VIENNA: NOV. 2. 2022

Statement of the Diplomatic Missions of the I. R. of Afghanistan on the Recent Report of the UNODC - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on the Illicit Opium Trade in Afghanistan.

OTTAWA: OCT. 30. 2022

Earlier on Twitter, Ambassador Soroosh wrote the following:

"The Taliban continue to impose some of the most repressive policies against women & girls. This morning, female students were banned to enter a university in Badakhshan and some of them were whipped by the Taliban. Afghan women and girls remain resilient and deserve our support."

ON SEPT 21. 2022 THE BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION RECONGNIZED FOUR CHAMPIONS MAKING AN IMPACT TOWARD THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS.

A Changemaker Awarded to Zahra Joya from Afghanistan

A journalist from Afghanistan, Zahra Joya founded and self-funded Rukhshana Media, an online news agency focused exclusively on covering issues that affect women of Afghanistan—the first national news organization of its kind.

Through Rukhshana Media, Zahra is ensuring that women’s stories and issues in Afghanistan are reported on and brought to the attention of a wider public.

The Rukhshana Media team of journalists report on women’s issues as a way to create debates, inform, analyze, and investigate issues related to their lives. Rukhshana Media also works to provide educational and professional opportunities for women journalists.

In August 2021, Zahra had to flee Afghanistan. Now living as a refugee in the UK, she continues to actively manage Rukhshana Media and her team remotely, publishing their reports about women’s life under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Rukhshana Media has partnered with British newspaper The Guardian to bring their stories to a global audience. This year, marking the one-year anniversary since the Taliban returned to power, they also partnered with TIME magazine to highlight the stories of women who left Afghanistan.

د نبي کريم (ص) نېکمرغه ميلاد دې مبارک وي!ـ

Heartiest Felicitations and Best Wishes on the Auspicious Occasion of the Birthday of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)!

میلاد با سعادت پیامبر اکرم (ص) مبارک باد!ـ

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On October 06, 2022, Ambassador Hassan Soroosh participated as a keynote speaker in the virtual event of the University Women Helping Afghan Women (UWHAW).

Ambassador Soroosh spoke about the current tragic situation in Afghanistan including the humanitarian crisis and human rights situation with a focus on the situation of women and girls who are denied the fundamental rights to education, employment, freedom of movement, expression and participation in public life.

Ambassador Soroosh stressed the importance of providing advocacy platforms and venues for Afghan women and girls as well as other support opportunities including for women-owned businesses in Afghanistan. He also highlighted the significance of greater humanitarian support and the need for an effective human rights monitoring and investigation mechanism.

Ambassador Soroosh expressed his gratefulness to the Government of Canada for all the ongoing humanitarian, advocacy and resettlement support for Afghanistan.

He extended his gratitude to UWHAW for its sustained commitment to Afghanistan and for all its previous and ongoing efforts to empower Afghan women through advocacy and education.

Earlier on Twitter, Ambassador Hassan Soroosh stated the following:

"The courageous Afghan women in Herat, Bamyan and Kabul are protesting following the recent cowardly terrorist attack on Kaj Institute. Afghan women and girls are at the forefront of the struggle for human rights in Afghanistan."

The Embassy of Afghanistan in Ottawa hosted a reception in honor of the participants of the Afghan/Canadian Women’s Symposium which was held on the same day in Ottawa.

During the reception, Ambassador Hassan Soroosh spoke about the current tragic situation in Afghanistan and stressed the need for greater support to courageous Afghan women and girls who remain resilient and at the forefront of the struggle for human rights.

Ambassador Soroosh expressed his gratefulness to Canada and the rest of our international partners for all the ongoing humanitarian, advocacy and resettlement support for Afghanistan. He also thanked the organizers and participants of the symposium for their sustained advocacy efforts in support of Afghan women and girls.

Ms. Narges Nehan, former Minister of Mines and Petroleum of Afghanistan and Ms. Zarqha Yaftali, Director of Women and Children Legal Research Foundation spoke about the outcomes of the symposium, the need for effective follow-up and the importance of collective efforts in support of Afghan women and girls.

Statement of the Diplomatic Missions of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on the Joint Communique of the U.S.-Europe Group on Afghanistan of 22 September 2022

One year of girls being excluded from high school – renewed call that they be enabled to return to classroom

KABUL - On the day marking the first anniversary of the exclusion of girls from high schools in Afghanistan, the United Nations re-iterates its call for the country’s de facto authorities to take urgent measures to reopen high schools for all.

“This is a tragic, shameful, and entirely avoidable anniversary,” said Markus Potzel, the acting-head of UNAMA, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

“The ongoing exclusion of girls from high school has no credible justification and has no parallel anywhere in the world. It is profoundly damaging to a generation of girls and to the future of Afghanistan itself,” said the UN envoy, who is also the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan.

When high schools were re-opened to boys on 18 September 2021, the de facto authorities instructed girls to remain at home. It is estimated that more than one million girls have been barred from attending high school over the past year. The Taliban have failed to deliver on various promises that they will enable their return to the classroom. The ban prevents girls attending grades seven to twelve, primarily impacting girls aged between 12 and 18.

The denial of education violates the most fundamental rights of girls and women. It increases the risk of the marginalization, violence, exploitation and abuse against girls and is part of a broader range of discriminatory policies and practices targeting women and girls since the de facto authorities assumed power in the summer of 2021.

The UN yet again calls upon the Taliban to reverse the slew of measures they have introduced restricting Afghan women and girls’ enjoyment of their basic rights and freedoms. The window of opportunity may be narrowing, but we urge them to take concrete steps – such as actively enabling girls to return to high school – that can lift Afghanistan up and give hope to its people.

If the ban on girls attending high school remains, the UN is increasingly concerned that such measures, taken together with other restrictions being placed upon Afghans’ basic freedoms, will contribute to a deepening of the crises facing Afghanistan, including greater insecurity, poverty and isolation.

The onus is on the Taliban to create favourable conditions for peace, inclusion, security, human rights and economic recovery. The international community remains ready to support a government that is representative of all its people and respects their rights.