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	Afghanistan: Comprehensive, systematic assault on the rights of women and girls by UN Women, NRC, HRW, OHCHR, agencies   Aug. 2023   Two years since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. (UN Women)   On 15 August 2021, everything changed for women and girls in Afghanistan. First came the curbs on girls’ education and women’s right to work, then the enforcement of strict dress codes and impositions on women’s freedom of movement and access to public life.   Two years after their takeover of Afghanistan, through more than 50 edicts, orders, and restrictions, the Taliban have systematically imposed a set of meticulously constructed policies of inequality that impact every part of a woman’s life, that regulate where a woman can go and how she should dress.   UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous:   It is now two years since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, during which time it has imposed the most comprehensive, systematic, and unparalleled assault on the rights of women and girls. Through over 50 edicts, orders and restrictions, the Taliban have left no aspect of women’s lives untouched, no freedom spared. They have created a system founded on the mass oppression of women that is rightly and widely considered gender apartheid.   Afghan women have told me and the world about the ways in which these actions are misguided, cruel and ultimately self-defeating. They lessen the women and girls of Afghanistan, and the people of Afghanistan who are robbed of their contribution.   This most blatant violation of basic rights to which the international community has unambiguously proclaimed its commitment is a harm to every one of us across the human family. These are our sisters. They are suffering. We cannot and must not accept this. It must end now.   Despite these challenges, Afghan women tell me that they will not give up or give in. They will continue to lead the struggle against their oppression. In the face of the most hostile of circumstances they speak out against the violations, deliver lifesaving services and run women’s organizations. Their bravery must inspire us to greater action, their example to renewed determination.   I call on all actors to join us in supporting Afghan women in every way, elevating their voices, priorities, and recommendations, funding the services they so desperately need, supporting their businesses and organizations. I urge the international community to continue to apply every pressure and employ every means at their disposal to press for change, including by answering the call of the humanitarian community and fully funding the humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan. I urge the Taliban to reconsider and to weigh the cost of these acts for Afghanistan’s present and future.   http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/statement/2023/08/statement-on-afghanistan-by-un-women-executive-director-sima-bahous http://www.educationcannotwait.org/news-stories/press-releases/two-years-afghan-girls-call-the-heart-claim-their-right-education-rings http://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/10/afghanistan-repression-worsens-2-years-taliban-rule http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/taliban-edicts-suffocating-women-and-girls-afghanistan-un-experts   * After August: A collection of stories documenting the lives of Afghan women is a collaboration between UN Women Afghanistan, Zan Times, Limbo and independent storytellers: http://www.afteraugust.org/   Aug. 2022   Taliban authorities have imposed severe restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights. (HRW)   The Taliban have broken multiple pledges to respect human rights and women’s rights since taking over Afghanistan a year ago, Human Rights Watch said today. After capturing Kabul on August 15, 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed severe restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights, suppressed the media, and arbitrarily detained, tortured, and summarily executed critics and perceived opponents, among other abuses.   Taliban human rights abuses have brought widespread condemnation and imperiled international efforts to address the country’s dire humanitarian situation, Human Rights Watch said. The economy has collapsed, largely because governments have cut foreign assistance and restricted international economic transactions. More than 90 percent of Afghans have been food insecure for almost a year, causing millions of children to suffer from acute malnutrition and threatening serious long-term health problems.   “The Afghan people are living a human rights nightmare, victims of both Taliban cruelty and international apathy,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Afghanistan’s future will remain bleak unless foreign governments engage more actively with Taliban authorities while pressuring them vigorously on their rights record.”   Since taking power, the Taliban have imposed rules that comprehensively prevent women and girls from exercising their most fundamental rights to expression, movement, and education, and affect their other basic rights to life, livelihood, health care, food, and water. They have prohibited women from traveling or going to their workplace without a male family member accompanying them – an impossible requirement for almost all families – and barred them from many jobs. The Taliban have denied almost all girls access to secondary school.   The Taliban’s terrible human rights record and their unwillingness to meaningfully engage with international financial institutions have furthered their isolation, Human Rights Watch said. Foreign governments should ease restrictions on the country’s banking sector to facilitate legitimate economic activity and humanitarian aid, but the Taliban also need to curtail rights abuses and hold those responsible for abuses to account.   “The Taliban should urgently reverse their horrifying and misogynistic decision to bar girls and women from secondary school,” Abbasi said. “This would send a message that the Taliban are willing to reconsider their most egregious actions.”   Many governments have denounced or criticized the Taliban’s decision to restrict girls’ education, including the entire United Nations Security Council and almost all members of the G7 and G20. No government has defended or sought to justify the Taliban’s position.   Over the past year, Human Rights Watch has produced numerous media releases and reports on Taliban human rights abuses and the humanitarian and economic crisis. These include support for the US and the Taliban to negotiate an agreement allowing ordinary Afghans to engage more effectively in legitimate commercial activity. The US and the Taliban should act with urgency to reach a settlement to address the country’s economic crisis.   Acute hunger is pervasive across Afghanistan, even though food and basic supplies are available in markets throughout the country, Human Rights Watch said. Almost 20 million people – half the population – are suffering either level-3 “crisis” or level-4 “emergency” levels of food insecurity under the assessment system of the World Food Programme (WFP).   Over one million children under 5 – especially at risk of dying when deprived of food – are suffering from prolonged acute malnutrition. The WFP reported in June that tens of thousands of people in one province, Ghor, had slipped into level-5 “catastrophic” acute food insecurity, a precursor to famine.   Overall, Afghans have been suffering from some form of food insecurity since last August, skipping meals or whole days of eating and engaging in extreme coping mechanisms to pay for food, including sending children to work.   The impact of the economic crisis on women and girls is especially severe, as women and girls have increasing difficulties accessing assistance and health care.   The humanitarian situation would be even worse had the UN and other aid providers not substantially increased their operations in 2022, Human Rights Watch said.   “After a year in power, Taliban leaders should recognize the catastrophe they have created and reverse course on rights, before more Afghans suffer and more lives are lost,” Abbasi said.   http://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/11/afghanistan-talibans-catastrophic-year-rule http://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/04/afghanistan-economic-crisis-underlies-mass-hunger http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/07/afghanistan-talibans-suffocating-crackdown-destroying-lives-of-women-and-girls-new-report/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/healthcare-women-afghanistan-under-taliban/ http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2022/08/09/Afghanistan-Taliban-war-and-poverty http://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220813-misery-and-disease-conquer-afghanistan-a-year-into-taliban-rule   July 2022   UN Human Rights Council holds Urgent Debate on the Human Rights of Women and Girls in Afghanistan. (OHCHR)   The United Nations Human Rights Council today held an urgent debate on the human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, hearing Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, say that since the Taliban took power, women and girls in Afghanistan were experiencing the most significant and rapid roll-back in enjoyment of their rights across the board in decades.   Federico Villegas, President of the Council, said that the urgent debate was being held at the request of the European Union and France. He said that discrimination against women was one of the oldest violations of human rights, and it affected more than half of humanity. Today the Human Rights Council was addressing this situation at a critical time, when there were serious regressions in progress and achievements made on the rights of women and girls across the world, including Afghanistan.   MICHELLE BACHELET, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the earthquake in Afghanistan had aggravated the already desperate situation facing the Afghan population, especially women and girls. Hunger and food insecurity were affecting over 90 per cent of women-headed households, and there was growing domestic violence and harassment; attacks on women human rights defenders, journalists, judges, lawyers and prosecutors; massive unemployment of women; restrictions on movement and dress and its impact on access to basic services; and growing anxiety and depression. Secondary schooling for 1.2 million girls had been discontinued. These were only some of the daily experiences of women and girls in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban took power, women and girls were experiencing the most significant and rapid roll-back in enjoyment of their rights across the board in decades. Their future would be even darker, unless something changed.   The High Commissioner said that the de facto authorities she met with during her visit to Afghanistan in March this year had said they would honour their human rights obligations, as far as consistent with Islamic Sharia law. Yet, despite these assurances, the international community was witnessing the progressive exclusion of women and girls from the public sphere and their institutionalised, systematic oppression.   As a de facto authority exercising effective control, the Taliban were a primary duty-bearer in view of Afghanistan’s legal obligations under international treaties, including the obligation to eliminate discrimination against women and ensure women’s right to equal participation in civic and public life, including politics and decision-making fora.   They should set a firm date for the opening of secondary schools for girls, and ensure quality education, without discrimination, and re-establish independent mechanisms to receive complaints from the public and protect victims of gender-based violence. All acts of gender-based violence must be independently investigated and those responsible held to account.   As for the international community, more concerted efforts were needed to insist that the de facto authorities urgently restore, protect and promote the rights of Afghan women and girls. Beyond being right, it was also a matter of practical necessity.   Amid the economic crisis, women’s contribution to economic activity was indispensable, which itself required access to education, and freedom of movement and from violence. Human rights, including women’s rights and concerns, must be at the centre of all humanitarian assessments and programming. Women should have safe and equal access to humanitarian aid, including unhindered access for female aid workers. This was a crucial moment in time, with the fate of the country’s women and girls hanging in the balance. They deserved no less than everyone’s determined and immediate action.   RICHARD BENNETT, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, speaking on behalf of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, expressed sympathy for the communities affected by last week’s earthquake in Afghanistan. Since August 2021, concerns had been raised about the situation of women in Afghanistan and the regression of their rights.   Information on violations faced by women and girls included forced, early, and child marriage; restrictions on women’s attire and movement; exclusion from education and public life; and barriers to employment.   Mr. Bennett said he had visited Afghanistan in May this year to assess the human rights situation, meeting with stakeholders including women’s groups, the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, and raising concerns about the abuses of women’s rights in each meeting, including the restrictions on women’s secondary education. Afghan officials had stated that the international human rights treaties which had been ratified would be respected, only if they did not conflict with Sharia law. The Taliban intended to make women invisible to society, and create a culture of impunity for domestic violence, child marriage and trafficking of girls.   Mr. Bennett called on the Taliban to create a meaningful dialogue with Afghan women and allow them to fully participate in civil, political and economic life. The Taliban should also respect all women and girls’ right to education at all levels, open secondary schools for all children, and ensure that women could play an active part in the workforce and be granted access to health care.   The Taliban should also abide by all international human rights obligations incumbent upon Afghanistan and engage with human rights mechanisms. The international community was called on to ensure a concerted effort in demanding women’s participation at all levels of decision-making processes; increase their support for Afghan women and girls’ rights and intensify pressure on the de facto authorities to restore and respect them; and provide Afghan female-led civil society organizations with the necessary support to continue their work.   The human rights situation for women and girls in Afghanistan was devastating and the Special Rapporteur urged the Council to act. He would address the matter further in his September report.   FAWZIA KOOFI, First Woman Vice President of the Afghan Parliament, former member of the peace negotiation team with Taliban and human rights activist, said the urgent debate was a light at the end of the long dark tunnel in which the women of Afghanistan were living. Afghanistan was suffering from multi-dimensional problems, including humanitarian, economic and political crises.   The situation of women and girls in Afghanistan was unique and dire. The figures showed that the representation of women in parliament had gone from 28 per cent to zero per cent, their representation in civil service had gone from 30 per cent to zero per cent, and had gone from four million girl children in school, to only one and a half million. Every day, at least one or two women committed suicide due to the lack of opportunity and mental health pressures.   Girls as young as nine years old were being sold, not only because of economic pressure, but because there was no hope for them and their family. This was not normal and the women of Afghanistan did not deserve this. The women of Afghanistan had proved they all had the ability to work to be part of the progress of their country. In the twenty-first century, they were the only country where women were second-class and invisible, having to advocate for their basic rights to not be invisible and not to be erased from public life.   What the Taliban did was in contradiction to Islam, depriving 55 per cent of society from going to school. It was a matter of the security of the country, as if that much of the society was oppressed and unable to exercise their rights, then it would become a safe haven for other military extremists. The international community must stand with the women of Afghanistan, and move from beautiful statements and resolutions to practice, using their leverage to make the Taliban accountable on delivering to their citizens.   More Muslim countries had to stand and demonstrate that Islam was for everybody, that it was the religion of peace, co-existence and tolerance. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan should be more accountable on what they do to the Human Rights Council. All humanitarian interventions should have 50 per cent of women’s participation, not just as recipients of aid. Women-led organizations should be supported.   All should use their leverage and pursue a political dialogue in Afghanistan, as without this women would continue to suffer. Discrimination in Afghanistan could be discrimination anywhere in the world.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/07/human-rights-council-holds-urgent-debate-human-rights-women-and-girls http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/08/afghanistan-un-human-rights-experts-warn-bleak-future-without-massive-turnaround http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/04/afghanistan-un-experts-call-us-government-unblock-foreign-assets-central http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/statement/2022/08/statement-meticulously-constructed-policies-of-inequality-afghanistan-one-year-on http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/in-focus/2022/08/in-focus-women-in-afghanistan-one-year-after-the-taliban-takeover   * Afghanistan is also experiencing a humanitarian crisis:   Mar. 2023   Funding shortfall forces UN food agency to cut rations in Afghanistan. (UN News)   The UN food agency in Afghanistan has announced that a lack of funds has forced deep cuts to life-saving assistance in March for at least four million people.   The World Food Programme (WFP) appealed for urgent funding for its operations in the country, where families are battling crisis after crisis, including growing hunger, since the Taliban takeover of 2021.   Catastrophic hunger could become widespread across Afghanistan, and unless humanitarian support is sustained, hundreds of thousands more people will need assistance to survive, the agency said in an alert.   Due to funding constraints, at least four million people will receive just half of what they need to get by in March. Ss food stocks have run out before the next harvest is due in May, this is traditionally the most difficult time of the year for rural families, WFP said.   The cuts come at a time when already vulnerable Afghans are just emerging from yet another freezing winter. Sub-zero temperatures combined with economic distress has pushed millions into despair, the agency added.   WFP urgently needs $ 93 million to assist 13 million people in April and $800 million for the next six months. Although donors gave record amounts in 2022, since November last year WFP had been warning that funds would run out just as the lean season is reaching its peak in March and April.   The country is at the highest risk of famine in a quarter of a century, with half of all families living in crisis-coping mode to survive. For millions in Afghanistan, WFP’s food assistance is now the “last lifeline”.   Since August 2022, nine out of 10 Afghan families cannot afford enough food – the highest in the world. Nearly 20 million Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from, and six million of them are one step away from famine.   Levels of moderate acute malnutrition are the highest ever recorded in the country. Two thirds of the population – more than 28 million people – need humanitarian assistance in 2023, almost triple than in 2021.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134722 http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2023/03/13/international-community-afghanistan-approach   Nov. 2022   Child malnutrition cases rise nearly 50% in Afghanistan as hunger hits record levels, Save the Children reports.   The number of dangerously malnourished children admitted to Save the Children’s mobile health clinics in Afghanistan has increased by 47% since January this year, with some babies dying before managing to receive any treatment, the children's charity said today.   Demand for malnutrition treatment services has surged in recent months as families struggle to cope with Afghanistan’s worst hunger crisis on record. In January, Save the Children’s 57 mobile health teams admitted about 2,500 malnourished children for treatment. By September, that number had jumped to around 4,270 children admitted by 66 teams, according to newly released data.   Experts had hoped to see a drop in hunger levels in Afghanistan during the recent summer harvest season, but the ongoing drought has led to failed crops and harvests have been much smaller than normal, forcing many rural families to sell land and livestock to buy food to feed their children.   The other major driver of the food crisis – the collapse of the country’s economy – has caused unemployment, poverty and food prices to skyrocket, with many families now only surviving on bread and water for weeks at a time.   Humanitarian organisations have provided vast amounts of life-saving food, but the needs are so high that 50% of Afghanistan’s population is still facing extreme hunger, with a 6 million children and adults – nearly one eighth of the population - one step away from famine.   Save the Children doctors say they are overwhelmed with malnourished children – especially young girls who are often deprioritised when it comes to breastfeeding and complementary feeding compared to boys – and cannot keep up with the demand for services.   Nelab, 22, comes from a family of farmers who have been hit hard by the drought. Her three children have all suffered from severe acute malnutrition, including her three-year-old daughter Maryam, who did not receive treatment in time and died on the way to hospital. While Nelab’s son Mohammad, 2, has recovered, her other daughter, Parsto, who is just 11 months old, is still dangerously malnourished.   Nelab said: “There has been less rain than usual so if we plant something it doesn’t grow and then that makes the food really expensive.   “When there’s no food, the children go hungry or we borrow money. Sometimes we only cook one meal a week. That meal is a soup without meat.In between, we eat bread one to two times a day. The situation is much worse than a few years ago.It makes me sad to know my children are malnourished because we don’t have anything to eat, and I don’t know how I can make them better.”   Save the Children’s Country Director in Afghanistan, Chris Nyamandi, said:   “Humanitarian organisations like Save the Children are stretched to the absolute limit trying to stop children dying from hunger every day in Afghanistan. But the truth is, with so many children facing life-threatening levels of hunger, we simply do not have the resources to save them all.   “Every day we’re faced with the heart-wrenching decision – which children do we save? It’s outrageous and horrifying to think that international leaders have the power to save these children’s lives – by working to solve the economic crisis and reinstating humanitarian funding and long-term development assistance that was withdrawn when the Taliban retook control – but they have been too slow to find solutions and now children are dying as a result.   “Humanitarian organisations have been sounding the alarm on Afghanistan for more than a year now. It’s time the world stopped ignoring this catastrophic crisis and took action before many more children lose their lives.”   * Save the Children has worked in Afghanistan since 1976, including during periods of conflict, regime change, and natural disasters. With programmes in nine of 34 provinces and work with partners in an additional six provinces.   http://www.savethechildren.net/news/child-malnutrition-cases-rise-nearly-50-afghanistan-hunger-hits-record-levels http://www.savethechildren.net/news/afghanistan-eighteen-months-after-ban-classroom-doors-must-open-secondary-school-girls http://response.reliefweb.int/afghanistan   Aug. 2022   A group of 32 Afghan and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) call for action needed to address economic crisis:   “In the past 12 months millions of Afghans have endured a new wave of hardship, with widespread hunger, unemployment and near universal poverty. Ninety-five per cent of the population do not have enough food to eat. Women and girls are suffering disproportionately. NGOs on the ground are reporting that families are being forced to make impossible choices in order to survive.   “The country is existing off an inadequate supply of humanitarian aid often transported in cash, as opposed to long-term development aid that can pay the salaries of teachers and hospital workers, as well as keep the infrastructure of public services functioning.”   Samira Sayed Rahman, the Afghanistan-based advocacy coordinator for the International Rescue Committee, one of the NGOs that has signed the statement, said: “On a recent trip to the south and south-east, I saw a healthcare system in collapse. Hospitals have not had the money to pay their staff in months. They do not have the money for pharmaceuticals and medicine. They do not have the money for equipment. Much of the healthcare sector is being run by the goodwill of Afghan doctors and nurses. That is not a sustainable model. Many are trying to leave.”   Asuntha Charles, the national director of World Vision Afghanistan, said: “The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is cataclysmic, and children – as ever in crises like this – are on the frontlines. Over 4 million children are out of school, the majority of them girls, and more than 1.1 million are engaged in child labour. I have met families forced to sell their children, as young as three years old, simply to survive. As the world’s attention drifts, Afghans are falling deeper into catastrophe. We cannot turn our backs on them now.”   Vicki Aken, the Afghanistan country director for the International Rescue Committee, said: “At the root of this crisis is the country’s economic collapse. Decisions taken last year to isolate the Taliban – including the freezing of foreign reserves, the grounding of the banking system, and the halting of development assistance which financed most government services – have had a devastating impact.   Extreme poverty is reducing demand for goods, forcing Afghan companies out of business, contributing to rising unemployment and exacerbating food insecurity.   “We urgently need to find a solution. Humanitarian aid, whilst vital, cannot replace a functioning economy. For months, NGOs have been calling for a change in approach. There is no excuse for further inaction. It is time for donors and decision makers to take responsibility and work to establish a roadmap out of Afghanistan’s economic crisis by supporting the Afghan central bank and eventually beginning the phased, monitored release of frozen assets.” http://bit.ly/3pjtZ8f http://euobserver.com/opinion/155772   http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-relief-coordinator-martin-griffiths-remarks-un-security-council-humanitarian-situation-afghanistan   Afghanistan at a Precipice, report from the Norwegian Refugee Council   Statement by Neil Turner, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Country Director, on the one-year mark of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan:   “We have witnessed shocking levels of poverty and suffering in Afghanistan over the past year. The economic restrictions imposed on the country and the unwillingness of both the de facto authorities and the international community to effectively engage with one another have pushed millions of Afghans into despair.   “The families we meet are in crippling debt, facing an ever-increasing pressure on their household budgets. For a staggering number of people, money can no longer buy enough food to survive. Humanitarian efforts are not enough to put an end to the crisis. Frontline actors have done all in their power to provide emergency support to the affected populations and mitigate the situation.   “Yet one year on, Afghanistan stands at a precipice, with its people being punished for the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Despite repeated calls from humanitarian actors, nothing seems to have changed. Afghanistan's foreign reserves remain frozen, the Afghan Central Bank is still not functional, and development assistance remains withdrawn.   “The international community must acknowledge the humanitarian impact of the economic measures imposed one year ago and step up to address the drivers of the crisis. Without a swift response to the current near economic collapse, including viable development assistance, support to key state infrastructure and fully funded emergency appeals, ordinary Afghans will continue to pay the highest price for the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.”   NRC's briefing note "Afghanistan at a Precipice" provides a humanitarian overview of the needs and challenges in Afghanistan one year since the Taliban takeover of the country.   For ordinary Afghans, the changes during just one year have been hard to bear. Hundreds of thousands have fled the country creating a new regional displacement crisis. Many are also on the move inside the country in search of jobs and livelihood opportunities as families must deal with the consequences of the shrinking economy. Many families, facing increasing pressures on their household budgets, are taking on crippling debt and going without meals. Competition over increasingly limited resources is likely to intensify as the humanitarian situation deteriorates further. This will have devastating consequences for ordinary Afghans and has already triggered new waves of instability in the country as tensions rise along pre-existing ethnic, tribal and religious divides.   Staggering levels of poverty and desperation now characterise Afghanistan one year after the takeover of the country by the Taliban in August 2021. The country is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, driven primarily by the major financial and political restrictions that have been placed on the Taliban-led state by the international community and have caused widespread economic collapse. The stalled private sector, starved of investment and access to financing, is a sign of the halt to economic growth. Jobs and livelihood opportunities are rapidly diminishing. Public sector spending has plummeted – deprived of the foreign aid that was so critical to Afghanistan’s development. Prior to August 2021, international assistance constituted around 75 per cent of all public spending in the country.   International donor support to Afghanistan is limited to short term emergency humanitarian assistance, which is insufficient to address the needs of the population. Afghanistan’s new de facto government remains illegitimate in the eyes of the international community and is struggling to govern effectively. Ambiguous and inconsistent domestic policies are sowing divisions between national and local power brokers, while complex policies and bureaucratic procedures prevent the delivery of critically needed public services. Additionally, the Taliban’s continued intransigence on key international donor requirements such as education for girls, prevents political engagement from the international community.   Despite calls by NGOs and other actors, one year on little progress has been made on the economic situation and Afghanistan stands at a precipice. Yet one thing is clear: without measures to address the current economic crisis, and non-humanitarian (development) assistance restarted, there will be no improvement to the lives of ordinary Afghans. The population cannot wait for diplomatic and political engagement to happen. With Afghanistan’s current emergency appeal already failing to attract sufficient levels of funding, the outlook appears bleak. The people of Afghanistan are the ones being punished for the Taliban takeover of the country.   http://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/afghanistan-at-a-precipice2/afghanistan-at-a-precipice/ http://www.icrc.org/en/document/afghanistan-113500-newborn-afghan-babies-how-will-they-survive-christine-cipolla-icrcs http://en.emergency.it/blog/emergency/how-to-guarantee-humanitarian-aid-to-the-afghan-people-after-august-2021/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-63/en/ http://www.wfp.org/emergencies/afghanistan-emergency http://www.savethechildren.net/news/one-year-under-taliban-rule-girls-are-more-isolated-hungry-sad-new-report http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/economic-and-food-crisis-afghanistan-impacts-women-and-girls http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/humanitarian-coordinator-reaffirms-commitment-meeting-life-saving-needs-and-supporting-vulnerable-communities-across-afghanistan-endarips http://www.humanitarianresponse.info/operations/afghanistan http://www.acaps.org/country/afghanistan/crisis/complex-crisis Visit the related web page
	Demonstrators in Sudan march calling for return to democracy and civilian rule by AllAfrica, UN News, agencies   26 Oct. 2022   Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Sudan march calling for return to democracy and civilian rule. (AllAfrica)   Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese took to the streets across nine states yesterday, to mark the anniversary of the military coup on October 25, 2021. In marches across the country, protesters demanded the end of the military junta, and a return to democracy and civilian rule. Marchers were met with fierce resistance from Sudan's security forces, with many injured as tear gas and stun grenades were used against peaceful protesters.   In measures to pre-empt the marches, authorities in Khartoum cut off internet services for mobile phones on Tuesday morning, and closed a number of main roads, as well as all bridges linking the capital with Omdurman and Bahri, except for Soba and Halfaya. Large numbers of military personnel were deployed along the anticipated paths of the processions.   Most of the schools in Khartoum closed their doors, while most government and private facilities stopped working on Tuesday in anticipation of the processions.   The marchers were met with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades. In Khartoum, the marches reached El Qasr Street, despite the tight security barriers, but they retreated due to the excessive resistance. However the security forces impeded the arrival of the demonstrators from Bahri, East Nile, and Omdurman, by using excessive violence and closing bridges with containers. The Bahri neighbourhood committees called for a complete closure of the city, calling on protestors to occupy the streets. At least one protester was killed in Khartoum, reportedly after being run over by a military vehicle.   The Bahri neighbourhood committees announced that three protesters were seriously injured in the neck from tear gas and stun grenades. Demonstrators from Omdurman said that a number of injuries were caused by the use of excessive violence in front of the main hospital.   In El Gezira state, the resistance committees said that a number of protesters were injured by tear gas. The state of South Darfur announced the closure of schools for a week in anticipation of the demonstrations, while the states of El Gezira, Red Sea, El Gedaref, North Darfur, and North Kordofan announced an official holiday on Tuesday due to the demonstrations.   Processions took place in Wad Medani, Atbara, El Fasher, Zalingei, Port Sudan, Kassala, El Gedaref, Kadugli, El Obeid, and other cities calling for end of military rule.   In an interview with Sudan's tour today on Radio Dabanga, Mohamed Salem from the Democratic Alliance of Lawyers called for a return to the democratic track and the restoration of civil authority and the institutions of power.   In eastern Sudan, demonstrators said that the procession was subjected to repression using tear gas, stun grenades and batons by the security forces. Hundreds also demonstrated in Kassala and El Gedaref, demanding a return to civilian rule.   Emergency lawyers condemned the authorities' shutdown of internet service in Sudan since Tuesday morning. They also condemned excessive violence in the face of peaceful demonstrators and the alleged use of live bullets in the shadow of a deliberate blackout.   Emergency lawyers said in a press statement that cutting off the internet is a flagrant and flagrant violation of Article (19) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They explained that cutting off the Internet service deprives a basic right related to the exchange of information, communication, and basic services related to health care, education, and publishing..   25 Oct. 2022   Sudan: Justice for protesters against coup, key to ending cycle of violence. (UN News)   UN independent human rights experts on Tuesday demanded real accountability for the year-long brutal crackdown on peaceful protests against the October 2021 military coup in Sudan.   To break the country’s cycle of turmoil, they also called for an independent accountability and transitional justice mechanism with a mandate to address human rights violations committed during protests.   This would also involve a focus on the gendered nature of the violence, and the provision of suitable reparations to victims.   Ongoing abuse   “Over the past year, we have received continued reports of protestors being killed, forcibly disappeared, injured, tortured and subjected to sexual and gender-based violence”, the experts said in a statement.   “Prosecuting perpetrators, including high-level commanders responsible for these violations is critical to ensuring Sudan’s sustainable transition to a credible democratic civilian government”.   The experts called for an “effective and adequately resourced independent accountability mechanism which is victim-centred”, that would address the reported grave violations in relation since the military coup.   They said measures needed to be taken to conclude investigations by the previously established national commission of inquiry, and to bring justice for victims of unresolved serious crimes committed during the historic 2019 protests, which led to the downfall of long-time leader Omar al-Bashir.   Denial of justice   “If these atrocities are not addressed, if victims are once again denied justice and reparations, and if the voices of protesters are not heard, Sudan’s cycle of political turmoil and brutal repression will continue, and the humanitarian crisis will deepen,” they said.   UN experts have repeatedly raised the alarm about reports of unlawful and excessive use of force and arrests. The unlawful tactics had left at least 117 protesters killed, said rights office OHCHR, and an estimated 7,700 protesters, including thousands of children, seriously injured, based on documented cases by Sudanese medics.   Shootings and tear gas   The majority of the injuries were caused by the use of firearms or tear gas canisters.   “We are very concerned that, as a result, some of the injured protesters sustained permanent or long-lasting paralysis, limb amputations, loss of eyesight and eye removals. There are alarming indications that many of those killed and injured in the context of the protests were victims of targeted attacks,” the independent experts said.   They raised serious concerns that hundreds were arrested, including women and children, for exercising their right to peaceful assembly, and without due process.   Torture in detention   “Many of the detained have reportedly been subjected to torture and ill-treatment in custody, while some were forcibly disappeared or secretly detained. These cases must be thoroughly and independently investigated and the authorities must immediately disclose the fate and whereabouts of the missing protesters,” the experts said.   There are also reports of women having been subjected to sexual and gender-based violence, including abuse and gang rape, at sites within the proximity of protests or while in detention, the experts said.   These violations were committed under protracted emergency measures, giving extended powers and immunity from prosecution to the security forces.   “The lack of accountability for alleged crimes has a chilling effect on the people’s right to freedom of peaceful assembly and participation in public affairs”, experts said.   The Sudanese authorities have an obligation to end impunity and provide remedy to victims and, as relevant, to their families, the experts said, urging the international community to ensure that accountability was central to ongoing political talks and the transition process in the country.   They urged authorities to show restraint and refrain from the use of excessive force in response to any ongoing anti-coup protests.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129862 http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/11/un-high-commissioner-human-rights-volker-turk-concludes-his-official-visit-sudan http://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/28/sudan-voices-protesters-should-be-heard-not-sidelined Visit the related web page
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