Four years after Taliban fighters retook the capital Kabul on 15 August 2021, gender equality agency UN Women is warning that the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan is increasingly untenable. And without urgent action, this untenable reality will become normalised and women and girls will be fully...
Uganda has a progressive refugee policy which enables refugees to work and access public services. This coupled with its geographic proximity to crises has made it the continent’s largest refugee-hosting country. “Emergency funding runs out in September. More children will die of malnutrition, more girls will fall victim to sexual...
Briefing the Security Council on Thursday, Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, said the OIC remains an “indispensable” partner in efforts to promote peace, uphold international law and deliver durable political solutions in a range of crisis contexts. Headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the OIC has 57 member...
Roza Otunbayeva, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said the ongoing missile attacks between Iran and Israel are already having a tangible impact. “This conflict is already having an effect in Afghanistan, disrupting trade and increasing the prices of basic goods and...
The mission continued to receive reports that Afghan women are being denied the opportunity to join the workforce, are unable to access services without a male relative while girls are still deprived of their right to education. Since the Taliban took over the country from the democratically-elected Government in August...
Unanimously adopting resolution 2777 (2025), the 15-member council stressed the “critical importance” of a continued presence of UNAMA and other UN agencies across Afghanistan. The council also expressed appreciation for the UN’s long-term commitment to the country and its people, reiterating its full support for UNAMA and the Special Representative...
One kilogramme of opium cost $750 last year, up from $75 just three years ago, compensating sellers for the loss in overall production and poppy fields, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). “Heroin and opium seizures are down about 50 per cent in weight since 2021,”...
Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, warned that political engagement with the Taliban has yielded little progress, while frustration among international stakeholders is growing. “The space for engagement is narrowing,” she said, adding that some governments now question whether dialogue with the...
On Thursday, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants for two senior Taliban officials: Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani. They are accused of crimes against humanity on the grounds of gender-based persecution under the Rome Statute of the court, which sets out...
The Mission has called for an investigation to “ensure accountability, prevent recurrence and uphold victims’ rights”, noting that international law obliges military forces to take necessary precautions to prevent civilian harm, including distinguishing between civilians and combatants in operations. The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, also expressed concern over reports that...
The Mapping of Facilities for Treatment of Substance Use Disorders in Afghanistan report, conducted in collaboration with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), is the first comprehensive survey of the country’s treatment capacity. While services are operational in 32 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, systemic barriers – especially for women – severely...
The latest incident comes amid growing international concern over the use of capital punishment in the country since 2021, when the Taliban swept back into power 20 years on from the allied invasion that ended their rule, in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States....
