Honderden Afghaanse jongeren, waarvan veel meisjes, krijgen gratis computertraining en Engelse les door een programma dat door de Verenigde Naties wordt gesteund. Ze worden voorberied op het vinden van werk en het voeren van sollicitatiegesprekken.
De verklaring van de VN:
Young Afghans, many of them girls, benefit from UN-backed computer courses
Hundreds of young Afghans, many of them girls, are getting free computer and English training under a United Nations-backed programme that is free and prepares them for future employment by assisting them with resume writing and preparing for job interviews.
The ICT4Youth a programme, created by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Deputy Ministry of Youth Affairs, trained some 300 young Afghans in 2010, nearly 40 per cent of them girls. In the first quarter of 2011, about 400 students have signed up.
Students are trained by a qualified teacher for one hour every day in basic computer software and Internet skills in classes that are timed so as not to conflict with regular school, and flexible enough to allow participants to continue with their activities at home.
“The classroom environment of ICT4Youth programme is safe and comfortable, so my family does not object to my attending these classes,” Humaira, a female high school student, said.
Another female student, Zarmina, regularly brings her nephew to classes so that she can watch him while continuing the training. Some young women take the skills they learn back to their jobs.
“I train a group of colleagues in the Ministry of Interior,” said Samira, a woman in her early 20s. This is her first opportunity to attend a course specifically to develop her ICT and English skills.
The programme is part of UNDP’s National Institution Building Project to develop comprehensive and sustainable capacities in government of Afghanistan.
(VN: 03-28-2011)
Zie ook:
Jonge Afghanen, waaronder veel meisjes, plukken vruchten van VN-gesteunde computercursussen
Posts tonen met het label UNDP. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label UNDP. Alle posts tonen
woensdag 30 maart 2011
zondag 26 oktober 2008
Afghan anti-corruption efforts receive financial boost with UN grants
Three Afghan civil society groups working to combat corruption in the fledgling democracy will be able to boost their activities to promote accountability and transparency thanks to grants being provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Integrated Approaches for Community Development, Integrity Watch Afghanistan, and Saba Media Organization will each receive grants of up to $50,000 to carry out activities in the areas of monitoring, awareness-raising and capacity development, media and access to information, and training on anti-corruption and ethics.
The grants are provided through UNDP’s Accountability and Transparency (ACT) Project’s Accountability and Transparency Grants Facility, which seeks to complement anti-corruption activities carried out by the Afghan public sector.
The Grants Facility was set up “to encourage the active involvement of civil society and media in the fight against corruption,” said Manoj Basnyat, UNDP Country Director for Afghanistan.
The ACT Project is working to facilitate broad public awareness and education initiatives on the complex issues of corruption and to engage more civil society actors and local think tanks in this process.
Among other things, it is designed to support the Government in developing a broader anti-corruption strategy, as well as raise awareness and educate civil servants on the scourge.
The Afghan Government has taken a number of steps to combat corruption, including becoming a State Party to the UN Convention against Corruption, adopting new anti-corruption legislation and establishing a new anti-corruption body.
At the same time, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Kai Eide, has noted that corruption must also be tackled “from the bottom up” with the people, Afghan civil society and the media having a crucial role in supporting Government efforts.
According to a recent survey by Integrity Watch Afghanistan, the average Afghan household pays an estimated $100 in petty bribes every year – this in a nation where around 70 per cent of the population survives on less than $1 per day.
(UN: New York, Oct 23 2008)
Zie ook
Gemiddeld Afghaans huishouden betaalt 100 dollar aan omkoopsommen, extra geld voor drie organisaties
Integrated Approaches for Community Development, Integrity Watch Afghanistan, and Saba Media Organization will each receive grants of up to $50,000 to carry out activities in the areas of monitoring, awareness-raising and capacity development, media and access to information, and training on anti-corruption and ethics.
The grants are provided through UNDP’s Accountability and Transparency (ACT) Project’s Accountability and Transparency Grants Facility, which seeks to complement anti-corruption activities carried out by the Afghan public sector.
The Grants Facility was set up “to encourage the active involvement of civil society and media in the fight against corruption,” said Manoj Basnyat, UNDP Country Director for Afghanistan.
The ACT Project is working to facilitate broad public awareness and education initiatives on the complex issues of corruption and to engage more civil society actors and local think tanks in this process.
Among other things, it is designed to support the Government in developing a broader anti-corruption strategy, as well as raise awareness and educate civil servants on the scourge.
The Afghan Government has taken a number of steps to combat corruption, including becoming a State Party to the UN Convention against Corruption, adopting new anti-corruption legislation and establishing a new anti-corruption body.
At the same time, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Kai Eide, has noted that corruption must also be tackled “from the bottom up” with the people, Afghan civil society and the media having a crucial role in supporting Government efforts.
According to a recent survey by Integrity Watch Afghanistan, the average Afghan household pays an estimated $100 in petty bribes every year – this in a nation where around 70 per cent of the population survives on less than $1 per day.
(UN: New York, Oct 23 2008)
Zie ook
Gemiddeld Afghaans huishouden betaalt 100 dollar aan omkoopsommen, extra geld voor drie organisaties
dinsdag 21 oktober 2008
Current crisis threaten to plunge more Afghans into poverty, warns UN official
The various crises facing nations today could worsen the plight of millions of underprivileged people in Afghanistan, which is already ranked the fourth poorest country in the world, a senior United Nations development official cautioned today.
“A combination of food price hikes, a downturn in the global economy, the effects of climate change, weak governance, and the intensification of the armed conflict threaten to push even more Afghans into the ranks of the desperately poor,” Manoj Basnyat, Country Director for Afghanistan, UN Development Programme UNDP, told reporters in Kabul.
“I believe Afghanistan’s biggest problem today is poverty,” Mr. Basnyat stated, noting that the country has a poverty rate of 42 per cent, with another 20 per cent of people hovering just above the poverty line.
In addition, 70 per cent of Afghans face food insecurity, 20 per cent of rural households are chronically food insecure and another 18 per cent face seasonal food shortages.
“However, poverty is not inevitable but a reflection of the way societies are organized and resources distributed,” he noted.
Poverty in Afghanistan is driven by many factors, he explained, including low literacy, poor health care, mismanagement of natural resources and social structures that disadvantage particular groups and communities.
While the challenges are tremendous, the situation is not hopeless, stressed Mr. Basnyat. “We can move Afghanistan out of its current rank of fourth poorest country in the world if we all work together.”
In that regard, he said the country has a “very promising” poverty reduction plan in the form of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS). Launched in June at the Paris conference that brought together representatives of Afghanistan and its international partners, the strategy is the country’s five-year plan to reduce poverty and promote economic and social development.
“Afghanistan is now at an important crossroads and much depends on moving forward with the key poverty reduction objectives that are part of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy,” said Mr. Basnyat.
UNDP is assisting the country in its efforts through a number of initiatives, such as the National Area Based Development Programme, which focuses on the challenges of specific areas of the country considered to be particularly vulnerable.
By supporting the establishment of 306 District Development Assemblies in all 34 provinces together with the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, UNDP is working to ensure full, open community consultation and participation in the rural development process.
“Proper community consultation at this level is the key to success,” stressed Mr. Basnyat. “We must focus at the grassroots level and that means in every district across the country.”
The National Area Based Development Programme has completed 520 rural infrastructure projects since 2006, including irrigation systems, roads, schools, clinics, bridges, community centres, and protection walls, benefiting some 2.5 million people in rural areas.
He also highlighted what he referred to as the “Kandahar Model” of community-based development which allows the agency to implement infrastructure projects in areas previously thought too insecure for development work. In addition to Kandahar, the model is also being rolled out in the other violence-prone provinces of Helmand, Uruzgan and Nangarhar.
(UN: New York, Oct 20 2008)
Zie ook
Huidige crisis kan nog meer Afghanen in armoede storten: 43 procent leeft in diepe armoede
“A combination of food price hikes, a downturn in the global economy, the effects of climate change, weak governance, and the intensification of the armed conflict threaten to push even more Afghans into the ranks of the desperately poor,” Manoj Basnyat, Country Director for Afghanistan, UN Development Programme UNDP, told reporters in Kabul.
“I believe Afghanistan’s biggest problem today is poverty,” Mr. Basnyat stated, noting that the country has a poverty rate of 42 per cent, with another 20 per cent of people hovering just above the poverty line.
In addition, 70 per cent of Afghans face food insecurity, 20 per cent of rural households are chronically food insecure and another 18 per cent face seasonal food shortages.
“However, poverty is not inevitable but a reflection of the way societies are organized and resources distributed,” he noted.
Poverty in Afghanistan is driven by many factors, he explained, including low literacy, poor health care, mismanagement of natural resources and social structures that disadvantage particular groups and communities.
While the challenges are tremendous, the situation is not hopeless, stressed Mr. Basnyat. “We can move Afghanistan out of its current rank of fourth poorest country in the world if we all work together.”
In that regard, he said the country has a “very promising” poverty reduction plan in the form of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS). Launched in June at the Paris conference that brought together representatives of Afghanistan and its international partners, the strategy is the country’s five-year plan to reduce poverty and promote economic and social development.
“Afghanistan is now at an important crossroads and much depends on moving forward with the key poverty reduction objectives that are part of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy,” said Mr. Basnyat.
UNDP is assisting the country in its efforts through a number of initiatives, such as the National Area Based Development Programme, which focuses on the challenges of specific areas of the country considered to be particularly vulnerable.
By supporting the establishment of 306 District Development Assemblies in all 34 provinces together with the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, UNDP is working to ensure full, open community consultation and participation in the rural development process.
“Proper community consultation at this level is the key to success,” stressed Mr. Basnyat. “We must focus at the grassroots level and that means in every district across the country.”
The National Area Based Development Programme has completed 520 rural infrastructure projects since 2006, including irrigation systems, roads, schools, clinics, bridges, community centres, and protection walls, benefiting some 2.5 million people in rural areas.
He also highlighted what he referred to as the “Kandahar Model” of community-based development which allows the agency to implement infrastructure projects in areas previously thought too insecure for development work. In addition to Kandahar, the model is also being rolled out in the other violence-prone provinces of Helmand, Uruzgan and Nangarhar.
(UN: New York, Oct 20 2008)
Zie ook
Huidige crisis kan nog meer Afghanen in armoede storten: 43 procent leeft in diepe armoede
dinsdag 14 oktober 2008
UN assisting Afghan authorities to respond to diarrhoea outbreak
United Nations agencies are helping authorities to respond to a diarrhoea outbreak in Afghanistan, where only about a quarter of the population has access to safe drinking water and 20 per cent of child deaths is attributed to the easily preventable disease.
According to the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, the outbreak is located mainly in five provinces – Nangarhar, Nuristan, Laghman, Samangan and Faryab – with a few cases also reported in seven others. Twenty-two people have died out of the almost 4,000 cases reported so far.
The UN World Health Organization WHO says the authorities are managing the outbreak well and have taken all necessary steps. The situation seems to be largely under control, the agency added. Nevertheless, it is urging anyone who becomes ill to go to a clinic immediately.
“Those who have gone to the clinic have received life-saving treatment that they need. It is very important to go to the clinic in time and not delay,” Rana Grabar Kakar, WHO Technical Officer, told a news conference in Kabul today.
In light of the current outbreak, Dr. Kakar emphasized the need to ensure the use of safe drinking water by either boiling it or using chlorine tablets. People should also be careful about the foods that might become contaminated by bad water. She stressed the need to peel raw fruits and vegetables or cook them thoroughly before eating.
“We hope everyone will take responsibility to use clean drinking water for themselves and their families and wash hands thoroughly before eating. By taking these simple steps, you can help prevent this disease,” she said.
By washing hands with soap, families and communities can help reduce child mortality rates from diarrhoeal diseases by almost 50 per cent. This is one of the key messages being highlighted across the country as part of the observance of the first ever Global Handwashing Day, which is 15 October.
The UN Children’s Fund UNICEF is also assisting efforts to tackle the outbreak by digging wells, providing safe drinking water and distributing basic health kits, particularly in remote areas.
The struggle for water is one of the themes depicted in a series of photographs by Afghan women currently on display in New York. Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that “right now we need a major humanitarian push to ensure that immediate assistance reaches all Afghans who need it.
At the same time, we have to work for long-term development. And above all, we must secure lasting peace in Afghanistan,” he stated.
In a related development, the Assistant Administrator of the UN Development Programme UNDP today wrapped up a three-day visit to Afghanistan, where he discussed strengthening support for the country’s development efforts and its capacity to deliver services to its people.
In his meetings with Afghan officials, Ajay Chhibber discussed a range of areas of joint cooperation, including voter registration, community empowerment, economic growth, rural development and girls’ education.
(Bron: VN; 13 oktober 2008)
According to the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, the outbreak is located mainly in five provinces – Nangarhar, Nuristan, Laghman, Samangan and Faryab – with a few cases also reported in seven others. Twenty-two people have died out of the almost 4,000 cases reported so far.
The UN World Health Organization WHO says the authorities are managing the outbreak well and have taken all necessary steps. The situation seems to be largely under control, the agency added. Nevertheless, it is urging anyone who becomes ill to go to a clinic immediately.
“Those who have gone to the clinic have received life-saving treatment that they need. It is very important to go to the clinic in time and not delay,” Rana Grabar Kakar, WHO Technical Officer, told a news conference in Kabul today.
In light of the current outbreak, Dr. Kakar emphasized the need to ensure the use of safe drinking water by either boiling it or using chlorine tablets. People should also be careful about the foods that might become contaminated by bad water. She stressed the need to peel raw fruits and vegetables or cook them thoroughly before eating.
“We hope everyone will take responsibility to use clean drinking water for themselves and their families and wash hands thoroughly before eating. By taking these simple steps, you can help prevent this disease,” she said.
By washing hands with soap, families and communities can help reduce child mortality rates from diarrhoeal diseases by almost 50 per cent. This is one of the key messages being highlighted across the country as part of the observance of the first ever Global Handwashing Day, which is 15 October.
The UN Children’s Fund UNICEF is also assisting efforts to tackle the outbreak by digging wells, providing safe drinking water and distributing basic health kits, particularly in remote areas.
The struggle for water is one of the themes depicted in a series of photographs by Afghan women currently on display in New York. Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that “right now we need a major humanitarian push to ensure that immediate assistance reaches all Afghans who need it.
At the same time, we have to work for long-term development. And above all, we must secure lasting peace in Afghanistan,” he stated.
In a related development, the Assistant Administrator of the UN Development Programme UNDP today wrapped up a three-day visit to Afghanistan, where he discussed strengthening support for the country’s development efforts and its capacity to deliver services to its people.
In his meetings with Afghan officials, Ajay Chhibber discussed a range of areas of joint cooperation, including voter registration, community empowerment, economic growth, rural development and girls’ education.
(Bron: VN; 13 oktober 2008)
zondag 27 juli 2008
More illegal armed groups disbanded with UN help in Afghanistan
A campaign to disband illegal armed groups has already seen more than 40,000 weapons handed in, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
According to a statement last week of the UN, the drive is already taking place in 70 districts around the country and is to be extended to 12 more districts.
The aim is to eradicate the influence of illegal armed groups to pave the way for the consolidation of peace, the rule of law and prosperity in Afghanistan.
As part of the process, as many as 342 illegal armed groups have been disbanded and 44 development projects are either under way or in the planning stages.
UNDP said today that ex-commanders and government officials could demonstrate their support for peace building efforts in the country by voluntarily surrendering their weapons and by disbanding or severing links with armed groups.
Launched in 2005, the drive has seen 40,571 weapons, as well as 33,079 pieces of boxed and unboxed ammunition, handed over and verified by collection teams in Afghanistan.
According to a statement last week of the UN, the drive is already taking place in 70 districts around the country and is to be extended to 12 more districts.
The aim is to eradicate the influence of illegal armed groups to pave the way for the consolidation of peace, the rule of law and prosperity in Afghanistan.
As part of the process, as many as 342 illegal armed groups have been disbanded and 44 development projects are either under way or in the planning stages.
UNDP said today that ex-commanders and government officials could demonstrate their support for peace building efforts in the country by voluntarily surrendering their weapons and by disbanding or severing links with armed groups.
Launched in 2005, the drive has seen 40,571 weapons, as well as 33,079 pieces of boxed and unboxed ammunition, handed over and verified by collection teams in Afghanistan.
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