Category: Global

After pressure from reformists in Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s party, the ban on women performers on television and radio that was imposed last Friday was lifted. Female entertainers had been declared un-Islamic in the Southeastern province by the deputy provincial governor of Nangarhar. The provincial government ordered state-run television in Jalalabad to stop broadcasting Afghan […]

Female performers in an Afghan province have been banned from performing on television and radio. According to Reuters, female entertainers have been declared un-Islamic in the Southeastern province. The provincial government, according to Radio Free Europe, ordered state-run television in Jalalabad to stop broadcasting Afghan women singer’s performances. Earlier this year, for the first time […]

The United Nations and the Afghan government recently warned that Afghanistan needs $27 billion over the next seven years to avoid going back to a state of chaos and lawlessness. However, at the Berlin donor conference for Afghanistan’s reconstruction, donor countries pledged only $8.2 billion over the next three years, reports BBC News. In addition, […]

The first post-Taliban elections in Afghanistan, which were scheduled to take place in June, have been postponed until September. According to BBC News, poor security has delayed voter registration, resulting in only 1.5 million of an estimated 10.5 million people being registered. According to the New York Times, more than 200 people have been killed […]

Female delegates of Afghanistan’s Loya Jirga won one of their major demands. The final draft of the constitution now states that all citizens of Afghanistan, both men and women, have equal rights under the law. According to IRIN News, a female delegate said, “This is one of the major demands of women and we hope […]

This week, delegates from all of Afghanistan’s 32 provinces are voting to select the 500 members of the loya jirga (general assembly) that will debate the country’s draft constitution. Despite the fact that there will be separate elections are being held for women, nomads, refugees, and minority groups, who have a limited number of seats […]

A United Nations aid worker was killed on Sunday in Ghazni by two men whom authorities believe are Taliban rebels. The 29-year-old Frenchwoman, Bettina Goislard, who was working for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was the first UN staff to be killed in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban two years ago. […]

The United Nations Security Council has given NATO approval to expand its peacekeeping mission beyond Kabul. Last month, the alliance planners had proposed an additional 2,000 to 10,000 troops. However, as Reuters reports, the resolution will have little immediate impact because currently there are only a few countries willing to commit troops needed for the […]

Leading women’s rights, human rights, and Afghan groups sent a letter to Congress today urging an increase in funding to adequately meet Afghanistan’s reconstruction needs. The letter raises concerns that Afghanistan’s reconstruction and security needs continue to be shortchanged. The groups are asking Congress to re-evaluate the current spending priorities due to the fact that […]

House Republicans called for a $1.7 billion cut in President Bush’s emergency supplemental request for the reconstruction funding for Iraq and only a $400 million increase in reconstruction aid for Afghanistan. The additional $400 million makes the $1.2 billion for Afghanistan’s reconstruction aid package only a little more than 1 percent of the $87 billion […]

Two schools for girls in northern Afghanistan and one in eastern Afghanistan were burned down by suspected Taliban insurgents. This brings the number of girls’ schools attacked in Afghanistan since last fall to over 19. Two tents that were used as schools in the Charar Bolak district in the Balkh province were set fire late […]

At yesterday’s Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the $87 billion supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) raised concerns about the $20 billion for Iraq’s reconstruction compared to the $800 million for Afghanistan’s. He questioned whether the United States should think about spending more money in Afghanistan than Iraq because Iraq and Afghanistan’s […]

At today’s Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the $87 billion supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) raised concerns about vulnerable populations in Afghanistan and Iraq, including women. She pointed to a Human Rights Watch Report and threats against girls going to school as examples of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. At […]

A coed elementary school was set on fire on Tuesday, and leaflets were distributed saying that girls should not be allowed to go to school. According to Reuters, this brings the total number of schools that have been attacked in the past year to more than 20. The leaflets distributed by the attackers also threatened […]

As the Bush administration continues to consider plans to increase aid and peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan, another girls’ school was burned down last week. The incident at a tented school 30 miles south of Kabul follows the arson of another school for girls located in a neighboring district, according to the Associated Press. Letters were […]

Amnesty International issued a report last week on the failure of donor countries in supporting efforts to reestablish the rule of law in Afghanistan. According to the report, “as the international community focuses its attention on post-conflict reconstruction in Iraq, it is crucial that it does not rescind promises made to the Afghan people.” The […]

Afghanistan this week has experienced its most violent 24-hour period in nearly a year. A bomb exploded on a bus in the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, killing 15 people including six children. Two Afghan aid workers working for the Afghan Red Crescent were killed and another three injured in southeastern Afghanistan, and more than […]

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) readies to take control of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Monday, Afghanistan continues to struggle amidst growing attacks on aid workers and law enforcement officers in its provinces. Despite repeated calls by the United Nations (UN), Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and progressive organizations including the Feminist […]