World News in Brief: Afghanistan education, Myanmar flooding, Syria recovery, homecare workers in New York
Although many families in rural Afghanistan struggle to secure food and water, the UN’s aid coordination office spokesperson Olga Cherevko said on Thursday that the chief concern is the continuing ban on girls’ education.
“They told me that basically they had lost hope for their daughter’s future and of course for themselves,” Ms. Cherevko told UN News. “That really stayed with me because this is also a community struggling simply to make ends meet and to survive.”The senior humanitarian told UN News that Afghan women today have fewer opportunities to earn income than men, because of increasing restrictions placed on them by the de facto authorities.As a result, women are finding it harder to support their families, while also having to cope with reduced opportunities to participate in life outside their homes, Ms. Cherevko said.Obstacles to stability remainIn an assessment of the situation in Afghanistan on Thursday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that the past five years of Taliban rule had brought a reduction in conflict and “tangible benefits” for some.But significant obstacles to lasting stability remain, particularly the “increasingly damaging restrictions” on women and girls and ongoing terrorism concerns.“The last five years have shown that Afghans deeply value peace and stability after decades of war,” said UNAMA Officer-in-Charge Georgette Gagnon.“Afghanistan’s future depends on building a society in which the rights and potential of all Afghans are realised and institutions are responsive and accountable,” she added. Myanmar floods threaten to deepen hunger crisis: WFPThe UN World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an emergency response operation in Myanmar, where monsoon flooding threatens to push vulnerable communities deeper into hunger.The agency has begun distributing fortified biscuits in Laymyethna Township, Ayeyarwady region in southwestern Myanmar.Flooding caused by heavy rainfall there over the last two weeks has breached river embankments and inundated villages.WFP rapid assessments have indicated that more than 32,000 people across nearly 100 villages have been affected.Food assistance on the wayThe 20 tons of fortified biscuits already dispatched to UN partners will provide immediate food assistance to 10,000 people. “Flooding is a recurring threat, but this year it is impacting communities already battered by multiple underlying crises,” said WFP Representative Michael Dunford.The emergency represents a new challenge for Myanmar’s people. An estimated 12.4 million people are already going hungry amid an ongoing civil war, displacement, economic hardship and high food prices.WFP has appealed for urgent funding and sustained aid access to prevent the crisis from worsening.
