Afghanistan

[…] The near-total contraction of the opiate economy is expected to have far-reaching consequences, UNODC said, highlighting the urgent need for alternative development support for rural communities to build an opium-free future for the Afghan people.  

The Taliban administration wants to formally join Chinese President Xi Jinping's huge 'Belt and Road' infrastructure initiative and will send a technical team to China for talks, Afghanistan's acting commerce minister said on Thursday.

The top UN political official in Afghanistan remains hopeful that Taliban leaders will reverse their stance on women’s rights, urging the international community not to give up on the country. 

Members of the United Nations Security Council, except Russia and China, on Tuesday issued a resounding condemnation of the Taliban’s relentless persecution of women in Afghanistan, calling on all member states to take urgent action to hold the country’s leadership accountable.

The international community must continue to engage with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan despite deep disagreement with their approach to women’s rights and inclusive governance, the UN Special Representative for the country told the Security Council on Tuesday. Roza Otunbayeva, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), called for a “reframed engagement strategy”, expressing concern over the “lack of positive direction” in current efforts.

The United Nations said it had documented hundreds of cases of torture and other "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" committed by the Taliban de facto authorities in Afghanistan during the arrest and subsequent detention of individuals.

China has sent a new ambassador to Afghanistan, marking the first time a foreign envoy has been appointed at the ambassadorial level since the Taliban regained power in Kabul two years ago.

The “shocking” and “cruel” oppression of Afghan women and girls by the Taliban against the backdrop of a severe humanitarian crisis has put the country’s future in jeopardy, UN rights chief Volker Türk warned on Tuesday. “Human rights in Afghanistan are in a state of collapse,” he told the Human Rights Council, before   sounding the alarm over ongoing reports of extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment and arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as serious violations against former Government officials, as documented in a new human rights office (OHCHR) report.

[…] Thomas West, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, underscored the reasons behind the diplomatic standoff during a Tuesday event at the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington.

Methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries is surging, according to a report published on Sunday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Understanding Illegal Methamphetamine Manufacture in Afghanistan, highlights a drastic increase in seizures of the drug, from 2.5 tons in 2017 to 29.7 tons in 2021.