"TALIBAN"

According to the UN, 339 million people will require humanitarian aid this year just to survive. Almost one third of these people live in countries subject to UN sanctions. UNIFEED

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, held a wide-ranging press conference in Geneva during which he commented, among others, on the issues of systemic racism, sexual violence in Darfur, the effects of cyclone Mocha in Myanmar and the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. UNTV CH

At the end of a two-day meeting in Doha, Qatar, to discuss key issues in Afghanistan, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said the event “was about developing a common international approach, not about recognition of the de facto Taliban authorities.” UNIFEED

Marking the beginning of Switzerland’s presidency of the Security Council, Permanent Representative Pascale Baeriswyl said that “there are intense discussions” to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative and wished they are successful because the deal is “really saving lives all over the world.” UNIFEED

The UN Security Council condemned on Thursday a Taliban administration ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations and called on Taliban leaders to "swiftly reverse" a crackdown on the rights of women and girls. UNIFEED

The situation in Afghanistan, Security Council, 9314th meeting

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, said “the situation in the Republic of Sudan is deeply concerning.” WHO

A UN spokesperson said that the UN mission in Afghanistan initiated an operational review period to conduct the necessary consultations, make required operational adjustments, and accelerate contingency planning for all possible outcomes. UNIFEED

UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward told reporters, “It is an appalling thing. Two out of three Afghans depend on humanitarian aid. And the UN could not and should not have to depend on being able to deliver aid effectively without women,” adding that “the Taliban is placing medieval misogyny above humanitarian need in Afghanistan.” UNIFEED

United Nations top officials condemned today in the strongest terms the Taliban’s decision to ban Afghan women from working with the UN in Afghanistan. UNIFEED