The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) announced that the United States has spent over $14 billion in the past three years on relocating and resettling Afghans in the U.S.
The Washington Times reported on Sunday, November 10, that this $14 billion was allocated to evacuation flights and resettlement programs for Afghan refugees in the United States.
According to the report, since the Taliban regained control on August 2021, the U.S. has not only spent billions on evacuation and resettlement but also sent over $3 billion to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
John Sopko, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, told the newspaper that “the United States remains the largest donor to the Afghan people.”
Sopko noted that while Afghanistan continues to need humanitarian aid, what he described as “harassment of aid groups” has led to the shutdown of over 80 humanitarian operations in the country.
The U.S. continues to play a major role in supporting Afghan refugees and providing humanitarian assistance, even as challenges persist within Afghanistan under Taliban control.
Ongoing obstacles in delivering aid to Afghanistan highlight the complex relationship between the U.S. and the Taliban, raising concerns over the sustainability of humanitarian efforts in the region.
US spends over $14 billion on Afghan evacuation and resettlement: SIGAR
The Mine Clearance Organization recently announced that over 65 square kilometers of land in Afghanistan is contaminated with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The organization has called on the global community to increase political and financial support for clearing these devices from Afghanistan’s lands.
According to the Mine Clearance Organization, more than 65 square kilometers across 26 provinces in Afghanistan are currently affected by IEDs.
This announcement was made on Monday, November 11, through a report highlighting a 10% decrease in the number of anti-personnel mines cleared in contaminated areas.
The report states, “Sixty countries and various regions worldwide are contaminated by mines. The HALO Trust operates in one-third of these countries, including four heavily contaminated ones: Afghanistan with 2,235 de-miners, Cambodia with 1,191 staff, Iraq with 83 staff, and Ukraine with 1,376 staff.”
Afghanistan is among the countries with the highest contamination levels from landmines and unexploded ordnance left over from past conflicts. These explosive remnants are the second leading cause of civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
The urgency for mine clearance in Afghanistan cannot be overstated, given the severe impact on civilian safety and the hindrance to development in affected areas.
Increased international support is essential for accelerating demining efforts, saving lives, and fostering a safer environment for communities in Afghanistan.
Furthermore, addressing the mine contamination issue is critical not only for Afghanistan’s security but also for the stability and rebuilding efforts in the broader region.
Mine Clearance Organization warns of IED contamination in Afghanistan
Under this program, health, education, and cash assistance for heating homes in winter will be provided to 18,000 families.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has announced the formation of a task force to assess drought conditions in Afghanistan.
During a meeting with the acting director of the National Disaster Management Authority, the UN delegation stated that if signs of drought are identified by this team, $10 million will be allocated to manage the situation.
This task force includes the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Organization for Migration, UNICEF, and the Red Cross Federation.
“OCHA has set up a team which, if it encounters or confirms signs of drought in Afghanistan, will spend $10 million to provide improved seeds for farmers and livestock in Afghanistan,” said Janan Saiq, spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
Meanwhile, Save the Children has announced a shortfall of $4.2 million to implement its winter assistance program in Afghanistan.
Under this program, health, education, and cash assistance for heating homes in winter will be provided to 18,000 families.
Sayed Farooq, a Kabul resident, said, “I earn 80 to 100 afghani a day. How can I live with eight family members? If I buy flour, I can’t afford oil; if I buy oil, what about flour? Should I pay rent or buy food?”
“We earn 100 afghani a day. If we buy food, it’s not enough, and if we spend on other needs, food runs short. We ask the government to support us,” said Another Kabul resident, Mohammad Agha.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Economy announced that the country has been affected by recent droughts and floods and needs global cooperation to address these issues.
“We seek cooperation in public welfare and infrastructure sectors as we need roads, bridges, and schools to be built, and we need to prevent the destruction of agricultural lands,” said Abdul Rahman Habib, spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy.
Previously, the World Food Program and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported an increase in food insecurity in 22 countries, including Afghanistan. According to the joint report, conflicts, climate crises, and economic pressures will put millions of people in critical conditions in the coming months.
Special Team Formed to Assess Drought in Afghanistan: OCHA
Shaheen emphasized that the interim government is ready for positive engagement with all countries, including the United States.
The head of the Islamic Emirate’s political office in Qatar, Suhail Shaheen, told a Japanese media outlet that Afghanistan’s interim government is hopeful for strengthened ties between Kabul and Washington.
Shaheen referred to the Doha Agreement, describing Donald Trump as a pragmatic figure who, he expects, would realistically address current challenges. He told the Japanese media, “It seems Mr. Trump is more pragmatic, and I think we need to be realistic in solution of issues.”
Shaheen emphasized that the interim government is ready for positive engagement with all countries, including the United States. “We are open to positive engagement with the world and also the United States,” he said.
Before the US presidential election, the Islamic Emirate urged the incoming president to adopt a realistic policy toward Afghanistan.
Political analyst Mohammad Aslam Danishmal told TOLOnews, “Trump is not very interested in continuing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, and he is more inclined to focus on countering China in the region.”
Sayed Akbar Sial Wardak, another political analyst, said: “The remaining provisions and annexes of the Doha Agreement, signed between the two parties, could be implemented through dialogue with the Islamic Emirate if Trump takes office.”
Previously, the White House had stated that if Afghanistan’s interim government seeks sanctions relief and international legitimacy, it must fulfill its commitments.
Shaheen: Trump Seems ‘More Pragmatic,’ Relations Should Be ‘Realistic’
The Radio Television Digital News Association decision to pull back the award follows a Washington Post report on warnings the filmmakers of “Retrograde” received about endangering Afghans.
A scene in Afghanistan from the 2022 documentary “Retrograde.” (National Geographic Documentary Films/Everett Collection)
The Radio Television Digital News Association on Friday rescinded its 2023 Edward R. Murrow Award to an acclaimed Afghanistan war documentary that has been criticized for allegedly endangering some of the Afghans who appear in the film.
The unprecedented decision to strip the prestigious journalism award from National Geographic for director Matthew Heineman’s “Retrograde” follows revelations in a Washington Post article earlier this year that filmmakers showed the faces of Afghan contractors who cleared mines for U.S. soldiers despite being warned by at least five active-duty and former U.S. military service members not to do so.
One of the Afghans, whose face is shown in close-up, was captured by the Taliban shortly after the film’s December 2022 release and died from wounds inflicted by torturers while he was being held, according to an interpreter and two others who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity to describe the sequence of events without imperiling themselves and their own families in Afghanistan.
Heineman and producer Caitlin McNally told The Post at the time that they had “no recollection” of warnings and that it would be “deeply wrong” to blame the film for the man’s death. After being contacted by The Post with questions about the film, National Geographic and its owner, Disney, removed “Retrograde” from streaming services.
National Geographic did not respond to a request for comment. Heineman and McNally referred a request for comment to Theodore Boutrous Jr., a First Amendment attorney who represents them and who has also represented journalism organizations, including The Post.
“The RTDNA says that it ‘conducted its own review … into the filmmaking process’ but you have to be deeply skeptical about the nature and thoroughness of that review, given that no one ever even contacted the filmmakers who produced ‘Retrograde’ in a manner fully consistent with long-standing journalistic values,” Boutrous said in an email Sunday. “The RTDNA’s action is inexplicable and irresponsible.”
Sheryl Worsley, chair of the RTDNA board of directors, disputed the assertion that Heineman was not contacted, saying in an email to The Post on Sunday that an “RTDNA staff person reached out to Mr. Heineman via email on June 10, 2024, as part of the review process. No response from Mr. Heineman as a result of this outreach was ever received.” The Post has reviewed the June email.
Worsley also said via email Sunday that “RTDNA did connect with National Geographic and other individuals associated with the filmmaking process during their review.” The email did not specify which individuals.
On its website, the news association says its board of directors “received background information” about “Retrograde” following publication of The Post’s article in May, but it does not go into detail. “This decision was not made lightly and occurred only after an RTDNA-led review into the procedures and practices associated with the filmmaking process,” Worsley said in an initial statement emailed Friday to the Post.
The RTDNA board did not explain its reasoning for taking back the honor, which was awarded to National Geographic in October 2023 in the network feature-length documentary category.
The Murrow awards require adherence to RTDNA’s code of ethics, which includes a section on “accountability for consequences.”
“Responsible reporting means considering the consequences of both the news gathering — even if the information is never made public — and of the material’s potential dissemination,” the ethics code states. “Certain stakeholders deserve special consideration; these include children, victims, vulnerable adults and others inexperienced with American media.”
RTDNA’s staff knows of no other instance of the organization rescinding an award on the basis of issues related to the reporting since it began handing them out in 1971, according to an email to The Post. In 2020, the New York Times voluntarily returned an award it had received for the narrative podcast series “Caliphate” after discovering discrepancies in its own reporting. The association also once rescinded an award on a technicality after learning the work had been submitted in the wrong category.
In April, National Geographic removed the documentary from all of its platforms, including the Hulu streaming service, after The Post sought comment on whether the documentary endangered its subjects. A spokesman for National Geographic, which produced the film under a joint agreement with Disney, said in a written statement that the company was acting in “an abundance of caution.”
According to The Post’s reporting, at least five people — three active-duty U.S. military personnel and two former Green Berets — warned the filmmakers before “Retrograde’s” December 2022 cable and streaming debuts that they could be putting Afghans who were hired to work with the U.S. military in danger by showing their faces in the documentary. At that time, there had already been hundreds of documented Taliban revenge killings of Afghans who worked for the U.S. military and their family members. Those issuing warnings considered the Afghans shown in the film to be in greater danger because of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 — about eight months after filming began in Helmand Province.
As many as eight Afghan contractors whose faces were shown in the film are still in the region and remain in peril, according to the 1208 Foundation, a charitable organization that specializes in evacuating Afghans who cleared mines for U.S. forces.
While The Post was preparing to publish a story on warnings received by the filmmakers, two congressmen — Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida), and retired Green Beret and Afghanistan war veteran Michael Waltz (R-Florida) — called the documentary “a de facto target list” in a letter to the State Department that asked for expedited handling of visas for the men depicted in the film.
In a statement, the film’s director and producer said: “The U.S. government’s precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan and the vengeful actions of the Taliban upon taking power — armed with detailed information identifying Afghans who worked with the U.S. government — led to the deaths of countless partners left behind. That is the tragic story that warrants attention. But any attempt to blame ‘Retrograde’ because the film showed faces of individuals in war zones — as has long been standard in ethical conflict reporting — would be deeply wrong.”
Military officials signed off on “Retrograde” before its release per its agreement with Heineman’s company, a fact that the director has pointed to in defending the decision to show the faces of the Afghans. According to The Post’s reporting, military officials interpreted the contract to say that they only had the right to ask for changes involving the depiction of U.S. forces. Still, they felt compelled to warn the filmmakers anyway.
“Concern about Afghan partners and faces being blurred was raised,” said Charlie Crail, the 10th Special Forces Group media officer assigned to the project. Crail recalled telling the filmmakers: “You guys need to do your due diligence before you release this movie to make sure as many of these guys are out [of Afghanistan] as possible.”
Clips of “Retrograde” — which went on to win three Emmys, for cinematography, editing and current affairs documentary, and the Murrow journalism award and was shortlisted for an Oscar — began circulating on TikTok in Afghanistan shortly after its National Geographic Channel and Hulu debuts. A spokesperson for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences — which awards the Emmys — said in a statement that the academy has “had no cause” to revoke the awards. Specifically addressing the current affairs category, the spokesperson said “Retrograde” “was consistent with” rules and policies in place as of the applicable competition year.”
One Afghan mine-clearer in “Retrograde,” whom the Green Berets had given the nickname “Justin Bieber,” was captured by the Taliban within weeks of the clips appearing on TikTok and died in April 2023 after undergoing surgeries to repair wounds he received while being tortured, according to an interpreter who spoke to him and agreed to be interviewed by The Post on the condition of anonymity to protect family members in the region.
The Post’s story about “Retrograde” prompted discussion in entertainment industry circles about the responsibilities of filmmakers in war zones.
“In making this film, did it not occur to anyone that it might be putting people in Afghanistan in danger?” Blair Foster, a producer of the Oscar-winning documentary “Taxi to the Dark Side,” told Variety. “Everyone is pointing the finger at each other. The military is pointing to Heineman, Heineman is pointing to the military. Frankly, I think everyone is culpable.”
Hope Hodge Seck and Alice Crites contributed to this report.
Murrow Award rescinded for acclaimed ‘Retrograde’ documentary
The Taliban regime is not recognised internationally. This makes it difficult for UN bodies to deal with this de facto government. Non-governmental organisations criticise the UN for making concessions to the Taliban at the expense of women.
In an email ahead of our scheduled interview, Nazifa Jalali said she was postponing our talk. “I have to deal with a case of stoning,” said the Afghan human rights activist. It was about a 17-year-old girl, she told us a few days later. The girl had been raped by her brother, who was also a Taliban commander. The Taliban in that province in the centre of Afghanistan had decided to stone the girl and not the brother.
The task now was to mobilise local figures, including tribal elders, to negotiate with the Taliban so that the girl could be taken elsewhere for her protection.
Jalali is a member of the Human Rights Defender HRD-Plus network and documents human rights violations in Afghanistan. She currently lives in Norway. She also took part in the autumn session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Jalali criticises that the international community has only written reports in the three years since the Taliban took power, rather than acted proactively to hold the Taliban to account. In doing so, it has weakened women in Afghanistan, she says.
In those three years, the Taliban have issued over 80 decrees and directives restricting the rights of women and girls. For example, girls are not allowed to attend secondary school and women are practically not allowed to work; they cannot stay in parks or, more recently, speak in public.
The Taliban are not recognised internationally, above all because they deny girls and women their basic and educational rights. This makes political contact between the UN and the de facto government more difficult.
No women at the negotiating table
At the end of June, representatives of the Taliban government took part for the first time in a meeting organised by the UN in Doha with diplomats from 25 countries and international organisations. They were hoping for international recognition.
However, women were excluded from this third meeting of the so-called Doha Process, which aims to address the challenges in Afghanistan. The UN officials said they had accepted the Taliban conditions of a conference without Afghan women in order not to jeopardise the dialogue.
The Taliban were not invited to the first meeting convened by the UN in May 2023. Although they were invited to the second meeting last February, they boycotted it because representatives of Afghan civil society, including women, also took part.
The meetings are supposed to remind the Taliban of its obligations under international law. In December 2023 the UN Security Council adopted a resolution (though without backing from Russia and China) stipulating that international recognition of the Taliban would be dependent on it honouring fundamental rights, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which Afghanistan is a party to.
‘No concessions without reforms’
Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, chaired the third meeting in Doha. She told the media afterwards that although women’s rights were not on the official agenda, participants raised the issue several times and emphasised the need for inclusive government during the two days of talks.
Discussions focused on the development of a private economic sector and supporting the Taliban in maintaining their success in the fight against drugs. Since the Taliban took power, opium cultivation has been reduced by around 90%.
However, DiCarlo ruled out recognising the de facto regime in Kabul until the Taliban lifts restrictions on women’s education and participation in public life.
She added that recognising Taliban rule was not the responsibility of the UN, but the decision of the individual countries. So far, no country has recognised the Taliban government, but 16 countries have an embassy in Afghanistan, including Japan, China and India.
The third round of talks in Doha ended without the Taliban making any promises of reform or receiving any concessions from the international community. The participating countries provisionally agreed to set up working groups on the topics of economic development, combating drugs and terrorism.
‘Too high a price’
Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan for the Human Rights Council in Geneva, described the exclusion of women as “too high a price to pay”. Afghan women’s and exile organisations as well as international human rights organisations also criticised the UN.
“The rights of women and girls in Afghanistan are non-negotiable,” said the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard, in a statement ahead of the conference.
“It makes me sad to talk about the third Doha conference knowing that women were excluded,” says Afghan human rights activist Fereshta Abbasi, who works for Human Rights Watch in the United Kingdom.
She is referring to UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which mandates the UN to ensure the participation of women at the negotiating table. This resolution from the year 2000 obliges UN member states to protect women’s rights and to include women on an equal footing in peace negotiations, conflict resolution and reconstruction.
Nazifa Jalali said that after the third conference in Doha, without women at the negotiating table, the people of Afghanistan had completely lost hope in the international community. “The consequence of this meeting is that the Taliban can continue to commit their crimes in the knowledge that they will not be prosecuted,” she said.
Gender apartheid
UN rapporteur Bennett and other UN bodies have described the human rights situation of women and girls in Afghanistan as institutionalised gender apartheid. Gender-based persecution is currently recognised as a crime against humanity.
Afghan and international human rights organisations are calling for the term gender apartheid to be included in the UN General Assembly’s ongoing negotiations on a new convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity. Some Western diplomats are reluctant to use the term because it is reminiscent of the former racial segregation in South Africa and because of the strict sanctions imposed on the apartheid regime.
Former UN ambassadors
Because the Taliban government is not yet recognised internationally, Afghanistan is still represented by its pre-Taliban ambassador at the UN in Geneva, Nasir Ahmad Andisha. He represented his country this year at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Afghanistan’s human rights situation, during which Afghanistan received 243 recommendations from the UN states to improve its human rights situation.
Afghanistan, or rather Ambassador Andisha’s Afghan delegation, accepted 215 of these, including the end of corporal punishment such as flogging and the lifting of draconian restrictions on education and employment for girls and women. The UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is responsible for following up on the implementation by the Taliban authorities of the UPR recommendations.
In October, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva extended the mandate of rapporteur Bennett by one year. However, the NGO demand for a supplementary body to gather evidence of human rights violations with the aim of bringing the perpetrators to justice was not included in the Council’s resolution.
The girl threatened with stoning is still in prison.
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — For the first time since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Afghanistan on Monday sent a delegation to the United Nations climate talks in a bid to garner help in dealing with global warming.
Matuil Haq Khalis, who’s head of the country’s environment protection agency, told The Associated Press that Afghanistan needs international support to deal with extreme weather like erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts and flash floods.
“All the countries must join hands and tackle the problem of climate change,” said Khalis, speaking through a translator at the talks, taking place this year in Baku, Azerbaijan.
In March, northern Afghanistan experienced heavy rains resulting in flash floods, killing over 300 people. Climate scientists have found that extreme rainfall has gotten 25% heavier over the last 40 years in the country.
ADVERTISEMENT
Khalis said Afghanistan has prepared national action plans to deal with climate change and will be updating its climate goals within the next few months. He said the country has great potential for wind and solar power but needs international to develop it.
Joanna Depledge, a climate historian at the University of Cambridge in England, said Afghanistan should be able to attend.
“By virtue of being a global forum, there are a whole host of politically unsavoury states with all kinds of appalling records of one sort or another that attend. Where would we draw the line?” she said.
Responding to a question about the U.N. assessment that women are more vulnerable than men to climate impacts, Khalis said that “climate change impact doesn’t have any boundaries, it can have its impact on women, children, men, plants or animals, so it requires collective work to tackle this issue.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Khalis said he has requested bilateral talks with a range of countries, including the United States and would be happy to sit down with them if the request is accepted.
“We were not part of the last three conferences … but we are happy that this time we are here and we will be able to deliver the message of Afghan people with the international community,” said Khalis.
___
Associated Press journalists Olivia Zhang, Peter Dejong, Aleksandar Furtula and Joshua A. Bickel contributed to this report.
Afghanistan attends U.N. climate talks for first time since Taliban return to power
He also asserted that the caretaker government has no issues with any country and supports peace and stability.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, has requested that the United Nations grant Afghanistan’s seat to the caretaker government.
In a meeting in Kabul, he discussed establishing relations with various countries and emphasized that the Islamic Emirate seeks positive relations with all nations, including the United States.
Stanikzai underscored that this seat belongs to the Afghan people, stating: “The Islamic Emirate is ready to cooperate with all nations on every matter. May God bring conditions that allow Afghanistan to secure its seat, whether at the UN or any other forum, to voice the people’s concerns and put an end to this adversity.”
He also asserted that the caretaker government has no issues with any country and supports peace and stability.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs said: “The Islamic Emirate wants friendly relations with the world, including regional, beyond the region, and global powers like Russia, China, and the US. You’ve heard that we have always conveyed to major powers that Afghanistan does not wish to be in conflict or opposition with any country.”
“Recently, in addition to Eastern countries that have maintained close ties with us over the past three years, European countries have also shown an interest in fostering positive relations with the Islamic Emirate,” Salim Paigir, a political analyst, told TOLOnews.
Since the Islamic Emirate returned to power, no country has yet recognized the caretaker government. However, currently, some countries maintain positive relations and engage constructively with the Islamic Emirate.
The question now is how beneficial Afghanistan’s participation in this summit could be in attracting aid to combat climate change.
A delegation from the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), headed by the agency’s general director, has departed for Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
The president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS), Matiul Haq Khalis, stated that the purpose of this trip is to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 29) and to convey to the world the message of Afghanistan’s climate-induced damages and the challenges the country faces.
The president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, said: “Since the establishment of the Islamic Emirate, this is the first time we have been invited to such a conference. We aim to share the extent of Afghanistan’s climate impacts and related challenges in various formats during this conference. This is an opportunity to strengthen our relations.”
The question now is how beneficial Afghanistan’s participation in this summit could be in attracting aid to combat climate change.
Mohammad Dawood Shirzad, a professor at Kabul University’s Faculty of Environmental Science, stated: “They should request the reactivation of stalled projects; this participation is not without value and can be effective in reactivating more than thirty environmental projects.”
“The presence of an Afghan representative, as a vulnerable country, is critical and can be beneficial in attracting financial and technical assistance,” said Sayed Mohammad Sulaiman Khil, an environmental expert.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 29) is scheduled to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to November 22, with the participation of representatives from 198 countries, UN Convention on Climate Change members, leaders of some countries, the private sector, bilateral and multilateral financial institutions, civil society, and the media.
Islamic Emirate Delegates Travels to Azerbaijan to Attend COP29
The World Food Program (WFP) reports that earning opportunities for women in Afghanistan have become increasingly difficult over time.
Due to the restrictions imposed by the Taliban, women have been banned from many jobs and barred from working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or receiving education beyond the sixth grade for the past three years.
On Friday, November 8, the WFP released a video that highlights the hardships Afghan women face in earning an income.
The video features a woman who, along with her sisters, has started a home-based bakery to support her family and provides bread to 2,000 children attending schools supported by the WFP.
The ban on employment and exclusion from education has placed immense economic pressure on Afghan families. Women are struggling with multiple challenges as they try to make ends meet in a country where opportunities for them are severely limited.
The increasing marginalization of women in Afghanistan is contributing to a dire humanitarian crisis. With their access to education and employment restricted, many women are forced into vulnerable positions.
The WFP’s video highlights not only the resilience of Afghan women but also the severe limitations placed upon them as they fight for survival.
As women are forced into a corner by the Taliban’s policies, issues like forced and underage marriage have become more prevalent. Families, struggling with poverty and the lack of opportunities, may see marriage as a way to alleviate economic hardship, further undermining the rights and future prospects of young girls in Afghanistan.
The ongoing violation of women’s rights in Afghanistan amid a dire economic and humanitarian crisis continues to deepen the country’s gender inequality. With no immediate prospects for change, the situation for women in Afghanistan remains bleak, as they face systematic exclusion and growing poverty, while the international community’s support for their rights and welfare remains critical.
UN concerned about growing hardships for women in Afghanistan
Afghanistan Peace Campaign
