Suicides Up Among Afghans
Some 65 percent of the 50,000 war widows living in Kabul see suicide as the only option to escape their misery and desolation.Decades of civil and social upheaval have intensified traditional social pressures on Afghan women who were already suffering at the hands of poverty and decadent social traditions. All this was coupled by the economic dislocation of a large section of Afghanistan society. In such a situation, Afghan women found an easy escape in suicides. The trend of suicide, which started in the early years of this decade, is now practiced by desperate Afghan women throughout most parts of Afghanistan, reported English.ohmynews.com.Apparently, the removal of the Taliban has brought about a positive change in Afghan society and the new government of President Hamid Karzai has enacted certain laws to improve the social condition of women in Afghanistan. However, this has only a marginal affect on the growing trend in Afghan society of women committing suicide.According to the latest survey conducted by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Afghanistan, 65 percent of the 50,000 war widows living in Kabul see suicide as the only option to escape their misery and desolation.These widows were interviewed by UNIFEM in 2004. It took UNIFEM and associated nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) one year to complete the survey. More than half these war widows said that they were practically considering committing suicide to escape the miseries they find themselves in.The UNIFEM survey indicates that the majority of Afghan women are victims of mental and sexual violence, which compels them either towards committing suicide or drug addiction. UNIFEM prepared the reports based on this survey in cooperation with other Afghan nongovernmental organizations.A representative of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) described the conditions of war widows, especially those living in Kabul, as terrible. She said widows living in Kabul have to look after their families where there is little opportunity to earn a livelihood.She said 16 women had already ended their lives since the interviews were conducted. Highlighting the social structure, she said family and gender discrimination and violence against women were common in most parts of Afghanistan.However, women in other parts of Afghanistan are not far behind when it comes to committing suicide in the face of growing social problems.According to Kabul-based human rights organizations, some 100 women during the last eight months have attempted suicide in Kandahar by committing self-immolation or taking poison.In Helmand province, which is also known as the center of poppy cultivation, more than 100 women committed suicide, according to the figures provided by the Women’s Affairs department of the government of Afghanistan.In Herat province, where the practice has been most reported and publicized, there were 93 cases of attempted suicide last year and 54 so far this year. According to figures released by the department, more than 70 percent of these women die.According to the Women’s Affairs department, domestic disputes and economic problems are behind the increasing incidents of women committing suicide in Afghanistan. http://www.iran-daily.com/1386/2915/html/panorama.htm
Monday, August 27, 2007
Afghan Drug Harvest Increases Under American Hegemony
Afghanistan's poppy plantation over 8,000 tons per year - UN
Kabul, Aug 27, IRNA
Afghanistan-Poppy Plantation Executive Chief of United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention said here Monday during the year 2007 area of lands under poppy plantation in Afghanistan reached 193,000 hectares.
According to IRNA correspondent from Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, Antonio Mario Costa added at a press conference, "The crops gained from such an area sum up to some 8,200 metric tons." He said that the annual consumption of opium is 4,600 tons, and therefore, the remainder 3,600 tons is an alarm ring for the entire healthy human society.
Costa reiterated, "Poppy plantation has increased 17 percent in Afghanistan year on year, which is thanks to the proper territorial conditions and increased insecurity index in the country." The UN official pointed out that China was the record holder of narcotic drugs production in 19th century, adding, "Production of 8,200 tons of opium annually is not only unprecedented in world history, but also worrying for the mankind." According to him, presently 13 provinces in the north of Afghanistan are clear from poppy plantation, but in five southern and southeaster provinces where security index is very low, three fourths of the narcotics are produced.
He said there is no relation between production of narcotic drugs and poverty in Afghanistan, adding, "On the contrary, there is an inseparable relation between the armed insurgencies and poppy plantation in this country." The Executive Chief of the UN Drug Control & Crime prevention Office added, "The reason why narcotic drugs production has drastically increased in southern parts of Afghanistan is that there is absolutely no government control there, and the insurgents' main financial activity is smuggling and trade of the narcotics." The official referred to the role and support of Taliban group in production of narcotics in Afghanistan, reiterating, "How can we lower the level of addiction to narcotics in the world when there is such a huge amount of over production only in one country?" Mario Costa added, "The poppy farms destroying project has not yielded positive results in Afghanistan, which is why the UN Drug Control & Crime Prevention Office has proposed to Afghan Government to be more serious in its anti-narcotics campaign, and to accelerate the poppy field destroying trend." He said, "We also request the foreign forces in Afghanistan to play their role of destroying the heroin laboratory and fight against international narcotic drug convoys more effectively." The UN official added, "During the course of the last year the demand for opium was at normal level around the globe, and as a whole, the consumption of that substance was lowered compared to the year before." He said that the number of people addicted to opium around the world is 13 million now, but the over production in Afghanistan raises the potential threat for emergence of new markets for that product here and there in the world.
The British occupying forces lead the anti-narcotics campaign in Afghanistan currently, and three million Afghan farmers earn their living through poppy plantation presently.
The UN used to exert heavy pressure against the former Afghan regime led by Taliban to destroy the entire poppy fields, or face severe UN sanctions, but ever since the US led occupation of the country the poppy plantation multiplied year after year there, and the UN threats, too, came to an end.
Iran is paying a heavy price in terms of both border control against narcotic drugs entry, and Iranian police forces have suffered heavy casualties in their fight against international narcotic drug traffickers.
2329/1771
---> Afghanistan-Poppy Plantation
Kabul, Aug 27, IRNA
Afghanistan-Poppy Plantation Executive Chief of United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention said here Monday during the year 2007 area of lands under poppy plantation in Afghanistan reached 193,000 hectares.
According to IRNA correspondent from Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, Antonio Mario Costa added at a press conference, "The crops gained from such an area sum up to some 8,200 metric tons." He said that the annual consumption of opium is 4,600 tons, and therefore, the remainder 3,600 tons is an alarm ring for the entire healthy human society.
Costa reiterated, "Poppy plantation has increased 17 percent in Afghanistan year on year, which is thanks to the proper territorial conditions and increased insecurity index in the country." The UN official pointed out that China was the record holder of narcotic drugs production in 19th century, adding, "Production of 8,200 tons of opium annually is not only unprecedented in world history, but also worrying for the mankind." According to him, presently 13 provinces in the north of Afghanistan are clear from poppy plantation, but in five southern and southeaster provinces where security index is very low, three fourths of the narcotics are produced.
He said there is no relation between production of narcotic drugs and poverty in Afghanistan, adding, "On the contrary, there is an inseparable relation between the armed insurgencies and poppy plantation in this country." The Executive Chief of the UN Drug Control & Crime prevention Office added, "The reason why narcotic drugs production has drastically increased in southern parts of Afghanistan is that there is absolutely no government control there, and the insurgents' main financial activity is smuggling and trade of the narcotics." The official referred to the role and support of Taliban group in production of narcotics in Afghanistan, reiterating, "How can we lower the level of addiction to narcotics in the world when there is such a huge amount of over production only in one country?" Mario Costa added, "The poppy farms destroying project has not yielded positive results in Afghanistan, which is why the UN Drug Control & Crime Prevention Office has proposed to Afghan Government to be more serious in its anti-narcotics campaign, and to accelerate the poppy field destroying trend." He said, "We also request the foreign forces in Afghanistan to play their role of destroying the heroin laboratory and fight against international narcotic drug convoys more effectively." The UN official added, "During the course of the last year the demand for opium was at normal level around the globe, and as a whole, the consumption of that substance was lowered compared to the year before." He said that the number of people addicted to opium around the world is 13 million now, but the over production in Afghanistan raises the potential threat for emergence of new markets for that product here and there in the world.
The British occupying forces lead the anti-narcotics campaign in Afghanistan currently, and three million Afghan farmers earn their living through poppy plantation presently.
The UN used to exert heavy pressure against the former Afghan regime led by Taliban to destroy the entire poppy fields, or face severe UN sanctions, but ever since the US led occupation of the country the poppy plantation multiplied year after year there, and the UN threats, too, came to an end.
Iran is paying a heavy price in terms of both border control against narcotic drugs entry, and Iranian police forces have suffered heavy casualties in their fight against international narcotic drug traffickers.
2329/1771
---> Afghanistan-Poppy Plantation
Friday, August 3, 2007
Losing Hope in Afghanistan
Losing Hope in Afghanistan
Afghan expectant women face a greater risk of losing their lives in childbirth than in any other country in the world.
Despite notable achievements in the education sector and the representation of women in Afghanistan’s Parliament, its women still endure chronically high rates of infant and maternal mortality, growing insecurity and significant levels of domestic violence.
“In late 2001 when the Taliban were overthrown by international forces, we hoped the situation would change for Afghan women with respect to women’s rights and gender equality,“ said Horia Mossadeq, an Afghan women’s rights activist. “But unfortunately the situation has not changed for a large proportion of the female population.“
Shot largely in the remote northeastern province of Badakhshan, Losing Hope opens a window onto the lives of Afghan women. Served by few roads and even fewer health centers, expectant women here face a greater risk of losing their lives in childbirth than in any other country in the world, reported IRIN.
The maternal mortality rate is 650 per 100,000 live births here.
The difficulty that many women face accessing health care facilities means that some have turned to the medicinal qualities of opium to quieten untreated ailments and unruly children--prompting spiraling rates of addiction in the process.
Culture and the attitudes of men are another obstacle women face in their battle to establish their rights. In Badakhshan, all women must seek the permission of their husband before seeing a doctor while some men will not allow their wives to see a doctor under any circumstances.
In a country where four out of every five women are illiterate, the need to educate is perhaps the most pressing of all. Significant achievements have been made, but in the more violent southern and eastern provinces, the policy is under serious threat.
As Taliban insurgents and other conservative forces have strengthened over the past two years, schools have been burned down, female teachers killed and the parents of thousands of children terrorized into keeping them out of school.
It is not just the militants that leave women and girls cowering at home. Rates of domestic violence continue to rise in a country traumatized by decades of conflict. Early marriage remains common and honor killings continue largely unchecked while self-immolation remains the last refuge of the desperate.
http://www.iran-daily.com/1386/2875/html/panorama.htm
Afghan expectant women face a greater risk of losing their lives in childbirth than in any other country in the world.
Despite notable achievements in the education sector and the representation of women in Afghanistan’s Parliament, its women still endure chronically high rates of infant and maternal mortality, growing insecurity and significant levels of domestic violence.
“In late 2001 when the Taliban were overthrown by international forces, we hoped the situation would change for Afghan women with respect to women’s rights and gender equality,“ said Horia Mossadeq, an Afghan women’s rights activist. “But unfortunately the situation has not changed for a large proportion of the female population.“
Shot largely in the remote northeastern province of Badakhshan, Losing Hope opens a window onto the lives of Afghan women. Served by few roads and even fewer health centers, expectant women here face a greater risk of losing their lives in childbirth than in any other country in the world, reported IRIN.
The maternal mortality rate is 650 per 100,000 live births here.
The difficulty that many women face accessing health care facilities means that some have turned to the medicinal qualities of opium to quieten untreated ailments and unruly children--prompting spiraling rates of addiction in the process.
Culture and the attitudes of men are another obstacle women face in their battle to establish their rights. In Badakhshan, all women must seek the permission of their husband before seeing a doctor while some men will not allow their wives to see a doctor under any circumstances.
In a country where four out of every five women are illiterate, the need to educate is perhaps the most pressing of all. Significant achievements have been made, but in the more violent southern and eastern provinces, the policy is under serious threat.
As Taliban insurgents and other conservative forces have strengthened over the past two years, schools have been burned down, female teachers killed and the parents of thousands of children terrorized into keeping them out of school.
It is not just the militants that leave women and girls cowering at home. Rates of domestic violence continue to rise in a country traumatized by decades of conflict. Early marriage remains common and honor killings continue largely unchecked while self-immolation remains the last refuge of the desperate.
http://www.iran-daily.com/1386/2875/html/panorama.htm
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