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Taliban launch major attack on downtown Kabul

05/24/2013 16:00 GMT

by Usman Sharifi

KABUL, May 24, 2013 (AFP) - Explosions and gunfire rocked central Kabul Friday as the Taliban launched a major attack close to buildings occupied by the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The exact target of the assault was unclear, with intelligence agency facilities and the Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF) headquarters also caught up in the firefight that was still going on after four hours of violence.

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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Health screening for 21,000 children and mothers in Afghanistan

Report
Islamic Relief

Islamic Relief is offering regular health screening to all children who are supported through our orphan sponsorship scheme, as well as their siblings and mothers.

The project, which is funded by Comic Relief, aims to root out treatable illnesses as early as possible, to enable children to continue their education uninterrupted. When largely treatable illnesses are left untreated and escalate, children in Afghanistan are often forced to skip or even abandon education entirely.

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Afghanistan + 1 other
Humanitarian Emergency Directors to visit Afghanistan and Pakistan

WHO: John Ging (OCHA), Ted Chaiban (UNICEF), David Kaatrud (WFP),
Dominique Burgeon (FAO), Neil Buhne (UNDP), Mabingue Ngom (UNFPA), Mohammed Abdiker (IOM) and Mike Bowers (MercyCorps)

WHAT: Mission to Afghanistan and Pakistan

WHEN: 26 May to 1 June 2013

WHERE: Kabul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad and Sindh

Emergency Directors from United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners will travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan from 26 May to 1 June.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:

To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit http://unocha.org/.

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Seeking spot on national team, Afghan girls compete in track and field races

Watched by Afghanistan’s first female Olympian, more than 150 girls from high schools in the capital, Kabul, competed today in a track and field event held to select female athletes for the country’s female Athletics Team.

“From this running competition, only the 12 best runners will be selected,” said Jan Alam Hassani, the Secretary-General of Afghanistan’s National Olympics Committee (ANOC), which organized the selection event along with the Directorate of Physical Education at the Ministry of Education.

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Afghanistan + 1 other
UNFPA marks the first ever International Day to End Fistula

Kabul, May 23, 2013- Obstetric fistula is a devastating childbirth injury which leads to both physical and social harm for the women suffering of the injury. Sadly, obstetric fistula is a uniquely eradicable maternal morbidity that has until recently not received sufficient attention in Afghanistan. Obstetric fistula arises most often as a complication of prolonged and/or obstructed labor and results in an opening (fistula) between the bladder and the vagina (vesico-vaginal fistula) or between the rectum and the vagina (recto-vaginal fistula).

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Tackling Heroin Use in Afghan South

New treatment clinic promised for Zabul, but underlying causes run much deeper.

By Niaz Mohammad Ziarmal, Abdol Qayum Ajez - Afghanistan
ARR Issue 456, 22 May 13

Tall and black-bearded, Mohammad Hashem still has a youthful look that belies the trouble he is in.

When IWPR’s correspondent in the southern Afghan province of Zabul found him, he was sprawled in a heap of trash, barely able to open his eyes.

“Give me money or food; I’m hungry,” he said.

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The Future of Mobile Money in Afghanistan

The Future of Mobile Money in Afghanistan

Steve Rynecki serves as Mobile Money Adviser at USAID. Below is a follow-up to his June 2012 blog.

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7 dead in Afghan suicide blast: officials

05/22/2013 15:38 GMT

Ghazni, Afghanistan, May 22, 2013 (AFP) - A teenage suicide bomber killed seven people in central Afghanistan on Wednesday when he targeted local fighters who battle against Taliban insurgents, officials said.

The attacker detonated himself in a market place in Ghazni province, two days after another bomber struck outside government buildings in the north of Afghanistan killing 14 people including a provincial politician.

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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Update conflict displacement Faryab Province 22 May 2013

Faryab is currently the most conflict-affected province in the Northern region. While needs are on the rise, funding has declined and the presence of international humanitarian staff is lower than in previous years.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:

To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit http://unocha.org/.

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On biodiversity day, threat to Afghanistan’s water sources spotlighted

22 May 2013 - From mountain glaciers to rural wetlands, Afghanistan is rich in biodiversity but these sources of water are coming under pressure and need to be protected, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) office in the South Asian nation, on the occasion of the International Day of Biological Diversity.

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Study Shows Great Benefits of Mobile Technology for Afghan Women

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN | MAY 22 – Some 80 percent of Afghan women have regular or occasional access to mobile phones, according to a survey conducted in late 2012. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and based on the research methodology of GSM Association’s Mobile Women Program, the survey shows a remarkable speed of mobile phone adoption among Afghan women since the first mobile phone license was issued in the country in 2002. In addition, 82 percent of those surveyed believe mobile phones improve Afghan women's lives.

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Protecting The Children Of Zabul

A bustling bazaar that straddles a key national highway in southern Afghanistan is made safer for the community that lives around it

19 MAY 2013 | ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN

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Transport Hub Flourishes in Northern Afghanistan

Plans to turn the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif into a regional transportation hub have taken a jump forward with the opening of a new airport terminal.

While the airport has yet to be officially opened to international travel, domestic flights have already begun at the airport, which compliments other transportation initiatives, including a rail link with Uzbekistan and three ports along the Amu Darya River.

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Quality education for Afghan orphans

Report
Islamic Relief

This month, Islamic Relief has kick-started the second phase of work to develop quality education for poor and orphaned children in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Since Islamic Relief began its work with Khoog Khoor school for orphans in January 2012, the school has established itself as one of the top schools in the city. Khoog Khoor currently serves over 350 students – 50 of whom come from remote, conflict-affected areas and so live at the school.

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Surge in women jailed for ‘moral crimes’

(Kabul) – The Afghan government should take urgent steps to halt an alarming increase in women and girls imprisoned for “moral crimes,” Human Rights Watch said today. Commitments by senior government officials to end such abuses have had little practical impact.

Human Rights Watch:



© Copyright, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA

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Afghan peace lost in transition worries

Report
Washington Post

By Pamela Constable,

KABUL — Amid the scattered but steadily mounting carnage of the Taliban’s annual spring offensive, including a suicide bombing Monday that killed a provincial council head, hopes of stirring life into peace talks with the Islamist insurgents seem to be dying here with each new suicide attack, kidnapping and roadside bombing.

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Education, Culture and Women’s Rights: the forces for Afghanistan’s Transformation

Afghanistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zalmai Rassoul, requested UNESCO’s support in protecting heritage, expanding education and improving women’s rights, during a meeting with UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, in Kabul on 19 May.

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Female volunteers make healthcare services accessible to women in remote villages

Report
IFRC

Afghanistan has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world and is second for under-five mortality. Poor and improper nutrition among women of reproductive age can lead to pregnancy-related complications, there is an acute shortage of health facilities and trained staff – particularly female staff – access to antenatal care and essential medicine is limited, and most of the population lacks access to basic health and sanitation services.

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UNAMA and UN WOMEN call on Afghan authorities to ensure full implementation of Evaw law

KABUL, 20 May 2013 – The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and UN Women have urged Afghan authorities to step up their efforts to ensure the full implementation of the law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW), in line with their international commitments.

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Free from crutches after 15 years

Said Wali, a former Mujahid who had lost his leg succeeded to walk with an artificial leg he attained from the SCA orthopedic workshop in Taloqan. A support SCA delivers for many people with disabilities. He is now free from his wooden crutches he used for fifteen years.