8am: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that in the last three years, the poverty graph in Afghanistan has increased from 47% to 97%. OCHA tweeted on Monday that unemployment, decrease in income and increase in prices are among the reasons for the increase in poverty in Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
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Woman being stoned (file photo)
WION: In a shocking incident, a woman in Afghanistan killed herself before the Taliban forces could kill her for running away from home, local media reported citing a resident. According to a report by Khaama Press published on October 15, the woman who ran away from home with a married man was going to be stoned on Friday. To avoid such brutal punishment, she committed suicide, it said. Click here to read more (external link).
Bill Gates
Reuters: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said on Sunday that it will commit $1.2 billion to support efforts to end all forms of polio globally. Governments and foundations aim to end polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the last two countries where the virus continues to circulate. Click here to read more (external link).
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8am: The new ranking of the Henley Passport Index shows that the Afghan passport is still the world’s least powerful passport. The Henley Passport Index, which measures the world’s most travel-friendly passports from time to time based on data received from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), has released its report for 2022. Japan has the world’s most powerful passport as its citizens can travel to 191 countries around the world visa-free or visa on arrival. Click here to read more (external link).
Roza Otunbaeva
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 16, 2022
The United Nations’ new special representative for Afghanistan Roza Otunbaeva has met with high-ranked officials of the Taliban-led government to discuss a “broad range of issues, including international assistance, drug abuse, and the importance of girls’ education,” the UN said on October 16.
According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), during her visit to Kabul, Otunbaeva held separate meetings with Taliban acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi and acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, among others.
The two sides “agreed close cooperation to address pressing issues faced” by the people of Afghanistan, the UNAMA said in a series of tweets.
Afghan media quoted a Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying the ministry told the envoy “that now is the time for Afghanistan and the world to come closer together and understand each other’s priorities, conditions, and requests, and the UNAMA can achieve this well.”
Since returning to power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S. forces, the hard-line Taliban has barred girls from attending secondary school and prohibited women from many government jobs.
No country has yet officially recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government. Much of the international community has made the reopening of secondary schools for girls one of the key conditions for formally recognizing the Taliban-led government.
Formerly a president of Kyrgyzstan, Otunbaeva was named the head of UNAMA last month, replacing Deborah Lyons, who stepped down in mid-June.
With reporting by Tolo News
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8am: The Taliban regime has announced the establishment of a commission to investigate the cases of civilians who were arrested during the clashes in Panjshir province. The National Resistance Front (NRF) had earlier declared that the Taliban group has arrested and imprisoned at least 5,400 residents of Panjshir province since it returned to power in late August. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: Several officials of the Islamic Emirate [Taliban] expressed their concerns at the Global Climate Change Week meeting about the negative impacts of climate change on the country. Abdul Salam Hanafi, the second deputy to the prime minister, said during a gathering marking Global Climate Change Week that people have been hurt by floods and that rainfall has been reduced due to climate change in the west, north, and northwest of the country. Click here to read more (external link).
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8am: Following the protests against the terrorist attack on the “Kaaj Educational Center in west Kabul, Afghan citizens have been staged protests in several cities around the world chanting the slogan “Stop Hazara Genocide”. Hundreds of people on Sunday, October 16 gathered in the cities of Lyon and Lille in France, Strasbourg in Germany, Glasgow in Scotland, Vienna in Austria, Amsterdam in Holland, Seoul in South Korea, Kayseri in Turkey and in America. Click here to read more (external link).