That’s just one of the shocking findings from a new report from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which found that, rather than filing a formal complaint, many survivors prefer to seek redress through “ traditional dispute resolution mechanisms” within the community, for fear of danger. the de facto authorities – including “fear of revictimization”.
The report says the plight of victims is exacerbated by the handling of complaints of gender-based violence mainly by male police and judicial personnel. Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have almost completely removed women from public life and civil service in the country.
No story, the shelter is closed
Mechanisms and policies that enable victims to obtain legal redress and protection are “all but disappearedSince the Taliban takeover, the report notes.
About 23 state-sponsored women’s shelters were dismantled because female survivors needed to be with their husbands or other male relatives instead, Taliban officials said.
Being sent to prison, ostensibly for their own safety, was the only alternative, according to some officials.
UNAMA noted that imprisoning women to ensure their protection from gender-based violence “would amount to a… arbitrary deprivation of libertyWith serious consequences for their mental and physical health.
The UN Assistance Mission reiterated the authorities’ de facto obligation to ensure justice in cases of gender-based violence, to end “the continued culture of impunity” and also to provide protection and access to services for victims.
Urgent help needed for millions of children affected by conflict and disaster: UNICEF
The protection needs for children in emergencies, from Ukraine to Gaza and Sudan, have never been greater, but the forecast for humanitarian funding for 2024 is “increasingly gloomy”.
That’s the message from the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, whose Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations, Ted Chaiban, said flexible financing for aid is shrinking.
At the same time, attacks on humanitarian actors around the world have increased.
Innocent victims
“Children should not pay the price of our inaction with their lives and their futures,” Mr Chaiban said, stressing that young people need continued access to essential services, including health care, safe water, basic sanitation and education.
Earlier this week, UNICEF launched a $9.3 billion emergency funding appeal to reach nearly 94 million children in 155 countries by 2024.
Mr Chaiban said this year’s demand was only about 50 percent met and listed a number of “severely underfunded emergencies”.
These include Sudan, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Haiti, Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Bangladesh.
A lack of resources means “choices will have to be made” regarding several essential interventions, including immunization, primary health care, treatment for severe acute malnutrition and psychosocial support.
Also at risk are the means to address serious violations against children, such as recruitment by armed groups, and primary education, which is also “a life-saving intervention in emergencies,” UNICEF said.
DR Congo mpox is spreading faster and faster: WHO
A deadly MPox outbreak in the DRC has spread rapidly across the country, raising concerns about international transmission, the UN health agency WHO said on Friday.
More than 13,000 cases have been reported through mid-November, with more than 600 deaths, including in three provinces not previously affected, the WHO said.
The UN Health Organization reported that the virus strain responsible for the current outbreak in the DRC, called clade I, is more virulent than the predominant virus strain in the 2022 global outbreak – clade II.
The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo exceeds the global mortality rate among MPox fourfold – and up to ninefold in endemic areas.
Human-to-human transmission in areas where MPox is endemic is increasing, with 70 percent of cases occurring in children under 15 years of age.
Sexual transmission alarm
Worryingly, the DRC outbreak has reported sexual transmission of clade Impox for the first time and the WHO warned that it is now “moving through sexual networks involving male and female sex workers and their clients in areas of high population mobility”.
The crisis is further exacerbated by the fact that the DRC is simultaneously facing a cholera outbreak and a protracted humanitarian emergency due to armed violence and mass displacement.
WHO is supporting the DRC Ministry of Health in detecting and confirming cases and ramping up treatment.
The country does not yet have access to MPOX vaccines and work is underway with health authorities to develop an immunization strategy and help with vaccine approval, WHO said.
