News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

KABUL - The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) registered a 16 per cent rise in the number of Afghan civilians killed or wounded during the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year, a senior UNAMA official told a news conference in the eastern…

KABUL - I wish to congratulate Afghanistan’s cricket team for securing a place in the 2015 World Cup – for the first time ever – following a victory against Kenya in a qualifying match today. As was the national soccer team’s recent South Asian Football Federation Championship trophy, this cricket…

KABUL - The second International Afghanistan Human Rights Film Festival officially opened in the capital, Kabul, yesterday, with the screening of ‘Wajma’ – a feature film which Afghanistan has submitted for competition in the Best Foreign Language Film category at next year’s Academy Awards. “In…

BALKH - Work on a railroad between the Kaldar district of Balkh province and Tajikistan would be launched in the next six months. The Minister for Public Works, Najibullah Awzhan told a press conference in Mazar-i-Sharif that the 75-kilometer railway line would be constructed at a cost of 200…

KABUL - Addressing a seminar in the western Afghan city of Herat, a senior United Nations official stressed that a key principal for the international community’s approach on the country’s Presidential election in 2014 is that they be “Afghan-led and -owned.” The Secretary-General’s Deputy Special…

GARDEZ - The particular needs of female prisoners in the south-eastern Afghan city of Gardez are being better-addressed following the United Nations-facilitated completion of a new female wing of the city prison – previously, the prisoners had been locked up in a metal shipping container. “The newly…

KABUL - Marking World Habitat Day today, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has called for making cities and towns more accessible. "People need to be able to get to work, school, hospitals and places of recreation safely and quickly. Getting mobility right can regenerate urban…

PAKTYA - The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) office in the southeastern region has noted that the incidents of violence against women has increased in Paktya, Paktika and Khost provinces.The head of AIHRC, Noor Ahmad Shamim said that so far 99 cases of violence against women…

KABUL - On his first visit to Afghanistan, a senior official with the United Nations agency dealing with gender equality and the empowerment of women emphasized the need for greater political and economic empowerment of Afghan women as well as the safeguarding of progress made over the last 12 years…

BALKH - An agreement on oil and gas extraction from the Afghan-Tajik basin in northeastern Afghanistan was signed on Tuesday with three companies, which would invest 12 billion US dollars in the energy-starved country.A Ministry of Mining official, Jalil Ahmad, told media representatives at the…

NEW YORK - On the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, is calling for greater collaboration in efforts to invest in education so that girls can advance in their personal development and contribute to the world’s common future…

KABUL - The second International Afghanistan Human Rights Film Festival ended in the capital, Kabul, today, with an awards ceremony recognizing the best films screened over the past six daysIn the national category, a short film entitled ‘The Last President,’ directed by a young Afghan filmmaker…