SIGAR added that Afghanistan’s assets in the Swiss-based Fund for the Afghan People had reached $3.84 billion dollars by June this year.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in its latest report that the international community has provided $7 billion dollars in aid to Afghanistan over the past nearly three years.
SIGAR, citing the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, said that about $2.9 billion dollars of this aid came from the United States, including humanitarian and developmental assistance.
According to the report, despite this aid, Afghanistan still faces an economic crisis. The report mentioned: “The UN requested $3.06 billion to fund humanitarian activities in 2024. As of July 12, the HRP was 23% funded, at $710 million. The United States is the single largest donor, having contributed nearly $232 million this year.”
“The aid given to Afghanistan over these three years, especially the 2.9 billion dollars from the US and other funds brought into Afghanistan, has been particularly effective in preventing the devaluation of the Afghan currency,” said Sayed Masoud, an economic analyst.
SIGAR added that Afghanistan’s assets in the Swiss-based Fund for the Afghan People had reached $3.84 billion dollars by June this year.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy called the continuation of aid crucial under the current conditions and stressed that Afghanistan’s assets should be released and made available to the country’s citizens.
Abdul Latif Nazari, the Deputy Minister of Economy, said: “International community aid to Afghanistan is important. We are trying to use this aid to strengthen infrastructure.”
The SIGAR report also said that opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has decreased by more than 85% in 2023.
“Our request to the Islamic Emirate is to provide us with seeds instead of opium so that our lands can be cultivated,” said Nematullah, a farmer.
The SIGAR report also mentioned that international engagement of the interim government has increased in the past three months, citing travel of Islamic Emirate officials to other countries.
Residents of the capital told TOLOnews that air pollution in recent days has posed challenges for them.
With the increase in heat, some residents of the capital have reported an increase in air pollution and respiratory diseases.
Residents of the capital told TOLOnews that air pollution in recent days has posed challenges for them.
“Recently, the weather has become very hot, and air pollution has also increased significantly. The reason might be the old cars, whose numbers have increased compared to the past,” Mohammad Haroon, a resident of the capital, told TOLOnews.
“The use of old cars with low-quality fuel, and also due to frequent power outages, people are using generators, all of which have polluted the air,” said Bilal, another resident of Kabul.
Meanwhile, officials at the National Environmental Protection Agency have said that the main factors of air pollution in Kabul city are worn-out vehicles and the production of electricity. This agency, in coordination with the General Directorate of Traffic and Kabul Municipality, is working on reducing air pollution.
Toofan Jebran, the head of air pollution control and waste management at the National Environmental Protection Agency, said: “The Kabul Traffic Department observes their checkpoints once a month, and the documents of cars that produce smoke are registered so that their problems can be resolved.”
Air pollution in Kabul has various causes and has become a challenge for the residents of the capital.
Some environmental experts believe that increasing green areas and controlling large production factories can lead to an improvement in the air quality in Kabul city.
“There was a green belt in Kabul, and efforts were made to maintain it to some extent, but it is not clear whether it has continued or if it has been irrigated. If the green belt of Kabul and other major cities is revived, this problem will be reduced,” Najibullah Sadeq, an environmental expert, told TOLOnews.
This comes after the National Environmental Protection Agency previously criticized the halt of 32 projects in the field of climate change in the country and emphasized the resumption of these projects.
Rising Heat in Kabul Exacerbates Air Pollution and Health Issues
Some residents of Kabul said that the implementation of these projects has created job opportunities for dozens of women.
The deputy resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Afghanistan said that although their budget is limited, they strive to help in the areas of economic development, education, and energy for Afghanistan.
The deputy representative of UNDP for Afghanistan said that the organization has implemented several projects in the areas of greenhouse construction, health aid at a medical center, support for women entrepreneurs, and bridge construction.
Doel Mukherjee, the deputy representative of the UNDP in Afghanistan, said: “The demand is higher, and the resources are limited, but we are trying to talk with our development partners to attract support for economic, educational, and energy development for Afghanistan. We are present with various programs in 34 provinces of the country.”
According to Mukherjee, their programs in the coming years will focus on livelihood provision, support for the private sector, banking, and support for women, especially those who are head of their households.
The UNDP deputy representative said: “The UNDP works on economic recovery and progress. From providing solar resources to training women to maintain and use solar energy, all are part of this organization’s programs. Support for small businesses and companies has been provided, and simultaneously, last week we offered training on the Islamic taxation system.”
Some residents of Kabul said that the implementation of these projects has created job opportunities for dozens of women.
Malik Zamari, a resident of Paghman district in Kabul, said: “We ask the aid organizations to help us because during the forty years of wars, no organization has worked here.”
Gul Agha, a resident of Paghman district in Kabul, said: “Our bridge was destroyed, this was fixed. Three thousand homes use this road. It was fixed. Secondly, a green pond was constructed, and tailoring was set up.”
Previously, the United Nations Development Program said that it has supported more than 75,000 women-led small businesses in Afghanistan and created job opportunities for 900,000 people.
UNDP Dep. Representative: Efforts Being Made Despite Limited Budget
Judoka Nigara Shaheen is competing in women’s judo at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Nigara Shaheen’s journey to becoming an Olympic judoka did not begin with judo.
Instead, it began with a 30-minute karate lesson on her family’s balcony in Peshawar, Pakistan.
She was 11 years old and had already been a refugee for most of her young life, having fled her native Afghanistan in 1993 with her parents as an infant, her mother carrying her as they walked two days and nights through the mountains to safety.
She has faced many more obstacles to fight in the sport she loves, in between her first-ever karate lesson and competing in the Paris Olympics as part of the Refugee Olympic Team.
Since 2022, the 31-year-old athlete has been living and training in Toronto.
As a young student in Pakistan, Ms Shaheen faced harassment by older men on her way to the refugee school she attended, and bullying by her peers.
In an essay in the Toronto Life magazine, she recalled: “One day, an older man assaulted me and my sister. He screamed at us and pushed me to the ground. I wanted to punch and beat him, but I didn’t know how.”
Her mother said she needed to learn how to defend herself.
The school she attended didn’t offer martial arts or other after-school activities for students – even if it had, it would often close, sometimes for weeks at a time, she told the BBC in an interview from Paris.
But through her extended family, she heard about an instructor who was coaching karate at a nearby school. He couldn’t train her there, but he could come to her.
Soon after, Ms Shaheen was on the balcony at her aunt’s home, getting coached.
Her mother told her the balcony was all the family had to offer “but you can use it as much as you want”, she recalled.
Not long after, Ms Shaheen was fighting in local karate tournaments. Her coach, noticing her talent and passion, suggested she try competing in judo.
“I asked him ‘what’s judo? And how would I know what to do?’ He told me: ‘Just grab your opponent and throw her, that’s it,’” she said.
Ms Shaheen was able to take down her first opponent in a few seconds. She had a knack for the sport.
While winning felt good, it was the philosophy of judo that got her hooked.
“(My first coach) said you will not learn how to get up unless you fall. As a kid, that really motivated me,” she said.
It also reminded her of watching the WWE with her father, a wrestling fan, as a child.
The sport gave her the confidence to find herself – and joy in her life – despite the hardships she faced as a refugee.
Ms Shaheen’s coaches began to notice her talent. At one point she trained with Pakistan’s national judo team but could not compete alongside them without a Pakistani passport.
In 2014, Ms Shaheen returned to Afghanistan, where she studied political science and public administration at the American University in Kabul.
She also trained with the Afghani national team, were she was welcomed by her male colleagues.
“Inside the gym, we were a family, and they treated me like I was their sister,” she wrote in Toronto Life.
She continued to train and compete, and began to receive a lot of attention as a female athlete in Afghanistan – some of it unwanted.
“I faced immense cyber bullying,” she told the BBC. The harassment later turned physical.
“There were so many times when cars would chase us,” she said. Once, someone threw a soft drink can in her mother’s direction as she was dropping her off at practice.
She left her home country again, in 2018.
“I always say that I became a refugee for a second time,” she said.
She moved to Russia for her master’s studies in international trade and entrepreneurship. But unlike the welcome she received at her gym in Afghanistan, she couldn’t find a training partner in Russia.
She spent the next year training alone – a time she has called “the worst days” of her career.
In 2019, she was approached by an International Judo Federation member, who suggested she try out for the Refugee Olympic Team.
She qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but a serious shoulder injury knocked her out of the competition.
By then she had finished her studies in Russia and the situation in Afghanistan had deteriorated drastically.
“I was just stuck,” Ms Shaheen said.
She returned to Pakistan where she mostly stayed at home in fear of her safety – she had faced criticism for not wearing a headscarf during the Games – and contemplated her next steps.
Fleeing Kabul, chasing gold – the story of a refugee Olympian
‘I’m proud to represent the refugee team at Olympics’
Refugee boxer to be Paris 2024 Olympic flagbearer
That’s when the opportunity to live and train in Canada opened up, with the help of the Olympic Refugee Foundation and United Nations Refugee Agency.
Ms Shaheen was accepted to study in Toronto for a postgraduate degree in international development.
She arrived in September 2022 – a bittersweet moment for the athlete who had already journeyed through three countries in search of stability.
It was in that Canadian city where her judo career was given a new lease on life.
“I was so happy to finally be at a place where I can be myself,” she said. “But it was also hard for me because I had to say goodbye to my parents for the second time.”
In Paris, she is one of the 37 athletes playing for the Refugee Olympic Team – a team Ms Shaheen is grateful to be a part of.
“I feel really proud,” she said ahead of her first competition on Tuesday against Mexico’s Prisca Awiti Alcaraz.
“I’m as much of an Afghan as I am a refugee,” she said. The banner for the refugee team is “a flag that I can relate to”.
While she lost to Ms Alcaraz, Ms Shaheen has said that she is thankful to be able to compete at the highest level.
“Even with every loss, I learn something new.”
She will appear on the mat once again on Saturday, where she will represent the Refugee Olympic Team in the mixed team event – her first time doing so.
“Team events are more exciting since I always look at my teammates and feel like I can’t let them down so I fight for all of them,” she told the International Judo Federation ahead of the competition.
After the games, Ms Shaheen plans to call Canada home – she is now a permanent resident – and she hopes to one day work to assist refugees like herself.
Her parents are still in Pakistan, where they are cheering her on as she lives out her Olympic dream.
At her lowest points, she said she would lean on her family for support.
“My sister used to tell me, ‘I trust that one day you will achieve something big, and this will be a memory and you will laugh about this.’”
Several female beauticians have told The Guardian that they have been forced to establish secret beauty salons due to economic hardships.
The Guardian reported on Thursday that female beauticians under Taliban rule are living in fear and anxiety. One woman told the newspaper, “They stone and whip us, but I continue to work as a beautician.”
Following a Taliban order that led to the closure of women’s beauty salons, more than 12,000 salons have been shut down, resulting in over 60,000 women losing their jobs.
In July 2023, the Taliban banned and closed all women’s beauty salons across Afghanistan. The Guardian noted that this directive led to the closure of over 12,000 salons, with an estimated 60,000 women losing their jobs.
Now, under economic pressure, some female beauticians have started underground salons, operating in secrecy and fear.
One beautician in Kabul told The Guardian that she “never imagined she would have to work secretly.” She is worried about being fined or imprisoned if her salon is discovered.
Some women have set up beauty salons in their homes. To avoid detection, they use various techniques to manage client visits, purchase beauty supplies, and navigate their own movements.
One beautician explained, “We use techniques to avoid arrest. For example, my clients wear a special-colored burqa so I know they are customers.”
She added, “I avoid using the same route and try to travel at irregular hours.”
Concerns are high that neighbors, beauty supply vendors, or fake clients who might be Taliban informants could expose them, leading to arrests.
One beautician lamented to The Guardian, “We are all prisoners of the Taliban. Being born a woman is my greatest crime.”
The ban on women’s beauty salons has faced widespread backlash. In late July, the UN Special Representative condemned the ban as a setback for poverty reduction and economic improvement.
The International Labour Organization also warned that the ban would significantly reduce women’s employment opportunities.
The plight of women in Afghanistan extends beyond the closure of beauty salons. The Taliban’s restrictions on education and employment have severely impacted women’s lives, confining them to limited roles and stifling their opportunities for economic independence.
The escalating insecurity and rising militant groups in the region further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis. Women are increasingly vulnerable to violence and repression amid the deteriorating security situation, highlighting the urgent need for international support and intervention.
Women in Afghanistan set up Secret Salons to overcome economic hardship and Taliban restrictions
Meanwhile, some political analysts have shared their views on the significance of the Islamic Emirate’s Political Office in Qatar.
Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs, emphasized the important role of the Islamic Emirate’s Political Office in broadening the interim government’s political relations with the international community.
The Arg stated in a press release that Mawlawi Abdul Kabir met with Suhail Shaheen, the head of the Islamic Emirate’s Political Office, during his visit to Qatar.
In this meeting, Shaheen mentioned that embassies of some countries that are not active in Kabul use this office to communicate on important and bilateral issues.
The Arg’s statement reads: “Mawlawi Abdul Kabir praised the activities of the Islamic Emirate’s Political Office in Doha and highlighted the significance of this office, stating that it is influential in expanding the Islamic Emirate’s relations and its role in resolving certain issues and progress cannot be overlooked.”
Meanwhile, some political analysts have shared their views on the significance of the Islamic Emirate’s Political Office in Qatar.
Sayed Akbar Sial Wardak, a political analyst, said: “In my opinion, the Islamic Emirate’s Political Office aims to negotiate politically with the US Embassy or other countries’ embassies located there.”
Another political analyst, Sameem Shamsi, stated: “If the Islamic Emirate closes its office and establishes Afghanistan’s political representation in one of the provinces, foreign embassies will be compelled to reopen their embassies in Afghanistan.”
The Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs traveled to Qatar yesterday (Thursday) to attend the funeral ceremony of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s Political Bureau.
Kabir: Political Office Plays a Crucial Role in Expanding Relations
The Ministry of Economy urged the World Bank to resume its activities in Afghanistan and complete its unfinished projects with the appointment of the new head.
Faris Hadad-Zervos has been appointed the World Bank’s new Country Director for Afghanistan.
Faris Hadad-Zervos, a US citizen, began his career with the World Bank in 1996 and has previously served as country director of the World Bank for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
In a statement, the World Bank quoted Zervos as saying: “I am excited to continue our support to the people of Afghanistan, together with our partners. My first priority is to ensure that the World Bank continues supporting basic services that are so essential to the welfare and future prospects of the Afghan people such as healthcare, education, food security, and livelihoods support, with a focus on ensuring that women and girls benefit.”
“It is expected that the appointment of the new country director of the World Bank for Afghanistan will impact the reduction of banking restrictions in Afghanistan and make global banking activities relatively more effective. Previously, the World Bank was involved in financing infrastructure projects, and whenever the Afghan government faced a shortfall in funding for major projects, the World Bank extended a helping hand and played a significant role in financing these projects,” said Shaker Yaqubi, an economic analyst.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy urged the World Bank to resume its activities in Afghanistan and complete its unfinished projects with the appointment of the new head.
Abdulrahman Habib, spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy, said: “An easy solution for economic improvement is creating job opportunities, and with the resumption of infrastructure projects that were previously funded by the World Bank, job opportunities will be provided for many people, which will directly impact poverty reduction gradually and improve the economic situation of our people.”
The Chamber of Industries and Mines said that the World Bank supported most projects in the areas of building roads, construction, healthcare, energy, and agriculture, and the resumption of this institution’s activities will have a positive impact on economic growth.
Sakhi Ahmad Paiman, the first deputy of the Chamber of Industries and Mines, said: “We hope that the unfinished projects funded by the World Bank will resume, and with the financial support of the World Bank, these infrastructure projects will restart, which will be beneficial both for the employment of the Afghan people and for their development.”
Previously, Melinda Good served as the head of the World Bank for Afghanistan.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the World Bank would provide about $300 million in aid to Afghanistan. This money will be funded by the World Bank’s International Development Association and is set to be spent in Afghanistan by United Nations agencies without the access of the Islamic Emirate.
World Bank Appoints New Country Director for Afghanistan
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — To get a sense of the real race Afghanistan’s lone woman at the Olympic track meet is running, one only needed to look at the back of her bib.
On it, in handwritten script, were the words, spelled like this: “Eduction” and “Our Rights.”
Women and girls in Afghanistan have suffered immensely since Kimia Yousofi’s home country was taken over by the Taliban in August 2021. A United Nations report last year said the country has become the most repressive in the world for women and girls, who are deprived of virtually all their basic rights.
“I think I feel a responsibility for Afghan girls because they can’t talk,” Yousofi said Friday after finishing last in her 100-meter preliminary heat.
Her 13.42-second sprint down the track was not the main point of this trip. Yousofi’s story was a bracing illustration of how these trips to the Olympics aren’t always about winning and losing.
“I’m not a politics person, I just do what I think is true,” Yousofi said. “I can talk with media. I can be the voice of Afghan girls. I (can) tell (people) what they want — they want basic rights, education and sports.”
Before she was born, Yousofi’s parents fled Afghanistan during the Taliban’s previous rule. She and her three brothers were born and raised in neighboring Iran.
In 2012, when she was 16, Yousofi took part in a talent search for Afghan immigrant girls living in Iran. She later returned to Afghanistan to train for a chance to represent the country at the 2016 Olympics. These are her third Games.
But after the Taliban took over her country again, at around the time the Tokyo Games started, she moved to Australia with the help of officials there and the International Olympic Committee. She has been living in Sydney, trying to get better at speaking English. When she goes back, she will start looking for a job.
Had she sought one, she almost certainly would have earned a place on the Olympic refugee team that is designed for displaced athletes like her.
But she wanted to represent her country, flaws and all, with a hope that this trip to the Olympics will help shine a light on the way women are treated there.
“This is my flag, this is my country,” she said. “This is my land.”
Afghanistan sprinter uses Olympic trip to shine light on how women are treated in her country
An Afghan man living in the UK is hoping to be reunited with his family for the first time in three years after a government resettlement scheme was opened.
Muhammad said he helped British forces and was given indefinite leave to remain after escaping the Taliban-run country in 2021 – but his wife and two young children have been living in Pakistan and were unable to join him.
He previously told the BBC he feared they could be deported after Pakistan said it wanted to return more Afghan migrants.
But he has been given fresh hope after it was announced on Tuesday that the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme would be open for applicants until October.
Muhammad, who is living in Oxfordshire, said his wife had become “really emotional” when he told her about the development over the phone.
“My kids were sitting beside her and my four-year-old son asked: ‘Mum, why are you crying?’,” said Muhammad, who described telling his boy how he hoped he would soon be joining him in the UK.
‘Enemies of the regime’
Muhammad said he still had some concerns about the process, especially as his family are in a third country – but the BBC understands the government has provided guidance that this would not have a negative impact on any application.
He said his first priority would be to “put my kids into school” and added that he would “never” be able to return to Afghanistan.
“Now, I think the UK is our country and we would be settling here for our remaining lives,” he said.
Muhammad said he assisted UK forces to source accommodation – something he believed would make him and his family “enemies” of the current regime.
He and other Afghan citizens in a similar position have been receiving support from Oxford charity Asylum Welcome, which had urged the previous government to “make good on their promise to Afghans who help British forces”.
At the time, the government said it was trying to bring more eligible Afghans to the UK.
Afghan man’s fresh hope of being reunited with family
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (center) attends the inauguration of the newly elected Iranian president in Tehran on July 30, the day before his death.
The killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, has thrown the Middle East into crisis.
But his assassination in a suspected Israeli strike in Iran on July 31 and the heightened risk of a broader war also have implications in the wider region, including for Iran’s eastern neighbors, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Experts say Kabul and Islamabad will likely struggle with the security, economic, and political fallout from a major escalation in the Middle East.
But a potential regional war involving Iran is unlikely to directly drag in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and Pakistan, both of which have cordial relations with Tehran, experts say.
“The attacks will not draw either country into direct participation in the conflicts such as by offering to send fighters,” said Marvin Weinbaum, director of Afghanistan and Pakistan studies at the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington.
Pakistan and the Taliban both directly blamedIsrael for Haniyeh’s assassination, which Tehran has also blamed on its archenemy.
Islamabad denounced the killing as an act of “terrorism,” and hundreds of supporters of a Pakistan Islamist party held a symbolic funeral for Haniyeh near Islamabad on July 31.
Amid tensions with Islamabad, Kabul depends on Iranian ports such as Chabahar for most of its imports and exports.
‘Making Life Harder For Afghans’
Iran is on friendly terms with the Taliban. Tehran is also the biggest trading partner of the cash-strapped and internationally unrecognized Taliban-led government. Kabul is dependent on Iranian ports for most of its imports and exports amid tensions with neighboring Pakistan.
The Islamic republic is also home to around 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees. The remittances they send back home keep many impoverished families afloat in Afghanistan, which has grappled with an economic crisis since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
Graeme Smith, a senior Afghanistan analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said rising tensions in the Middle East “could have destabilizing consequences for the fragile situation in Afghanistan.”
Smith said the risk is that a conflict involving Iran will harden the country’s borders with Afghanistan, “making life harder for Afghans.”
He said Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, the largest in the world, could worsen if its borders with Iran are closed.
“The exit route from that crisis depends on renewed trade across the region,” he said. “[But it] requires borders opening to the flow of goods and labor.”
Pakistan Not To Become ‘Directly Involved’
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans and millions of Pakistanis work as laborers and traders in the oil-rich Arab Gulf countries.
A potential regional war could disrupt the flow of Afghan and Pakistani migrant workers heading to the Gulf. That would deal a major blow to Afghanistan and Pakistan, both of which are both heavily dependent on remittances sent from abroad.
In Pakistan, some political parties and the media have called for Islamabad to take a more hard-line approach to Israel, which is not formally recognized by the South Asian country.
But Weinbaum said the “general feeling among [Pakistani] policymakers is that the country has enough security concerns of its own not to become directly involved.”
New Extremist Groups — At Least In Name — Enter Pakistan’s Militant Scene
Faced with rising militant attacks in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, Islamabad’s choices are limited.
“There are also worries about an American reaction if Pakistan makes any military commitments [to Iran],” Weinbaum said.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are home to millions of Shi’ite Muslims. And Iran, a Shi’a-majority country, could look to Shi’ite communities living in its eastern neighbors for recruits in the event of a war.
During the Syrian civil war, Iran recruited, trained, and armed thousands of Shi’ite fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight. Many of those fighters who survived have returned home as the war has died down.
How Will Rising Middle East Tensions Impact Afghanistan and Pakistan?
Afghanistan Peace Campaign
