KABUL - The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemns yesterday’s killing of 12 civilians, including eight children returning home from school for the weekend, caused when the vehicle in which they were travelling detonated a pressure-plate improvised explosive device (PPIED) placed on a main public road in Paktika province.

“Children are once again the main victims of these indiscriminate and illegal weapons,” said Pernille Kardel, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan. “There is a simple message to the perpetrators: stop using these weapons if you are serious about safeguarding Afghanistan’s civilians and the country’s future generation.”

The blast, that occurred in the Pirkoti area leading to the Urgun district centre, also injured four other passengers of the private vehicle, including three children.

2016 marked the highest recorded civilian casualties caused by pressure-plate IEDs in a single year. Pressure-plate IEDs have killed a total of 2,111 civilians and injured 2,527 more since 2009, when UNAMA began systematically recording such figures in Afghanistan.

UNAMA expresses deepest condolences to the families of those killed and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured.

(Kabul, 6 February 2017): The UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Mr. Mark Bowden, was saddened to learn of the loss of life and widespread damage to property in Barg-e-Matal in Nuristan province due to an avalanche.

“On behalf of the UN humanitarian agencies, I wish to extend our condolences to all those families who have lost loved ones as a result of this avalanche,” Mr. Bowden said. “I commend the efforts of the Afghan government that has quickly mobilised to respond to the disaster.”

At least 50 people were reported as killed, with a further 13 injured from an avalanche in Nuristan which occurred in the early hours of 5 February. Further casualties from other avalanches and heavy snowfall were also reported in other areas around Afghanistan, including a reported 10 killed and 12 injured in Darwaz Bala, Badakhshan province.

The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) is leading the coordination of the operational response to the Nuristan avalanche and other natural disasters that have occurred. With some areas difficult to access, it may take some time until a clear picture of the full extent of the damage is known.

“The UN system stands ready to fully support the Afghan government in responding to the disaster,” said Mr. Bowden.

For further information, please contact: Danielle Moylan, OCHA Afghanistan Public Information Officer,
Telephone: (+93) 0793001110 or Email: moylan@un.org

Joint Press Release: The European Union and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan sign Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy and Vice–President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, and the Minister of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Eklil Hakimi, today signed a Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development (CAPD), in the presence of the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani.

"The European Union has always stood by the Afghan people and will continue to do so. After the very successful international conference we have jointly chaired in Brussels last year, now our cooperation grows even more. The Cooperation Agreement we have signed today will allow us to build on the areas that we already engage with the Afghan authorities on, such as human development, anti-corruption, state building, and the rule of law, as well as cooperation on migration. This agreement is a partnership agreement by name and by nature. The European Union will keep working with our Afghan partners for the stability and the sustainable development of the country, for the sake of all Afghans," said the High Representative/Vice-President, Federica Mogherini.

Minister Hakimi underlined that: "The Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development (CAPD) is a vital new framework for partnership between Afghanistan and the European Union. This agreement builds on our mutual commitments for stability and development made in Bonn in 2011, in Tokyo in 2012, in London in 2014 and renewed at the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan last year. It also formalises our partnership and provides an opportunity to strengthen friendship and cooperation between Afghanistan and the EU by conducting regular political dialogue on various fronts including on support for peace, security and development in Afghanistan and the region. I thank Ms. Mogherini, on behalf of the EU, for opening up a new chapter in the Afghanistan-EU relationship.”

The Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development is the first contractual relationship between the Union and Afghanistan and establishes the legal framework for EU-Afghanistan cooperation. The agreement confirms the EU's commitment to Afghanistan's future development during the "Decade of Transformation" (2015-2024). It will provide a basis for the EU's ongoing support to Afghanistan in the implementation of its comprehensive and detailed reform programme.

The CAPD reflects the principles and conditions for the EU-Afghanistan partnership, with an emphasis on holding regular dialogue on political issues, including human rights, in particular the rights of women and children, which are essential elements of this agreement. The Agreement will provide the basis for developing a mutually beneficial relationship in an increasing range of areas such as the rule of law, health, rural development, education, science and technology, as well as actions to combat corruption, money laundering, the financing of terrorism, organised crime and narcotics. It also foresees cooperation on migration. The Cooperation Agreement will also enable the EU and Afghanistan to jointly address global challenges, such as nuclear security, non-proliferation and climate change.

Kabul / Geneva (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is calling for the safe and unconditional release of two staff members abducted when their convoy was ambushed on 8 February in Jawzjan province, an attack that resulted in the killing of six ICRC staff members.

"We call on the abductors' sense of humanity and request the immediate, safe and unconditional release of our colleagues," said the Head of the ICRC Delegation in Afghanistan, Monica Zanarelli. "We also ask that any action that could endanger their lives is avoided. We do not want the agony and heartache of this tragedy to deepen."

We also appeal to all authorities and armed groups operating in the area to do their utmost to secure the safe release of the two ICRC staff members, and to avoid taking any action that could endanger their lives.

The ICRC has been active in Afghanistan for three decades, impartially assisting victims of the conflict with medical care, food assistance, family contacts and the dignified handling of human remains. It is a neutral, impartial and independent organization whose sole mission is strictly humanitarian.

Following the unjustifiable killing of six staff members and the abduction of two others, all ICRC activities in Afghanistan have been put on hold.

For further information, please contact:

Thomas Glass, ICRC Kabul (English), tel: +93 (0) 729 140 510

Ramin Ayaz Ahmad, ICRC Kabul (Dari and Pashto), tel: +93 (0) 794 618 908

Anastasia Isyuk, ICRC Geneva (English), tel: +41 79 251 93 02

Marie-Claire Feghali, ICRC Geneva (English), tel: +41 79 536 92 31

KANDAHAR - Raising awareness about women’s rights and gender-based violence is the aim of a new UN-backed radio campaign in the country’s southern provinces of Zabul, Kandahar and Helmand.

Panellists in the radio programmes, supported by the Kandahar regional office of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) as part of broader campaign against gender-based violence, are focusing on multiple aspects of women’s rights in and around Kandahar.

To address issues and challenges unique to the women living in Afghanistan’s southern region, radio stations in the provinces are launching the programming this week once they complete a series of meetings with women’s rights activist in the three provinces.

“This is the first time that we have consulted on women’s issues with a radio station,” said Ms. Fariba Ahmadi, the manager of Kandahar Treasure, a civil society group that works to protect women’s rights.

“Women, in general, face scores of challenges here, including access to education, health and work, and are subjected to different forms of violence in their communities,” she said. “The radio campaign is focusing on how to raise awareness about women’s rights.”

In the southern provinces, as in other areas of the country, Afghan women and girls continue to face several challenges, including forced and early marriages, domestic violence – both physical and mental – and other forms of violence.

According to UN reporting, most of the cases of violence against women go unreported because of fear of reprisal from family members. These unreported cases of violence are more numerous in remote areas, where access to formal justice mechanisms is reduced.

Radio programming is one of the most effective ways to reach remote communities. When the local radio stations complete the broadcasts during the next few weeks, an audience estimated in the hundreds of thousands will have heard the programming.

“Illiteracy and ignorance are the major factors contributing to gender-based violence in Zabul,” said Ms. Sadiqa Jalali, Zabul’s head of the provincial Women’s Affairs Department. “If our people are educated, they will know about the rights of women.”

UNAMA is mandated to support the Afghan Government and the people of Afghanistan as a political mission that provides 'good offices' among other key services. 'Good offices' are diplomatic steps that the UN takes publicly and in private, drawing on its independence, impartiality and integrity, to prevent international disputes from arising, escalating or spreading.

UNAMA also promotes coherent development support by the international community; assists the process of peace and reconciliation; monitors and promotes human rights and the protection of civilians in armed conflict; promotes good governance; and encourages regional cooperation.

“Military fire across the border into Nangarhar and Kunar Provinces has forced Afghan families to flee their homes. Whether indiscriminate or specifically targeted, such attacks forcibly displace civilians, violating International Humanitarian Law, and must stop,” said NRC Country Director in Afghanistan, Kate O'Rourke

An estimated 150 - 200 families have been displaced after Pakistani armed forces reportedly fired artillery and rockets into Lalpur district and other areas of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. Civilian injuries have also been reported. Many of these families fled to Lalpur district centre and Chiknawor village, in neighbouring Muhmand Dara district.

“The rocket firing started Friday morning, so we left the village. It took our family one and half hours to walk to Wara Lalpura,” said Haji Zia Jan, a 62 year-old IDP, by phone. “My son went back to the area again Saturday. He said all of the walls had collapsed and most of the animals had been killed,” he continued.

Haji Zia Jan's family, along with four others, are now staying in a single room in Lalpur district centre, thanks to the generosity of relatives.

“Nangarhar Province already overwhelmed by the impact of displacement in Afghanistan, with thousands of families internally displaced from conflict, well as tens of thousands of Afghan refugee families who felt forced to return from Pakistan in 2016. This further displacement from cross-border offensives aggravates suffering and compounds the critical humanitarian needs among communities in these areas,” said O’Rourke.

“It was early morning, when the rocket shelling started,” said Miya Noor Jan, 60, who also fled his village of Raidha with his family on Friday. “The firing was non-stop and we decided to leave before being killed,” said the displaced grandfather, to NRC staff in Kabul by phone. “We could only save our lives. All our belongings have been left behind. We have nothing here and we can’t go back.”

NRC is ready to support needs assessments and emergency responses, while acknowledging the Afghan Government’s primary responsibility to act. Local authorities, including the Department of Refugees and Repatriation (DoRR), today commenced preliminary needs assessments in Mohmand Dara and Ghani Khael.

Facts

The number of people displaced due to conflict has increased in Afghanistan over the past five years. More than 600,000 persons were internally displaced due to conflict in 2016 alone.

More than 600,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan between July and December 2016, and the majority settled in Nangarhar Province. NRC has assisted 35,000 of the most vulnerable of these families with life-saving emergency assistance and shelter. NRC also provides emergency education for 10,000 Afghan boys and girls in the area.

In 2016, NRC provided life-saving emergency assistance to over 80,000 people internally displaced by conflict in Afghanistan, within two weeks of their displacement, in some of the hardest-to-reach areas in the country. The Emergency Response Mechanism (ERM) in Afghanistan is a partnership between the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and seven international organisations, including NRC.

In total, over 2016, NRC directly assisted 300,000 displaced persons through its wider programming in Afghanistan, which includes legal assistance, shelter, and education in emergencies. NRC maintains ten offices across the country, including in Nangarhar.

Feature: Yemen

Context

About 5,300 families (32,000 people) in Taiz governorate were displaced by intense fighting in and around Al Mukha city between Al Houthi and pro-government forces. People fled to other districts within Taiz governorate or to neighbouring Al Hudaydah governorate. About 41,000 people were trapped in Al Mashaleeha, Al Zahari and Al Mukha areas as roads were closed. Intense airstrikes continued to target other coastal districts where some internally displaced people (IDPs) were located, triggering renewed displacement. Authorities at a health unit said some IDPs arriving at Al Khawkhah had wounds caused by airstrikes and gun shots. Most displaced families fled with few possessions and were staying with relatives, putting pressure on host families (ECHO, 7 February 2017).

A Norwegian Refugee Council report said: “Displaced people face a number of hardships, including lack of access to water, healthcare, shelter, education and a basic income. Still, 75 per cent identify food as their top priority among all these, illustrating the immediate and desperate need, a daily struggle for survival.” Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary General Jan Egeland said: “Since the conflict started, all the warring parties have impeded our ability to reach people who were in most need of humanitarian assistance. It is crucial that all restrictions on aid are lifted so that we are able to deliver life-saving services throughout Yemen … In Yemen, if bombs don’t kill you, a slow and painful death by starvation is now an increasing threat.” (Norwegian Refugee Council, 8 February 2017).

Provincial officials in eastern Afghanistan say 11 members of an Afghan family have been killed by a grenade attack on their home.

Authorities say the dead were all civilians and the victims included women and children.

Sarhadi Zwak, the spokesman for the governor of Laghman Province, told RFE/RL that unknown gunman late at night on February 19 threw two hand grenades into the family's home in the province's Baad Pakh district.

Zwak said 10 of the family members were killed inside their home.

Health official Abdul Latif Qayyomi said the 11th family member died while being rushed to a hospital in neighboring Nangarhar province.

Three other relatives were wounded by the blasts.

The attack took place in an area known as Marwat Kace, which is to the north of the main highway between Kabul and Jalalabad.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Admir Skodo, Researcher in History, Lund University

When it comes to being a refugee, your nationality really matters. Syrian asylum seekers are routinely prioritised over Afghan ones in what has become a deadly and dangerous hierarchy for Afghans seeking sanctuary in the West.

I have witnessed this at first hand in interviews for my ongoing research on asylum policy. An executive officer at the Swedish Board of Migration told me that Syrian asylum applications, unlike Afghan ones, are “easier” to process, which explains why the asylum process is much longer for Afghans than it is for Syrians. That same officer indicated that the Swedish government asked the Board of Migration to prioritise “easy” cases. A source familiar with American refugee policy also explained to me that “the US chooses Syrians and Iraqis over Afghans”.

In 2015, there were 2.7m Afghan refugees, the world’s second largest group after Syrians. Numbering 62,100 in 2016 in Europe, Afghans were also the second largest group of asylum seekers.

European migration agencies produce legally authoritative country guidance reports that assess the level of violence in a country. For the past decade or so these reports have consistently portrayed either all or some provinces of Afghanistan as “safe”. That assessment justifies deportations of Afghans, since internal migration to these “safe provinces” removes the threat of violence or persecution.

The insidious implication here is that many Afghans are not forced to leave their homes but are rather voluntary migrants. Yet while migration agencies make these assessments, foreign ministries of countries such as Sweden and the US deem all provinces of Afghanistan to be unsafe. These travel warnings are meant to guide citizens of Sweden and the US who are considering travelling to Afghanistan.

With double standards such as these it is no wonder that Afghan asylum seekers are seeing low approval rates and increasing deportation rates. In Sweden, for example, only a quarter of adult Afghan asylum seekers, and half of unaccompanied minors, were granted asylum in the first seven months of 2016. From 2012 to 2014 the number of Afghans granted asylum in the US was below 500 a year.

What are Afghans fleeing from?

Since 1979, Afghanistan has ranked between four and five out of five on the political terror scale, a measurement developed by political scientist Mark Gibney. Level five is the highest, interpreted as a condition where: “Terror has expanded to the whole population.” The mass flight of Afghans from their homes has occurred in the context of human rights abuses on a massive scale.

We are a long way from the Cold War-era when Afghan asylum seekers in the West were welcomed as heroes of anti-communism. The prospects of Afghan asylum seekers have worsened since 9/11. Since then, the number of Afghan asylum seekers to the US has drastically dropped as a result of policies influenced by the War on Terror which mistrust refugees from many Muslim countries.

But just like their Cold War counterparts, national asylum policies today differentiate Afghans based on group preferences and political agendas. A state will give a national or sub-national group preferential treatment if it serves the interests of its foreign policy. In the 1980s, Afghan asylum seekers in the US obtained asylum more easily than other groups facing comparable persecution because they discredited communism. Today, they have a harder time than other groups fleeing from similar circumstances because they are associated with Islamist terrorism.

Such treatment seriously undermines the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol on the status of refugees. But in the framework of the convention, individual states always have final say on refugee and asylum policy. Afghans have been downgraded from “first-class” asylum seekers during the Cold War to “second-class” ones during the War on Terror without breaking the convention.

But there is context here. It was Western powers led by the US and the UK who played a significant part in creating the conditions that forced Afghans to flee their country. The historian Robert D. Crews writes that:

It is an overstatement to conclude that American policies led to the rise of the Taliban, but it is fair to say that the mujahedeen party leaders and their families who received US backing during the anti-Soviet jihad continue to dominate Afghan politics to this very day.

In the aftermath of 9/11, he argues, the Americans “bear considerable responsibility” for the creation of the authoritarian and corrupt Afghan government, which is illegitimate in the eyes of many Afghans.

Yet, the US and other Western countries that sent troops to Afghanistan have placed the burden of responsibility for the mass exodus on internal Afghan affairs. Among the justifications invoked are pseudo-anthropological claims that Afghans are a tribal people prone to wage wars. By portraying Afghanistan as a war-torn country, Western states are evading welcoming its refugees.

The Afghan interpreters

The deprioritised status of Afghan asylum seekers is perhaps most glaring in the case of the Afghan interpreters who worked for Western governments. In 2009, the US created special immigrant visas for Afghans who were employed by or on behalf of the US government. Not a single visa was processed until 2011. A Human Rights First fact sheet states that the programme: “Was designed to provide 7,500 visas over five years. Extensions were passed in 2014 and 2015 that made 7,000 more visas available.” Many Afghan interpreters who worked for US forces remain in asylum limbo in Afghanistan.

The hesitation to admit Afghans who were directly persecuted because they worked for foreign governments is also found in countries such as Sweden, Britain and Germany. It was recently revealed, for example, that a lawyer from the Swedish Board of Migration attempted to influence a migration court to deny asylum to three Afghan interpreters. It remains unclear why the attorney attempted to discredit the asylum seekers, but her actions were deemed highly inappropriate by the Board of Migration.

The plight of Afghans shows that both international human rights as well as national asylum law can be shaped around specific groups of refugees and asylum seekers. When that happens, we see how contradictory political agendas can determine who receives priority in being granted asylum. Seen in this light, Donald Trump’s recent attempt to block all Syrian refugees from coming to the US may be extreme, but not surprising.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Avalanche kills seven near Lowari Tunnel

• NDMA prepares framework for vulnerable, low-income communities

• Wind, rain, heat: Health risks grow with extreme weather

• Babies starving as food runs low in Pakistan's drought-hit Tharparkar district

• CM approves shifting of eight ATCs from Clifton to Central jail

• Sindh govt fails to provide adequate security in Sehwan, says MQM, PMLF

• Punjab sends summary to federal government for Rangers’ deployment

• 650 suspected terrorists arrested in countrywide crackdown

• Efforts for military courts’ revival gather steam

• Census to be held as per schedule: PBS

• DRAP CEO to file cases against pharmaceutical companies

• Govt asked to collect data of five major diseases in census

9 million Afghans are in need of humanitarian aid, including basic food and housing

By Mirwais Harooni

KABUL, Feb 20 (Reuters) - As many as 50 people have died in storms over the past three days in Afghanistan, including 25 shepherds lost in a blizzard, a government disaster management official said on Monday.

Also among the dead were 11 people killed in separate incidents in roof collapses in heavy rain in Kabul province, said Omar Mohammadi, a spokesman for the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Agency.

Another 44 people were hurt in weather-related accidents.

Read more on the Thomson Reuters Foundation

The Government of Japan has allocated USD 34.3 million to support IOM’s operations to assist vulnerable migrants including displaced persons, refugees, returnees and affected communities around the world in 2017.

The funding will also contribute to increasing the capacity of various governments in humanitarian border management to cope with displacement resulting from conflicts and to enhance security.

Over half of the amount (USD18.1 million) has been allocated towards IOM programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Somalia and South Sudan.

A significant amount of the money will be used to improve border management capacity of governments in Western Africa, including Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

IOM offices in Middle East and North Africa, including Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Turkey and Yemen, have also received significant funding for the regional response to the Syrian crisis and assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq, Libya and Yemen.

In Afghanistan, the funding will be used to provide vulnerable Afghan returnees from Iran with life-saving, post-arrival humanitarian assistance and to build local capacities in the country through the return of skilled nationals from Iran.

In Ukraine, the funding will help IOM to rehabilitate social infrastructure and enhance social cohesion in selected communities in the conflict-affected Donbas region.

The Japanese government in the past has supported IOM’s humanitarian and recovery activities, including the delivery of immediate live saving relief, community stabilization and early recovery activities, as well as emergency return and reintegration assistance for migrants caught up in crises.

For further information, please contact Yuko Goto at IOM Tokyo, Tel: + 81 3 3595 0108, Email: iomtokyo@iom.int

1. On February 24, the Government of Japan decided to extend Emergency Grant Aid of 7 million US dollars through the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in order to support Afghan refugees and their host communities in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan through assistance such as the provision of food and educational and vocational training.

2. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has hosted an enormous number of Afghan refugees for over thirty years in the past. The number of refugees who return to Afghanistan has been drastically increased since July 2016. After the winter pause of repatriation process, it is expected that very large scale of refugee will start to return again in March this year. The Government of Afghanistan is concerned about the worsening of humanitarian and security situations in the country. Considering this situation, UNHCR has called the international community for immediate support to Afghan refugees and their host communities in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Highlights

• Villages in remote areas in Daykundi Province are enjoying access to better health care under a government project that aims to broaden the reach of quality health care to the population, particularly for poorer sections.

• Under the System Enhancement for Health Action in Transition (SEHAT) Program, nongovernmental organizations are contracted to provide basic health care and essential hospital services across Afghanistan.

• Community outreach also is carried out under SEHAT to raise public awareness of diseases and other health-related issues.

NILI DISTRICT, Daykundi Province – Malika, 40, sits on the chair beside the doctor, describing a problem she’s been having with her lungs. Her breaths are labored and she speaks slowly. It is early morning and the Shish Basic Health Center (BHC) is still quiet, the corridor empty.

Today, Malika has walked two hours to reach the health center. The doctor writes her a prescription and advises her to exercise every day and to eat fruit and vegetables. “I have had a problem with my lungs for two years,” says Malika, a resident of Jan Mohammad village. “The quality of medicine that I receive from this health center is much better than other medicines that are sold in pharmacies in the market.”

As there are widespread quality control problems with domestically produced pharmaceutical drugs in Afghanistan, the health center imports medicines from the Netherlands to ensure patients have access to high quality prescription drugs.

The whitewashed health center is the only concrete building in Shish village, which lies in Nili district in Daykundi in central Afghanistan. It was founded in 2006 and operates with a staff of seven, including nurse, midwife, vaccinators, cleaner, and guard, from 8 am to 4 pm daily. Shish BHC covers an area of nearly 20,000 people, most of whom earn their income through agriculture.

Health services at Shish BHC is provided by Première Urgence-Aide Médicale Internationale (PU-AMI), a French nongovernmental organization (NGO), which has been contracted by the Ministry of Public Heath (MoPH). The contract is one of several performance-based partnership agreements between MoPH and NGOs to deliver a defined packages of basic health services and essential hospital services under the ministry’s System Enhancement for Health Action in Transition (SEHAT) Program. The provision of services by NGOs is monitored through the regular health management information system, and a third party.

SEHAT aims to expand the scope, quality, and coverage of health services provided to the population, particularly for the poor. It is supported by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s fund for the poorest countries, and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), in partnership with multiple donors.

Strong coordination

Before the implementation of SEHAT in Daykundi in 2014, health centers faced many challenges, including shortage of medication and properly trained staff. A mountainous province, Daykundi faced especial difficulties in transporting medication to health centers during the winter. In some parts of the province, transportation problems affected delivery of adequate medicines for urgent health cases in specialized centers from the provincial capital, Nili.

Many of these problems have been resolved since under SEHAT. Through SEHAT, PU-AMI delivers medication every six months to health centers that lie far from Nili and face a potential shortage during the winter months.

“The coordination between health centers and the organization that provides health facilities has become much better than it was in the past,” says Dr. Ahmad Fahim, 29, a PU-AMI technician officer in Daykundi. “We hold meetings regularly with doctors, the MoPH directorate, and the local people. It helps us to deliver high quality health services successfully across the province.”

Community engagement raises awareness

Since the implementation of SEHAT in Shish village, the health center has worked to establish a health-minded community, engaging locals on health issues and educating them about diseases and other health-related risks. Every month, health center staff hold meetings with the villagers, and the health center hosts regular seminars and workshops.

These programs are an opportunity for villagers to interact with each other, discuss health issues and take information home to share with their families. “We learn a lot from workshops and meetings,” says Safar Mohammad, 57, a member of the Health Community Council (HCC) in Shish village. “We are satisfied with the health center services, most of our health problems are addressed at the center and we do not need to walk as far as we did.”

The center also has 15 health “posts” in nearby villages, where a male and female volunteer engage in community outreach and give basic medical advice. “Our health posts work closely with the villagers,” says Dr. Ghulam Ali, 34, a Shish BHC medical officer. “People’s awareness of health issues is much better than five years ago. Villagers refer their health issues to the health center and the rate of disease is low.”

The health posts work to raise public awareness through public outreach campaigns, which include health campaigns in mosques and door-to-door visits to distribute health-related information. The work of the health centers has contributed to an increasing trust in institutional health services in the province. “Many years ago it was a big shame for a woman to come to a health center for childbirth or family planning,” says Monwar, 35, a vaccinator at the Shish BHC. “Now, most of the births are delivered in the health center and people’s health awareness has improved.”

“Two students were tragically and needlessly killed in Laghman Province, and seven others and a teacher injured, when a mortar round struck their school. We cannot let children and schools continue to become victims of this escalating conflict,” said NRC Country Director in Afghanistan, Kate O'Rourke. “Education is increasingly becoming a casualty of the conflict.”

Around 10am Saturday 25 Feb, a mortar round struck a state-run classroom in the Shaheed Mawlawi Habib Rahman High School in the Besram area of Alingar District, in the Eastern province of Laghman.

“Everyone was in class when we heard the sound of a mortar being fired nearby,” said Abdul Latif Kochai, the School Principal. “Our students and nearby villagers frantically transported those injured to the hospital. The medical staff tried their best to treat them. Two of our male students died—one in Grade 7, the other in Grade 11.”

The day before, armed clashes between armed opposition groups and Afghan security forces had intensified near Besram, located near the border between Alingar and Mehterlam districts.

Neither side has accepted responsibility. However, around two hundred villagers protested later that day outside the Laghman Provincial Governor’s Compound in Mehterlam.

“This is tragedy for the families of these children and their communities. The aspirations of these students and teachers to contribute to a better future in their country have been destroyed in this senseless incident,” said O’Rourke. "The rise in attacks on education in Afghanistan undermines the progress made in the last decade. Afghan parents must increasingly choose between their children’s education and their safety."

International Humanitarian Law proscribes attacks on educational institutions by military forces.

“The Afghan Government is commended for being one of the first signatories to the Oslo Safe Schools Declaration. It must investigate all attacks on schools and hold those found responsible accountable,” said Will Carter, Head of Programme, NRC Afghanistan.

“The Government should not dismiss any information before it has conducted a thorough investigation. There is no evidence to suggest that the school was occupied by the Taliban, or had in some way become a legitimate military target. Instead, students were studying.”

Facts

The Government of Afghanistan endorsed the Oslo Safe Schools Declaration in a meeting hosted by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 29 May 2015, along with 36 other States. To date, 59 States are signatories to the Declaration.

The number of people displaced due to conflict has increased in Afghanistan over the past five years. More than 600,000 persons were internally displaced due to conflict in 2016 alone. On top of this, more than 600,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan between July and December 2016, with the majority settling in eastern Afghanistan.

In 2016, NRC supported the education of approximately 80,000 Afghan boys and girls affected by conflict and emergency in Afghanistan, including 10,000 in the Eastern region. This work is primarily funded by the EU (ECHO), Norway and Sweden (Sida).

In total, over 2016, NRC directly assisted 300,000 displaced persons through its wider programming in Afghanistan, which includes legal assistance, shelter, and education in emergencies. NRC maintains ten offices across the country, including in Nangarhar, which also responds to humanitarian needs in Laghman Province.

A second Safe Schools Declaration meeting is scheduled for 28-29th March 2017 in Argentina, aiming for increased commitment to the Oslo Safe Schools Declaration.

Impoverished parents and organised gangs routinely exploit children for profit.

By Ozra Aziz

Farishta lay on the ground by a busy road junction in the centre of Herat city, begging alongside two boys the 40-year-old said were her grandsons.

The young children, dressed in flimsy clothes despite the wintry weather, seemed drowsy and unable to feel the cold.

“I give them sleeping pills every morning,” Farishta told IWPR. She said that she used to beg on the streets alone, but only managed to earn a pittance.

However, ever since she started bringing her grandchildren with her, drugging them so that they would spend hours asleep by the roadside, she had been earning eight to ten dollar each day.

Passersby, she said, were much more sympathetic.

“There are still nice people living in this world,” she continued, “because a short while ago a man and woman came up to me and said that they would pay me a sum each month if I stopped making my grandsons sleep on the roadsides.”

She continued, “I didn’t accept their request because I make more money begging on the streets than any amount they would pay me monthly.”

Activists in the northern province of Herat are warning that local government is doing little to address the rampant exploitation of children by street beggars and gangs.

Officals argue that the problem is endemic across the whole of the country, and that they are helping vulnerable children as best they can with limited resources.

The government banned street-begging in 2008 and set up a commission together with the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) to combat the practice.

In reality, these efforts have had little effect and men and women begging alongside babies and children remains a common sight.

Most of the children appear to be sleeping, but in fact have often been given opium or other narcotic drugs to keep them subdued and help win public sympathy. Sometimes, women even “rent” their children out to other beggars at a daily rate.

Herat police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said that an even greater threat were the gangs who ran teams of organised beggars.

In recent years, the police had run a number of operations to break up such organised exploitation, he continued. Children extracted from these situations were either returned home, if their parents agreed to keep them a way from the gangs in future, or introduced to the probationary system.. Others were sent to the local Shahed orpahange, run by by the department of labour and social affairs, which currently has around 250 residents.

“As a result of a special operation in May 2016, Herat police were able to arrest the head of a gang that abused and exploited eight children,” Ahmadi explained.

“Children from poor families were hired to beg and steal goods,” he said. “After police arrested the head of the gang, four children aged under 15 were sent to the juvenile rehabilitation centre and the other four children were sent to the Shahed orphanage.”

Mirwais Amini, head of children’s rights support and protection at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in Herat, said that such abuse was now a major challenge in the province.

Many children were used to smuggle drugs and beg for money or were sexually exploited.

“In 2013, the AIHRC with the cooperation and help of Herat’s department of labour and social affairs began identifying and picking up children who had been exploited,” he said. “As a result of our investigations, we brought in ten children who had been forced to beg for these gangs.”

Some had been returned to their parents and others sent to the Shahed orphanage.

“Families that agree to hire their children out to [professional] beggars are uneducated and many are impoverished,” he continued, adding that children were particularly vulnerable to exploitation by drug addicts, who in turn gave them narcotics so as to make begging easier.

“According to AIHRC’s statistics, there are about 60,000 child addicts throughout Afghanistan and most of these children are beggars.”

Mohammad Yaqub is the director of the Shakhsar Institute, an Afghan NGO dedicated to supporting the rights of children.

He said that state institutions had simply failed to address the problem.

“Every year, government officials talk about collecting all street children and children who are abused and exploited, but they have yet to take even basic steps.”

He continued, “If the govenement worked with charitable foundations to start collecting vulnerable children, all the orphans and all the exploited children would be brought in in less than a month.”

He said that local officials had ignored the results of a survey his institute carried out in 2012 which he claimed showed the real extent of the problem.

“About 55 per cent of men and women [we questioned] earned a lot of money begging in Herat and about 25 per cent of these beggars exploited children and saw their incomes increase as a result. Moreover, around 40 per cent of street children were abused by drug dealers and thieves, some of them sexually.”

He continued, “We have repeatedly shared this issue with the officials of department of labour and social affairs, but they have always made the excuse that they don’t have enough budgetary resources. In fact, they have never even considered taking basic steps in this regard.”

Herat provincial council member Sakinah Hosseini also said that the provincial government were failing to address public concerns.

“Many local citizens have approached Herat’s provincial council to complain that children were being exploited by beggars, and we shared their complaints with officials from the department of labor and social affairs. However, nothing has been done to help these vulnerable children.”

Khaldeh Afzali, head of Herat’s department of of labour and social affair, said in response that they had been doing their best to tackle the issue of street children.

In one joint operation with the AIHRC a few years ago, she said, they had brought in 80 children at risk over just a few days. Thirty of them were returned to their families.

“We don’t have any exact figures for how many children are abused and exploited by professional street beggars,” Afzali continued, adding that there was also no dedicated government budget for the protection of children exploited by professional beggars.

That meant that many children were now simply sent to orphanages to keep them off the streets.

“In the past, they used to serve only children in Herat who were really orphans, but this year the ministry of labour and social affairs ordered that all children who are abused and exploited should be collected from around the city and transferred to state-run orphanages.”

For now, begging with children has become a way of life for many destuture people.

Torpekai, 35, lives in the Darb Malek district of Herat and has been begging on the streets for the last four years.

“My husband was killed in a dispute in the Taywarah district of Ghor in 2012 and I had no idea what would happen to me and my three children,” she told IWPR. “So I started begging.”

She continued, “At first, I begged alone, But then my neighbours advised me to give sleeping pills or drugs to my children and lay them on the side of the road, and this technique was so effective I started earning a lot by doing that. I’ve also rented my six-year-old to a woman [beggar] who pays me three dollars per day.”

This report was produced under IWPR’s Promoting Human Rights and Good Governance in Afghanistan initiative, funded by the European Union Delegation to Afghanistan.

JALALABAD - In a regional conference on women’s participation in peace and sustainable development, women activists, government officials and diplomats stressed that women must play a unique and robust role in building peace in Afghanistan.

The daylong event, held in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, was organized by the provincial administration of Nangarhar in collaboration with the regional office of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Departments of Women’s Affairs in three eastern provinces.

The conference was attended by more than 250 participants, most of them women. These included a deputy on Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, the provincial governor of Nangarhar, the French ambassador to Afghanistan, representatives from UNAMA, directors of the Departments of Women’s Affairs from Nangarhar, Laghman and Kunar, and representatives from across civil society.

Eastern Afghanistan, a mostly Pashtun region, runs up against a rugged border with Pakistan. At the height of the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, the region served as a frontline for intense fighting. In recent years, the region has seen more conflict, and is contested by several armed groups opposing government forces.

“We are working hard to empower women to take part in all social and political activities,” said Dr. Habiba Sarabi, an HPC deputy. “We want to change the culture of violence to a culture of peace throughout the country, including in the eastern provinces.”

Adding his name to calls for peace and a greater role for women, Nangarhar Provincial Governor Muhamad Gulab Mangal said that the purpose of the Jalalabad gathering was to express support for UN Security Council Resolution 1325 passed in October 2000. The resolution reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflict, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It stresses the importance of women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.

Mangal assured participants that he is committed to increasing the number of posts in government offices for women, and adding his support for incorporating gender perspectives in all peace and security efforts.

A UN official welcomed the views. “The UN acknowledges the Afghan government’s commitment to strengthen the participation of women in political life and in governance institutions, including elected and appointed bodies and promoting the full participation of women in the electoral and peace processes,” said Seif Ibrahim Kibayasi, a UNAMA political officer.

Mr. François Richier, the Ambassador of France in Afghanistan, stated that such dynamic conferences show commitment by the Afghan government to women’s empowerment, peace, and the protection of rights. He pledged that France would work to support young Afghan women students seeking to study abroad and at home.

Speaking about the achievements of women in neighboring Kunar, Suhaila Baburi, director of Kundar’s Department of Women’s Affairs, said: “Last year, about 68,000 women were provided with vocational training facilities in different fields in several parts of Kunar province, with the support of Afghan government and international community.” She asked the Afghan government and the international community to extend more support to women, to ensure continuation of the progress in promoting women rights.

UNAMA is mandated to support the Afghan Government and the people of Afghanistan as a political mission that provides 'good offices' among other key services. 'Good offices' are diplomatic steps UN takes publicly and in private, drawing on its independence, impartiality and integrity, to prevent international disputes from arising, escalating or spreading.

UNAMA also promotes coherent development support by the international community; assists the process of peace and reconciliation; monitors and promotes human rights and the protection of civilians in armed conflict; promotes good governance; and encourages regional cooperation.

A lack of security in districts means that boys and girls can simply not learn.

Civil society activists are warning that the state school system in the southern province of Kandahar is in chaos, with some 50,000 children completely deprived of access to education.

Mohibulah Qadiri, director of Kandahar’s education department, told IWPR, “Kandahar has 573 schools and 420 of these schools are currently active. But the remaining 153 are not functioning.”

Kandahar, which shares a border with Pakistan, faces an ongoing insurgency and the lack of security has made life difficult for many residents, especially in more remote districts.

Qadirir said that all government schools had been shut down in the districts of Shorabak, Registan and Ghorak.

Some had been closed in other districts of Kandahar including Shah Wali Kot, Khakrez, Mya Neshin, Nesh, Maywand and Arghistan.

“Insecurity, a deficit of school buildings, a lack of teachers and the absence of cooperation and support from local people in some areas are the reasons many of these schools had to close,” he continued.

For instance, Qadiri explained, some schools in the districts lacked adequate shelter for their students. Around 200 buildings needed to be constructed for these schools to function properly.

Better-off families in Kandahar have some recourse to the private school system. Bashir Ahmad Basharmal, head of the Private Schools Association, said that there were five private high schools, eight middle schools and 17 primary schools catering for some 18,000 students, including 4,000 girls.

But this was not an option for most people in the province, especially those living in more remote areas.

Social activist Fazal-ul-Bari Baryalai warned that depriving 50,000 children of education each year would have far-reaching consequences, not just on Kandahar but on the nation as a whole.

“Countries where educational centres are closed to prospective students can never develop,” he said. “It’s so disappointing to hear that 153 schools are closed in Kandahar province.”

Abdul Wase Ghairatmal, head of the local branch of Nai - Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan, agreed that it was shameful for so many children to be deprived of education in one of Afghanistan’s largest provinces.

He claimed that corruption was partly to blame for the closures, with government funds diverted by local officials.

This has been a problem in other provinces such as Ghor, in central Afghanistan, where salaries have been routinely paid to absentee staff although schools remain closed.

(See also Afghanistan: Ghor's Education System Near Collapse).

Ghairatmal added, “Millions of Afghanis are taken for these closed-down schools and there are people who then divide this huge amount of money among themselves.”

However, Qadiri rejected any accusations of corruption within Kandahar’s education department. He said that his department was working hard to reopen schools across all of Kandahar’s districts so that all children could continue their education.

It was important to note that over 277,000 students were in school, he continued, including more than 67,000 girls.

As well as the 5,215 registered teachers currently employed by the department, including 713 women, Qadiri said that they had recruited another 2,000 teachers on a temporary basis to support local schools.

“Our priority is to reopen the closed schools and there has been no corruption - and will be no corruption - in the process,” he said. “The teachers who teach are paid and the teachers at closed schools are not paid.”

Others say that the problem is so severe that it needs direct intervention from central government.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has asked the government to address school closures in Kandahar.

Abdul Aziz Akrami, head of the AIHRC’s regional press office, said that the government should prioritise reopening the schools because every child had the right to education.

Kandahar provincial council member Syed Ahmad Selab also said that he had raised the issue of Kandahar’s education crisis with relevant officials in Kabul.

“I have repeatedly discussed the problems of Kandahar’s schools with the ministry of education,” he said. “They promised to solve these problems, but nothing happened and all the problems just remained as they were.”

Samim Ikhplwak, the spokesman for Kandahar’s governor, agreed with Selab that little action had been taken. He said that the governor had also raised the problems of Kandahar’s schools with the ministry of education but to no avail.

In response, Kabir Haqmal, head of publications at the education ministry, said that provincial officials had unrealistic expectations of what central government could do.

“Just sharing problems with the ministry of education doesn’t mean that they can be solved immediately. We are responsible for the whole country, so we have to provide our services fairly without discriminating between provinces.”

Haqmal said that the department had its own issues to deal with.

“Every problem is solved when we have the infrastructure, but sometimes it takes longer to provide main facilities.”

For the foreseeable future, families in the districts affected have little option but to move if they want their children to go to school.

Mohammad Aslam, 16, is originally from the Khakriz district of Kandahar. His family moved to the provincial capital so he could get an education, but the teenager said that his dearest wish was to be able to go to school back in his home village.

“The schools are closed in our area,” he said. “We want them reopened so that we can study and continue our education locally without having to worry.”

His schoolmate Zabihullah, a 14-year-old from the district of Shah Wali Kot, is in the same situation.

“The government should listen to us and reopen our schools as soon as possible,” he said. “If the schools in our districts remain closed, the future of boys and girls our age will be even darker.”

This report was produced under IWPR’s Promoting Human Rights and Good Governance in Afghanistan initiative, funded by the European Union Delegation to Afghanistan.

Purpose

The Afghanistan Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) was established in January 2014 under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC). The objective of the CHF is to promote needs based assistance in accordance with humanitarian principles, to respond to the most urgent needs, and strengthen coordination and leadership of the HC and the Clusters. OCHA’s country based pooled funding (CBPF) mechanism ensures timely and flexible funding is available in Afghanistan to address immediate needs while at the same time reinforcing coordinated humanitarian action.
All approved CHF funding is allocated in coordination with the Clusters and in alignment with the operational objectives articulated in the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), which have been developed through a comprehensive consultative process to determine priorities based on inter-sectoral needs analysis.

Context

The continued deepening and geographic spread of the conflict, with increasingly constrained access to basic services and a massive return of refugees and undocumented Afghans in the second half of 2016, has prompted a 13% increase in the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2017 – approximately 9.3 million people. The 2017 HRP outlines the planned delivery of humanitarian assistance over the next 12 months that aims to reach at least 5.7 million of those in need at a cost of US$550 million.

Priorities

As of January 2017, CHF available funds amount to just 5% of the 2017 HRP funding requirement. With only a few donors as yet providing information regarding their 2017 Afghanistan funding intentions to the global Financial Tracking Service 1 the allocation strategy is unable to take into account other contributions in determining the most urgent and strategic allocation.
The interventions identified for support under this first CHF Standard Allocation have been determined in accordance with the prioritisation principles applied to the development of the HRP strategy, and drawing on cluster-led exercises to identify the most urgent priorities and gaps in assistance within their sectors.

The total amount of funding available for this allocation is c. $22 million. The funding will be allocated to address key priorities outlined under the following four allocation envelopes:

1. Increasing access to life saving basic health and nutrition services;

2. Addressing basic needs of undocumented returnees and their hosts;

3. Response to neglected needs exacerbated in a deteriorating humanitarian and protection environment;

4. Emergency Response Preparedness.

An Emergency Reserve of $7 million will be maintained to enable flexible response to new, unforeseen humanitarian emergencies, to be activated by the HC as and when need arises.

26-27 November 2016
Meeting on Access to Legal Assistance and Legal Aid by Refugees in Turkey was organized in cooperation with the Union of Turkish Bar Associations

Almost 710
Turkish lawyers from different Bar Associations throughout the country attended UNHCR capacity building workshops in 2015-16.

Resettlement
Continues to rank as the most queried topic after an evaluation conducted by the Legal Clinic

OPERATIONAL CONTEXT

ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND LEGAL REMEDIES IN THE CURRENT LEGAL FRAMEWORK

• The endorsement of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (LFIP) in April 2014 introduced a specific provision reinforcing access to justice and legal remedies, including pro bono legal assistance for asylum applicants and refugees as well as judiciary review by the Administrative and Magistrate Courts in the appeals procedure. The LFIP is complemented by other legislation already recognizing the right to legal aid for persons seeking international protection in Turkey.

• The right to submit individual applications to the Constitutional Court strengthened available legal remedies: In 2010, pursuant to Constitutional amendments, any person whose fundamental rights and freedoms, as set forth in the ECHR and guaranteed by the Constitution, have been infringed upon by a public authority can apply to the Constitutional Court.