Author Archives: Una Moore 
Afghanistan in Transition, Civilians in Armed Conflict, and the Implications of Libya: My Week at NATO
Earlier this month, I spent a week at NATO with eight other bloggers, attending briefings on issues as varied as the mission in Afghanistan and cyber security. Here’s what stood out to me.
Afghan IDP Children are Freezing to Death. Here’s How to Help.
“Is that reasonable that all of them would die at night?” That’s how Afghanistan’s top disaster response official responded when asked about the nearly two dozen children who have frozen to death in IDP camps in Kabul over the past month.
NATO Combat Operations in Afghanistan to End Gradually: Secretary General
When NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke to the press yesterday at the end of the first of two days of meetings with NATO defense ministers, he tried to dispel confusion surrounding the end of NATO’s role in Afghanistan.
NATO Meeting to Discuss Early End of Combat Operations in Afghanistan
NATO will end combat operations in Afghanistan in mid-2013, more than a year ahead of schedule. The accelerated withdrawal of NATO forces will dominate the agenda of the NATO ministerial summit today and tomorrow.
UN Dispatch at NATO
I’m in Brussels for two days of briefings at NATO Headquarters and the February ministerial meeting. Have a question you would like me to ask at NATO this week? Post it in the comments on this post or tweet it to me @UnainKabul.
Visa Limbo and Fearful Future for the International Coalition’s Afghan Allies
With the international community’s involvement in Afghanistan winding down, Afghans who worked alongside foreign soldiers and civilians over the past decade are at risk of being left behind in a worsening war and becoming easy prey for militants.
An Afghan Human Rights Activist’s Long Fight for Justice
It was Nader Nadery’s conviction that the powerful be held accountable for their actions that ultimately cost him his job.
Asylum Abroad is Afghan Rape Survivor’s Only Hope
In a desperate bid to save her daughter from a life as an outcast, an imprisoned Afghan rape survivor agreed to marry her rapist. Now free, she should be offered asylum abroad. If left in Afghanistan, she will be at risk for torture, more sexual violence and murder.
A Photo Essay of Life in Kabul Ten Years after the International Intervention. Part II
UN Dispatch’s own Una Moore has been in Afghanistan for the better part of two years. This is part two of a two part photo series to mark a decade since international intervention.
A Photo Essay of Life in Kabul Ten Years after the International Intervention
A photo journal of life and living in Afghanistan, ten years after the international intervention.
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Syria Envoy; Sustainable Energy for All; The Sahel; Kenya; and more
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday he was working urgently to find a special envoy for Syria who would initially have a humanitarian role but would also seek a political solution for the violence-torn country.Ban, who was asked by the U.N. General Assembly last week to appoint the envoy, told Reuters in an interview that he hoped to select an Arab who would represent both the United Nations and the Arab League.
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SG Travels; Libya; Iran; MDGs in the Asia-Pacific; and more
The Secretary-General will begin a three-nation trip next week that will take him to the United Kingdom, where he will attend an international conference on the situation in Somalia, before proceeding to Zambia and Angola, where he will meet with senior officials. He will also attend the launch of a polio vaccination campaign and meet with young people at a project on water and sanitation.
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Syria; Women and Youth empowerment; Access to contraception; and more
The General Assembly today strongly condemned the continued “widespread and systematic” human rights violations by the Syrian authorities and demanded that the Government cease all violence and protect its people. The text, which was adopted by a vote of 137 in favor to 12 against with 17 abstentions, also called on Syria “to immediately put an end to all human rights violations and attacks against civilians.”
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Syria draft in GA; Somalia; Bahrain; and more
The U.N. General Assembly has scheduled a Thursday vote on an Arab-sponsored resolution strongly condemning human rights violations by the Syrian regime and backing an Arab League plan aimed at ending the 11-month conflict.Similar to the failed Security Council resolution, the assembly draft “fully supports” the Arab League plan floated last month and demands an immediate halt to military operations in Syrian cities and withdrawal of government security forces.
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SG at KPMG Summit; Sudan/South Sudan; Advancement of Women; Madagascar; and more
G Ban Ki-moon today at the KPMG Summit: Business Perspective for Sustainable Growth encouraged more businesses to embrace the principle of sustainability in their strategies, noting that with the most of the world’s ecosystems in decline, widening social inequality and climate change, global prosperity, productivity and stability was at stake. He urged business leaders gathered at the conference to five steps to advance sustainability:
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Syria; Sudan/South Sudan; the Sahel; Haiti; and more
The UN human rights chief today appealed to Member States to act now to protect the Syrian people as the Government’s violent crackdown on peaceful protests continues unabated and the number of dead and injured continues to rise. “The longer the international community fails to take action, the more the civilian population will suffer from countless atrocities committed against them,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the General Assembly.
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Syria; Libya; Haiti; WFP/Horn of Africa
The United Nations and the League of Arab States are considering sending a joint observer mission to Syria, including a joint special envoy, to try to end the crisis engulfing the Middle East country, with SG Ban Ki-Moon warning yesterday that recent attacks against civilians in the city of Homs were “a grim harbinger of worse to come.”Mr. Ban spoke yesterday with Nabil al-Araby, Secretary-General of the Arab League, about how to end the killings and start political negotiations between the Government of President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition.
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Syria; Sudan; Mali; DPKO’s new sexual abuse policy; and more
The UN’s human rights chief today urged the international community to protect civilians in Syria, stating that the Security Council’s failure to agree on collective action seems to have fuelled the Government’s readiness to massacre its own people. According to local sources, as well as independent media reports from inside the city of Homs, the Syrian army has sharply increased the use of tanks, helicopters, mortars, rockets and artillery fire to attack civilian areas, stated a news release issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
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UNCTAD Report; Syria; Libya; UN Refugee Agency; DR Congo
The world needs “a global new deal” to break the mold of economic thought that led to the international financial crisis, the head of the UN agency tasked with promoting trade and development says today. In a newly released report entitled Development-led globalization: Towards sustainable and inclusive development paths, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) urges the international community to take decisive steps towards reforming global finance into a system allowing for more stable and inclusive economic progress.
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Syria; Somalia; World Youth Report; Myanmar; and more
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the escalating violence in Syria today, calling on President Bashar al-Assad’s Government to immediately cease all hostilities against the country’s civilian population.
He also voiced deep regret after Security Council members were unable to agree on Saturday on a resolution backing an Arab League plan to resolve the crisis in Syria, where thousands of people have been killed over the past year since authorities’ crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising.
