the province, serving as the current capital of the Islamic civilization. Addressing a meeting of the Tribal Solidarity Council, Musa Khan Akbarzada said the insurgent movement should ponder over his proposal…

PAKTYA - Beekeepers in Paktya province have been able to increase honey production and maintain its “high quality because of easy access to a variety of juicy flowers,” but they lack access to foreign markets and face “a lukewarm response” from authorities. Ajmal Ahmadzai, who has been in the…