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Japan Donates Over $9 Million to Support Afghan Children, Mother’s Health
The government of Japan has donated $9.1 million in support of UNICEF’s drive to provide life-saving interventions with the collaboration of JICA, addressing urgent needs and rights of Afghanistan’s children and women, the Japanese embassy in Kabul said in a statement.
According to the statement, this grant will enable UNICEF and its partners to vaccinate more than 1.4 million infants as part of the expanded program on immunization (EPI), protect more than 10 million children under five years, and provide more than 2.8 million women of childbearing age with tetanus toxoid vaccine.
The aid package will also contribute to the sustainable development goal 3 (SDG3), to ensure healthy lives and promote the well-being for all children at all ages. Importantly, it will contribute to the global drive to eradicate polio, especially in Afghanistan, which is one of only three countries globally that has yet to stop polio, the statement said.
“Afghanistan has made tremendous progress towards reducing Under Five Mortality Rate, from 192 to 55 per 1000 live births from 2001-15. Most of the deaths in the first five years of life are preventable and provision of quality vaccines to all eligible children is one of the most cost-effective means for averting this preventable mortality,” Feruzuddin Feroz, the Afghan Minister of Public Health said as quoted in the statement.
“For more than ten years, the Government of Japan has been a strong partner to the Government of Afghanistan to ensure the availability of necessary vaccines for both routine immunization and polio campaigns,” he added.
Ms. Adele Khodr, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, meanwhile, said: “We salute the People and Government of Japan for their deep and sincere commitment to improving the lives of the most vulnerable children in Afghanistan. We are extremely grateful for Japan’s enduring commitment and generous support which will not only save children’s lives, but will be pivotal in putting an end to polio.”
Ambassador of Japan, Mr. Suzuka remarked that “Children are treasures that support the future of the country. They are our hope. We must protect our children’s health with the utmost care. Japan has long history of cooperation for measures against infectious diseases in Afghanistan. When we try to get rid of diseases, prevention is the best measure to take.”
“I sincerely hope that Afghanistan will become a comfortable country for babies as soon as possible. To this end, Government of Japan decided to keep implementing this project with the cooperation of UNICEF,” he added.
Japan has been assisting Afghanistan’s nation-building efforts in various fields including security, infrastructure, agriculture, rural development, human capacity development, education, health, culture, and humanitarian assistance.
The cumulative Japanese assistance to Afghanistan since 2001 amounts to approximately $6.6 billion.
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Magnitude 5.2 quake jolts Afghanistan
An earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter Scale jolted Afghanistan on Thursday afternoon, the National Center for Seismology reported.
The quake was at a depth of 70km and epicentered in the mountainous north-eastern area of Ashkāsham.
The jolt was felt across the region including in Kabul, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan
There were no immediate reports of any casualties.
In October last year, over 2,000 people were killed when four 6.3-magnitude earthquakes struck in Herat province.
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Bayat Foundation helps needy families in Balkh
As part of Bayat Foundation’s Ramadan aid campaign, needy families in Mazar-e-Sharif, in Balkh province, received much needed food packages this week.
The aid package includes rice, flour and oil.
“In continuation of Bayat Foundation’s assistance, this time also a quantity of food such as flour, oil and rice was distributed to needy families in Mazar-e-Sharif; Inshallah, these contributions will continue,” said a representative of the foundation.
Needy families that received aid packages expressed their gratitude but called on other aid organizations to help the needy during these difficult times.
“Many thanks to Bayat Foundation, I thank Bayat Foundation for helping the needy and poor people of this region,” said a recipient said.
“I would like to thank Bayat Foundation for their cooperation in helping the needy in this holy month of Ramadan; it is hoped that traders and charities will do such sustainable work,” said another recipient.
Bayat Foundation is one of the charitable organizations that has played an important role in helping the needy in Afghanistan over the last two decades.
In addition to distributing aid packages to needy and vulnerable families, it has carried out numerous other projects, including the construction of health centers and schools.
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MoI registers over 8,700 criminal cases in the past six months
Abdul Matin Qani, the Ministry of Interior’s spokesman said on Thursday that in the last six months, 8,747 criminal cases have been recorded across the country.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Qani said of these cases, 7,233 have been solved while the remaining 1,525 are still being investigated.
He said 12,540 people have been arrested in connection with these crimes.
In addition, 21 kidnappers have been killed, 18 hostages have been freed and 172 people have been arrested in connection with kidnappings in the same period of time.
Qani also said in the last six months 837,000 passports have been distributed. He said three new passport offices will be established in Kabul in the near future.
“10,000 passports are distributed to citizens daily by the Passport Department,” said Qani.
On the issue of narcotics, he said drug cultivation, production and trafficking has been eradicated. He said drug manufacturing equipment and 377 drug factories have been destroyed across the country.
According to him, the ministry has also made advances in collecting illegal weapons, fighting corruption and improving police skills.
Qani stated that during this period, no security incidents took place in most provinces across the country.
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