Zan News: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says that one year after the earthquakes in Herat, 96,000 affected children in the province are still at risk and require more support. File photo: U.S. Government / Public Domain UNICEF: 96,000 Earthquake-Affected Children in Herat Remain at Risk October 8, 2024 Zan News Zan News: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says that one year after the earthquakes in Herat, 96,000 affected children in the province are still at risk and require more support. On October 6, of last year, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook Zinda Jan district and other parts of Herat, followed by aftershocks. According to the UN, around 1,500 people were killed and over 2,600 injured in these earthquakes. Most of the victims were children and women. UNICEF has emphasized in its report that the situation of earthquake victims in western Afghanistan remains dire and has stressed the need for more support for affected children and families. The agency said that over the past year, it has prioritized the restoration of damaged water supply systems, the reconstruction of classrooms, and the provision of uninterrupted health and nutrition services for children and women. According to UNICEF, more than one million people, including 400,000 children under the age of five, have accessed health care through the agency's supported teams, facilities, and equipment. UNICEF has also restored access to safe drinking water for 21,600 people and installed sanitation facilities for 25,000 people. UNICEF has warned that children in areas like Herat, which have faced drought and earthquakes, cannot grow properly without access to essential services and clean water. The agency added in its report: "Children cannot thrive without reliable essential services, especially climate-resilient water systems. In areas like Herat, which have been severely affected by drought and are still recovering from earthquakes, we must ensure that communities have access to safe drinking water."

Zan News: Taliban officials at the Public Health Directorate of Badghis Province have announced the first confirmed case of polio (poliomyelitis) in the province this year. File photo: Lt. j.g. Matthew Stroup / U.S. Navy / DVIDS / Public Domain First Polio Case of the Year Recorded in Badghis February 22, 2025 Zan News Zan News: Taliban officials at the Public Health Directorate of Badghis Province have announced the first confirmed case of polio (poliomyelitis) in the province this year. Mohammad Yusuf Najmi, the head of the Expanded Program on Immunization in Badghis, stated on Friday (February 21) that this polio case was recorded in the "Quruto" area of the Bala Murghab district of Badghis. According to him, the polio virus was detected in a five-year-old girl. This comes as last year, only one environmental case of polio was recorded in Qala-e-Naw, the capital of Badghis Province. It is worth noting that polio has not yet been completely eradicated in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Zan News: Local sources in Kapisa have reported that the Taliban have gathered a number of books from school libraries in the province. File photo: LCPL Andrew D. Young / U.S. Marine Corps / U.S. National Archives / Public Domain Taliban Collect Books Written by Women in Kapisa November 21, 2024 Zan News Zan News: Local sources in Kapisa have reported that the Taliban have gathered a number of books from school libraries in the province. According to these sources, the Taliban mainly removed books written by female authors from the school libraries. It has also been reported that even literary works such as "novels and poetry" were collected by the Taliban from the school libraries in Kapisa. Previously, the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education had instructed university officials to remove books from the Republic era from university libraries and replace them with "Sirat" books. According to this directive, the books to be removed include works related to Salafis, the writings of Shiites, and those by political opponents of the Taliban. Earlier, the French news agency AFP also reported that the Taliban are trying to remove books with "un-Islamic" literature that contradict the group's ideology from the country's libraries.

Zan News: The Afghanistan division of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has stated that forced and labor of children is a clear violation of their human rights and dignity. File photo: DVIDS / Public Domain USAID: Forced and Child Labor Is a Blatant Violation of Human Rights January 18, 2025 Zan News Zan News: The Afghanistan division of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has stated that forced and labor of children is a clear violation of their human rights and dignity. On Friday, January 17, the agency emphasized in a message posted on the social media platform X that protecting vulnerable individuals and ensuring freedom for all are fundamental requirements of human rights. These remarks come as the World Food Program (WFP) has also recently emphasized that despite the Taliban's ban on women working in Afghanistan, the provision of humanitarian aid to Afghans continues. According to the Multidimensional Poverty Index report, 70% of children under the age of 18 in Afghanistan live in poverty.

Zan News: Amnesty International has called on the Taliban to immediately end the oppression and gender-based harassment of women in Afghanistan. File photo: Marius Arnesen / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0 Amnesty International: Taliban Must End Gender-Based Oppression and Harassment of Women December 17, 2024 Zan News Zan News: Amnesty International has called on the Taliban to immediately end the oppression and gender-based harassment of women in Afghanistan. On Monday (December 16), the organization stated on its X page that the Taliban, by banning girls from attending health institutes, are destroying the last remaining opportunities for women's education in Afghanistan. It is worth mentioning that under a recent Taliban decree implemented on December 3, women and girls have been prohibited from studying in all medical institutes and healthcare education facilities in Afghanistan. Over the past three years, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on women and girls, including banning education beyond the sixth grade, preventing them from entering universities, and prohibiting employment in both governmental and private sectors.

December 3rd is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, but many women and girls with disabilities in Afghanistan complain about the additional challenges and hardships they face, saying they are living in difficult conditions. Illustration: Zan TV / AI-generated International Day of Persons with Disabilities; Yet Disabled Women in Afghanistan Spend the Nights Hungry December 3, 2024 Ariahn Raya December 3rd is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, but many women and girls with disabilities in Afghanistan complain about the additional challenges and hardships they face, saying they are living in difficult conditions. These women, complaining about the non-payment of their three years' worth of salaries and benefits by the Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled under Taliban control, say that after losing their salaries, they have forgotten the pain of losing their limbs but carry the burden of hunger, poverty, and economic hardships on their weary shoulders. Kobra, a 19-year-old war victim sitting in a corner of Kabul on an old wheelchair, says that after her disability allowance and benefits were cut off by the Taliban government, she has been forced to extend her hand in begging from dawn to dusk to feed herself and her family. She says she is originally from Qala-e-Zal district in Kunduz province, but the fire of poverty forced her family to seek refuge in Kabul. "About nine years ago, when I returned home from school, there was a sudden terrifying noise. After that, I didn’t understand anything. I fell to the ground. I didn’t even feel any pain, but in front of me, there was a leg lying on the ground. I had become fainted. They took me to Kunduz Central Hospital, and today, this is the condition I am in." Pointing toward her legs with her finger and speaking with a voice choked with emotion, Kobra says, "One of my legs was completely severed, and the other was severely injured. The doctors amputated it. I didn’t see anything myself, but people say the Taliban had targeted a National Army Ranger vehicle with a rocket, and by bad luck, I was also caught in the attack." Kobra is not the only war victim whose economic poverty has led her to the streets of Kabul to beg, but Prima, another victim, lost not only her limbs but also her entire family when a Taliban mortar shell struck their house 14 years ago. She says she is originally from Faryab province and now lives in a rented room in Herat city, but for the past five months, she has been unable to pay her rent. Prima describes her living situation as follows: "It was almost fourteen years ago, on a Saturday, when we were sitting inside our house, and suddenly, our entire house collapsed. I couldn’t see anything; I was buried under the rubble. My father, three brothers, four sisters, and mother were all martyred together. The neighbors dug me out from under the debris, and for a year, my neighbor took care of me." As she begins speaking, the grief of losing her family members and her limbs is renewed for Prima, and with tears and sorrow, she says, "Ten years ago, due to having no guardian, I was forced to marry an elderly man, 68 years old. But now, misfortune has once again come to me." "I had no one, so I was forced to marry a man whose wife had passed away. My husband cannot do anywork. I have a six-year-old daughter who helps me move on my wheelchair, and every day I beg. I had an eight-year-old son who became ill and died. Every day, I beg from people and receive 50 to 100 Afghanis." Khadija is another woman who lost her left leg in a traffic accident and is now forced to beg on the streets of Herat. She says that although her annual disability allowance is small, if it were paid, it would save her from begging. Khadija, who has wrapped herself in a blue burqa to conceal her face, speaks with a sadness and painful voice, saying, "Sometimes I go to bed hungry at night. If I weren’t forced, why would I come out to beg? I was child when we were traveling to Badghis, the car overturned, and my leg was injured. We had economic problems and couldn't afford treatment, and in the end, the doctors had to amputate my leg. It's been a long time since anyone helped, and we didn’t have anything to eat for dinner. I went to bed without bread and woke up in the morning to beg again." She continues her speech with tears and says, "Life is very hard. No one wants to marry someone who is disabled. I don’t have a breadwinner in the house, my father has passed away, and the government has cut our allowance in half. This year, they gave me eleven thousand Afghanis. How am I supposed to live for twelve months with just eleven thousand Afghanis?" It is worth mentioning that the non-payment of allowances and rights to persons with disabilities has not only made life bitter for disabled women, but also many military and civilian disabled individuals have been deprived of their legal rights or have only received half of them since the fall of the republic system and the rise of the Taliban.

Zan News: Dorothy Shea, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, criticized the Taliban's approach towards Afghan citizens, especially women, during a UN Security Council meeting, stating that any action leading to the recognition of the group must be avoided. Photo: U.S. Department of State / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain US: Any Move to Recognize the Taliban Must Be Avoided September 19, 2024 Zan News Zan News: Dorothy Shea, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, criticized the Taliban's approach towards Afghan citizens, especially women, during a UN Security Council meeting, stating that any action leading to the recognition of the group must be avoided. Shea made these remarks on Wednesday (September 18) during the Security Council meeting on Afghanistan, adding that with each new decree issued, the Taliban further distance themselves from the people of Afghanistan and the international community. Referring to the Taliban's newly enacted "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" law, she emphasized that this law challenges the global community's engagement with the Taliban. The U.S. diplomat described the Taliban's new restrictions as "gender oppression" and stressed that the U.S. continues to engage with various Afghan groups, including the Taliban, to address the needs of the Afghan people. However, she noted: "Frankly, the worsening human rights situation in Afghanistan raises many questions about the effectiveness of such engagement with the Taliban." Shea also urged the UN not to overlook Resolution 2721, which calls for the appointment of a special representative for Afghanistan to address human rights violations by the Taliban. These remarks were made during the Security Council meeting, which focused on the situation in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Earlier, UNAMA chief Rosa Otunbayeva had said that the enactment of the Taliban's "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" law jeopardized efforts for renewed international engagement with the group.

Zan News: According to the latest World Happiness Ranking report, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year, while Afghanistan has once again been ranked the saddest country. File photo: PxHere / CC0 Public Domain Afghanistan Once Again Ranked the Saddest Country in the World March 20, 2025 Zan News Zan News: According to the latest World Happiness Ranking report, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year, while Afghanistan has once again been ranked the saddest country. The report, released on Thursday (March 20), indicates that Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland continue to top the list of the world’s happiest countries. This research was conducted by the Gallup analytics company, with countries ranked based on citizens' responses regarding their quality of life. Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the global happiness index, with Afghan women describing their lives in this report as “extremely difficult.”

Zan News: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in its latest report titled The Global Education Status, has stated that 251 million children and adolescents worldwide are deprived of schooling. File photo: G. A. Volb / NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0 UNESCO: 251 Million Children and Adolescents Worldwide Are Deprived of Schooling November 5, 2024 Zan News Zan News: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in its latest report titled The Global Education Status, has stated that 251 million children and adolescents worldwide are deprived of schooling. The report highlights that in countries like Afghanistan and Nigeria, six out of every ten children and adolescents are unable to attend school. According to UNESCO’s data, of the total number of children and adolescents globally deprived of schooling, 129 million are boys and 122 million are girls. This report, which focuses on the importance of leadership in the education sector, notes the slow progress in educational access over the past decade. UNESCO indicated that since 2015, the number of children and adolescents lacking access to education has decreased by only one percent. The report also points to a worrying gap between wealthy and poor countries regarding access to education, revealing that in low-income countries, 33% of children and adolescents are deprived of schooling, whereas this figure is only 3% in high-income countries. UNESCO identified sub-Saharan Africa as facing the greatest challenge in this regard, where half of the world’s children without education live. The organization pointed out the decline in educational investments as one of the primary barriers to improving global education, describing the disparity in educational funding between rich and poor countries as concerning. According to the report, in high-income countries, an average of $8,543 is invested per student, while in low-income countries, this figure is just a $55. This gap, especially in countries burdened by debt, has created additional challenges. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, emphasized that “education is one of the fundamental pillars for sustainable, equal, and peaceful societies.” She warned that if decisive and effective actions are not taken to create equal educational opportunities for all children worldwide, quality education may become a privilege for a limited few. UNESCO has urged countries to use innovative financial mechanisms to help improve access to education worldwide.

Zan News: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has stated that in the past three years, with the support of the Japanese government, employment opportunities have been provided for more than 856,000 people, including 225,000 women, in Afghanistan. File photo: DVIDS / Public Domain Japan’s Support for Over 200,000 Afghan Women in the Last Three Years December 2, 2024 Zan News Zan News: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has stated that in the past three years, with the support of the Japanese government, employment opportunities have been provided for more than 856,000 people, including 225,000 women, in Afghanistan. In a newsletter published on its X account, the UNDP wrote that this cooperation and support has been ongoing since 2021, and during this time, there have been 14,600 small and medium-sized businesses, including 8,600 businesses led by women. The newsletter also mentioned that during this period, over 1.7 million other individuals have gained access to improved services. The UNDP in Afghanistan also noted that in the past three years, with Japan's support, more than 5,000 facilities in Afghanistan have been powered by renewable energy. These contributions come at a time when the World Food Programme announced yesterday that with the arrival of winter, millions of people in Afghanistan will face severe hardships, and one in every four families is struggling to obtain enough food. The World Food Programme emphasized that millions of people across Afghanistan are struggling, and for the next six months, it requires 680 million US dollars for all its activities, including assistance to the most vulnerable families across the country.