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UNICEF to directly fund Afghan teachers, bypassing IEA authorities
The United Nations children’s agency said it was planning to set up a system to directly fund Afghan teachers, after the international community placed a freeze on funding to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan-led administration, Reuters reported.
“UNICEF is setting up a system that will allow direct payments to teachers without the funds being channelled through the de facto authorities,” Jeannette Vogelaar, UNICEF Afghanistan’s Chief of Education, told Reuters in an email.
In preparation, she said, UNICEF would begin registering all public school teachers, Reuters reported.
“The best way to support the education of girls in Afghanistan is to continue supporting their schools and teachers. UNICEF is calling upon donors not to let Afghanistan’s children down,” Vogelaar added.
Afghanistan’s public services, in particular health and education, have been plunged into crisis since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [IEA] took over the country on Aug. 15.
According to the report many foreign governments have placed a ban on funding outside of humanitarian aid that is channelled through multilateral agencies.
That has generally been limited to urgent supplies such as wheat and blankets, leaving public service workers including teachers without pay for months. Billions of dollars in Afghan central bank funds held overseas have also been frozen.
The international community has raised alarm that the IEA might restrict female education, and high schools for girls in many parts of the country have remained closed even while those for boys have been allowed to open, Reuters reported.
An IEA official told Reuters this week there would be “good news” soon on older girls being allowed to go back to school, and that they were working with UNICEF and other international organisations on the issue.
“We are working especially with UNICEF and some other international organisations … to come up with a good solution … we have meetings on a daily basis,” said Waheedullah Hashimi, Director of External Programmes and Aid at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education.
“We have a problem that economically we are not good … that is why we are requesting the international community, international organisations, especially those who have funds for emergency situations, to help us in this regard,” he added.
Abdul Haq Hamkar, Chief Executive Officer of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), has met with Tajikistan’s Minister of Energy and Water Resources Daler Juma during a visit to Tajikistan.
According to DABS, the two sides discussed increasing electricity imports from Tajikistan and expanding power transmission infrastructure between the two countries.
They also discussed a proposed 500-kilovolt transmission line from Tajikistan through Afghanistan to Iran, which they said could contribute to expanding regional power transmission networks and strengthening energy cooperation.
The meeting also covered planned energy projects in Badakhshan province and Afghanistan’s border districts. Both sides emphasized expanding cooperation to help provide a stable electricity supply to these areas.
Hamkar said energy is not only a technical requirement but also essential for the operation of hospitals, industrial development, education, and the country’s economic and social growth.
He called for further expansion of energy cooperation between Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
Latest News
UN expert calls for accountability after Pakistani airstrikes kill civilians in Afghanistan
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan Richard Bennett has called for accountability following Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Helmand provinces that killed multiple civilians.
“Accountability is paramount after another air strike that has killed civilians, most of them children,” Bennett said in a post on X.
He questioned whether the incident resulted from “incompetence, negligence or worse,” adding that there was no justification for what he described as “irreparable harm” to civilians.
Bennett said the reported incident appeared to violate international human rights and humanitarian law.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it had confirmed that at least 10 civilians were killed and nine others injured in the airstrikes carried out on Thursday.
Latest News
Four members of one family killed in Helmand in Pakistan airstrike
The family, originally from Ghazni province, reportedly operated a small restaurant in the area.
Four members of a family were killed and seven others wounded in an airstrike in Safar area of Garmser district in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, according to local reports.
The family, originally from Ghazni province, reportedly operated a small restaurant in the area.
The bodies of those killed and the wounded were transported by helicopter to Ghazni province for burial and medical treatment, according to the reports.
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