On Thursday, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) spokesperson Liz Throssell revealed that in its latest act of disempowerment, de facto authorities have told women civil servants prohibited from working that despite qualifications or experience, their salaries will now be cut to the lowest level. The Taliban overtook Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, in August 2021,…
Key international actors, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan, have used terms such as “gender apartheid” to describe the high levels of discrimination. “Gender apartheid is not merely a theoretical possibility or legal construct, but a real threat and lived reality for millions of women and girls around the…
Jeremy Laurence described how on 4 June, a group of 63 men and women were publicly subjected to mass flogging at a sports ground in the city of Sar-e-pul for a range of alleged crimes including “running away from home” and “moral crimes”. Close to 50 men and 15 women were reportedly lashed between 15…
Afghanistan’s most recent floods killed about 350 people, including dozens of children, and damaged more than 7,800 homes leaving over 5,000 families displaced. UNICEF has since provided safe water, hygiene kits with soap, toothbrushes and more to communities in Afghanistan. The children’s fund also organised hygiene sessions to teach civilians about handwashing and safe water storage…
Afghanistan is “not a hopeless crisis,” Edem Wosornu of the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, told journalists in New York, following a recent visit to the country, Pakistan and war-wracked Sudan. Ms. Wosornu was part of an all-woman delegation in Afghanistan, where the climate crisis has caused widespread water scarcity, generating new food, health, and…
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that as erratic weather on the back of the worsening climate crisis “becomes the norm”, things will only get worse. This month’s unusually high rainfall followed a dry winter, rendering the ground too hard to absorb water, leading to massive flooding. Unseasonably warm temperatures further complicated the situation…
Flash floods in the area have reportedly killed at least 300 people, including 51 children, with many more injured, with these figures expected to increase as additional reports come in, according to UN agencies. UN chief António Guterres expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. “The United Nations and its partners in Afghanistan…
Released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday, Listening to Women Entrepreneurs in Afghanistan, Their Struggle and Resilience, analyzes data collected over the last three years, providing one of the most detailed views into the changing circumstances of women entrepreneurs in the country. “Women entrepreneurs have demonstrated incredible grit, boldness, and resourcefulness under the…
“We are appalled by the public executions of three people at sports stadiums in Afghanistan in the past week, said OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence in a statement. “Public executions are a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” he said. “Such executions are also arbitrary in nature and contrary to the right to life…
Speaking to journalists during a two-day meeting with regional and national special envoys for Afghanistan, António Guterres said that there was consensus among delegates over what needs to happen, although the Taliban are not taking part. “We want an Afghanistan in peace, peace with itself and peace with its neighbours and able to assume the…
