News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

NEW YORK - Violent extremism is a direct assault on the United Nations Charter and a grave threat to international peace and security. Terrorist groups such as Daesh, Boko Haram and others have brazenly kidnapped young girls, systematically denied women’s rights, destroyed cultural institutions…

KABUL - The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemns the suicide attack against media workers in Kabul yesterday that killed eight and injured 24 civilians, many of them from the media sector. The casualties included women and children. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast…

NEW YORK - The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Kabul on 20 January, against a minibus transporting workers of a local media organization, for which the Taliban has claimed responsibility. The attack resulted in at least seven deaths as well as…

HERAT - Raising awareness about women’s rights and eliminating violence against women is the focus of a joint UN-Afghanistan outreach initiative which will run during 2016 in the western province of Herat. A number of UN agencies in Herat, including UNAMA, are working with the local Department of…

KABUL - To meet the acute life-saving needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized Afghans during 2016, the humanitarian community is appealing for $393 million in funding, which will reach an estimated 3.5 million people. At a press conference in Kabul today, which included Chief Executive…

KABUL - Afghan senior editors and media professionals are critically concerned about the future of freedom of expression in Afghanistan due to heightened intimidation and attacks directed at media workers. At a consultative meeting with senior editors and media professionals in Kabul yesterday…

KANDAHAR - Around 40 school children received an introduction to the principles of human rights during visits last week to UNAMA’s office in the southern province of Khandahar. Organized by UNAMA’s local Human Rights section, girls and boys between the ages of 10-13 years made two separate visits of…

LAGHMAN - Women in Laghman and Nangarhar provinces in eastern Afghanistan have come together at UNAMA-backed meetings to discuss ways they can participate more effectively in elections, the peace process and local governance. More than two dozen women from eight villages in the Qarghayi district of…

HERAT - The international community is committed to supporting Herat throughout 2016, said UN officials and others gathered at the International Stakeholders’ Forum this week in Afghanistan’s western province. Khalil Osman, head of UNAMA’s Herat office, and the Province's Governor, Mohammad Asif…

KANDAHAR - Civil society organizations and provincial anti-graft officials met at a UNAMA-backed event to form a new Anti-Corruption Group to tackle corruption in Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar. Some three dozen representatives from local government and civil society organizations…

KABUL - To prevent and respond to child recruitment and use in the National Security Forces, and to improve age-verification mechanisms, the Government of Afghanistan officially launched age assessment guidelines at a high-level meeting in Kabul. Prepared by experts, practitioners, and government…

JALALABAD - Provincial authorities met with UN officials in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Laghman at a UNAMA-backed meeting to identify development projects for the year ahead. Abdul Jabar Naeemi, Laghman’s Governor, spoke at the meeting about his province’s plans for 2016, noting that, while…