UN urges immediate need for 18,000 midwives in Afghanistan

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Khaama: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has issued a warning regarding the high maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan, stating that the country urgently needs 18,000 midwives. The organization has warned that failing to address this urgent need in Afghanistan endangers many lives. Globally, UNFPA estimates that 900,000 skilled (trained) midwives are needed, with the immediate requirement for 18,000 midwives in Afghanistan being highlighted as “urgent.” Click here to read more (external link).

Other Health News

Taliban block UN human rights investigator from visiting Afghanistan

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Zabihullah Mujahid

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
August 21, 2024

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban leaders have barred the United Nations-appointed special rapporteur on human rights, Richard Bennett, from entering the country for allegedly “spreading propaganda.”

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid disclosed the decision to Afghan broadcaster TOLO News late Tuesday. He accused the U.N. envoy of misrepresenting “the ground realities” in the country and providing “misleading” information to the global community.

Bennett reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council based in Geneva and has conducted several trips to Kabul to investigate the Afghan human rights situation since assuming duties in 2022 — a year after the radical Taliban returned to power.

“Mr. Bennett’s travel to Afghanistan has been prohibited because he was assigned to spread propaganda in Afghanistan. He is not someone we trust … He used to exaggerate minor issues and propagate them,” Mujahid stated.

Neither the U.N. Human Rights Council nor Bennett has immediately commented on the reported travel ban facing him.

The U.N. human rights rapporteur, in one of his recently published assessments, highlighted the Taliban’s sweeping curbs on Afghan women’s access to education, employment, and public life at large, demanding they be immediately reversed.

Bennett alleged that women and girls under Taliban rule “are being persecuted based on gender, calling it a crime against humanity. He went on to assert that the institutionalized, systematic, and widespread nature justifies it being framed as “gender apartheid.”

Mujahid dismissed the U.N. findings and subsequent statements by Bennett as propaganda, saying the Taliban respect women’s rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs.

The Agence France-Presse news agency quoted a diplomatic source as confirming the ban on the U.N. rapporteur and saying that Bennett “was informed of the decision that he would not be welcome to return to Afghanistan several months ago.”

“Even after repeatedly requesting Mr. Bennett to adhere to professionalism during work … it was decided that … his reports are based on prejudices and anecdotes detrimental to interests of Afghanistan and the Afghan people,” Taliban foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi told the Reuters news agency.

Taliban officials do not respond to VOA queries because they have imposed a ban on the media outlet.

De facto fundamentalist Afghan authorities have barred girls ages 12 and older from attending school and women from many public and private sector workplaces, including the U.N.

In addition, women are not allowed to undertake road trips beyond 78 kilometers without a male guardian, and they are barred from visiting parks, gyms, and public baths.

“The Taliban barring Bennett from entering the country is one of many signs that their crackdown on human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, is ongoing and continuing to deepen,” Heather Barr, the associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch, told VOA.

“The international community — and the U.N.—should respond to this provocation by the Taliban by committing to never discussing the future of Afghanistan without women on the agenda and at the table,” she said in her comments shared via email.

The Taliban attended a U.N.-organized meeting in Doha last month for the first time, where they interacted with envoys from more than two dozen countries on matters related to Afghanistan’s economic and humanitarian challenges.

The U.N. did not invite Afghan women or human rights representatives, however, citing the Taliban’s opposition, a move that drew strong criticism of the world body.

No country has officially recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government since they seized control of Afghanistan in 2021, mainly citing the harsh treatment of women and girls.

Many top Taliban leaders remain under international terrorism sanctions, and the Afghan banking sector is largely isolated from the rest of the world, with about $9 billion in central bank assets being frozen in the U.S. and European banks.

Another 9/11-Type Attack Possible, But From Pakistan Soil, Claims Taliban

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Afghanistan International: The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry has rejected remarks made by Pakistani officials about the recurrence of another 9/11-type attack from Afghan soil. The Taliban said that these statements are not true and are an attempt to “confuse public opinion”. The ministry even lambasted Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani and stated that the threats voiced by Durrani are actually originating from Pakistani soil. Click here to read more (external link).

The UAE accepts credentials of Taliban ambassador in a major diplomatic win for Afghanistan’s rulers

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AP: The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday accepted the credentials of the Taliban’s ambassador to the oil-rich Gulf Arab state, the biggest diplomatic coup for Afghanistan’s rulers who are not officially recognized as the country’s legitimate government. The development, the first Taliban ambassador since one was appointed to China last December, underscored the international divide over how to deal with the government now in Kabul. Click here to read more (external link).

Law For Propagation of Virtue & Prevention of Vice Enacted By Taliban Leader

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Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada

Afghanistan International: The law states that it is necessary to cover “the entire body of a woman and to hide her face due to fear of sedition”. How men dress is another part of the Taliban’s law. The law also prohibits the playing of music, the transportation of women without a mahram [guardian] or without a hijab [cover], and the mixing of women with men in vehicles. The Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has also been tasked with preventing the shaving of the beard. The Taliban’s Ministry of Virtue announced on Tuesday, August 21, that it had arrested more than 13,000 people in the past year for “immoral acts”. Click here to read more (external link).

Devastating Floods in Several Provinces Claim Lives

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Tolo News: As a result of recent floods in several provinces of the country, at least ten people have lost their lives and eight others have been injured. These floods have hit parts of the provinces of Logar, Laghman, Panjshir, Ghazni, Maidan Wardak, Nangarhar, and Kabul. Officials said that in addition to the human casualties, these floods have also caused significant financial losses in some provinces. According to preliminary information, around 100 houses have been partially or completely destroyed. Click here to read more (external link).

Iran’s quarterly export to Afghanistan up 31% on year

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Tehran Times: Mahmoud Siadat said that the country has exported products worth $517 million to its neighbor during the three-month period. “We should move toward joint investment for preserving the market of Afghanistan”, he further commented. On June 29, the head of Iran’s Birjand Chamber of Commerce said Iran and Afghanistan have the capacity to boost trade exchanges to $5.0 billion, the portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) reported. “Considering the stabilization of political conditions in Afghanistan, there is no risk in trade with this country, and by participating in the country’s construction projects, it is possible to develop bilateral exchanges up to five billion dollars,” Alireza Khameh-Zar said. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban’s ‘reforms’ lead to 21,000 musical instruments destroyed in Afghanistan

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By Ayaz Gul
VOA News
August 20, 2024

Islamabad — Taliban morality police in Afghanistan said Tuesday that they had “seized and destroyed” more than 21,000 musical instruments over the past year as part of a crackdown on what they called anti-Islam practices.

Officials of the so-called Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice discussed their “annual performance” at a news conference in Kabul a day after Taliban authorities publicly staged a mass burning of hundreds of musical instruments in the nearby northern Parwan province.

The provincial moral police department also urged residents not to use musical instruments at weddings and other celebrations.

Speaking in the Afghan capital Tuesday, ministry officials claimed to have destroyed thousands of “immoral films” and blocked many more “from use on personal computers” nationwide “as part of societal reforms” being undertaken by the Taliban administration. They did not elaborate on the nature of the films.

The ministry said without discussing specifics that it had “successfully implemented 90% of reforms across audio, visual, and print media” in Afghanistan.

Free media advocacy groups and local journalists say that Taliban leaders have significantly curtailed press freedom and access to information in the country.

The Islamist Taliban revived the Ministry of Vice and Virtue to police public morality after retaking control of the war-shattered, impoverished South Asian nation three years ago when all U.S.-led Western troops withdrew from Afghanistan after their involvement in the war for almost two decades.

The Taliban ministry has introduced strict guidelines for local media professionals, binding female presenters and guests to comply with an “Islamic” dress code on air requiring that only their eyes be visible.

Women are prohibited from working on national radio and television stations, and dramas featuring female performers are banned. De facto Afghan authorities have also enforced strict “gender-based segregation” in workplaces at large.

Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the minister of vice and virtue, was quoted by state media as saying on Monday that the Taliban “are determined to implement Islamic Sharia and no one’s pressure is acceptable in this regard.”

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said last month that the Taliban’s morality police were contributing to “a climate of fear and intimidation” among the people and identified the ministry as the leading violator of human rights in the Taliban government, which is not recognized by any country.

The U.N. report noted that the activities of the de facto ministry have had “negative impacts on the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms”… in Afghanistan, with a discriminatory and disproportionate impact on women.”

The morality police department has banned women’s beauty salons, prohibited females from traveling without a male guardian beyond 78 kilometers from their home limits, and banned them from visiting parks, gyms, and public baths.

The Taliban have also banned school education for girls beyond the sixth grade, and many women are not allowed to work in public as well as private organizations, including U.N agencies.

The U.N. Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization said in its new report last week that Taliban authorities had “deliberately deprived” 1.4 million girls of schooling since returning to power, putting at risk the future of an entire generation and making Afghanistan the only country in the world to deny girls ages 12 and older access to education.

Taliban officials dismiss criticism of their governance as interference in the country’s internal matters and defend their policies, saying they are aligned with Afghan culture and Islamic law.

During the previous Taliban rule in Kabul from 1996 to 2001, the Ministry of Vice and Virtue garnered notoriety for its arbitrary abuses. Particularly, women and girls were banned entirely from education and employment at that time.