READ THIS WEEK’S EDITION ONLINE

Let us Pray

in this Holy Month

that the disputes

over the

Afghanistan Election

may be resolved

quickly and without

harm to anyone.

AMEEN

Choice: Health or Debt?

According to a recent report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which surveyed 700 patients in four provinces, 44 percent of respondents were forced to sell their possessions or borrow money to get health care during a recent illness. “When families get into debt, they cannot afford proper food. Their kids get sick, and malnourished and it creates this perpetual cycle,” said Edi Atte, the field coordinator at Ahmed Shah Baba Hospital in Kabul. “They have to borrow money from a neighbour or someone who has money in order to take care of their child.”  More>>> andRead the Survey Report>>>

More than 120,000 displaced people have moved from North Waziristan Agency (NWA) to Afghanistan in the backdrop of ongoing military action in the tribal agency.  An estimated 112,500 people from NWA have moved to the Khost and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan. An estimated 15,000 families (over 112,500 individuals) left NWA to Khost (10,000 families) and Paktika (5,000 families). As of 30 June, 9,731 of these families 6,131 families had been assessed the UN said. More>>>

An Afghan trader, Haji Saif Noorna, from southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan dispatched the first shipment of Afghan pomegranates to Russia.  This was the first shipment of Afghan pomegranates to reach Russia in decades after Afghanistan’s trade ties fallen into disrepair because of decades of conflict. The 22.5 metric tons of pomegranates were dispatched with the support of USAID. The shipment travelled through the Pakistani port city of Karachi and took 55 days to reach its destination.  More>>>

The 6th edition of the “Spring of Quran” Exhibition has been well received by people in the Afghan capital city of Kabul. The expo that was launched on Monday will run until the 25th day of the holy month of Ramadan, July 23, IRNA reports. It showcases various copies of the Holy Quran as well as Quranic artworks, books and software products.More>>>

The English Writer Kabul

 An English writer and editor is available for a wide variety of your English writing needs. The writer has extensive experience in Afghanistan and in writing proposals, applications, reports and media releases, etc., for both foreign and local organisations.  Training in these activities can also be offered to your staff members. Charges are low. Contact details:englishwriterkabul@gmail.com
or 079 943 1087

Cricket

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The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Saturday announced the national team squad for the Zimbabwe tour.  The Afghanistan national cricket team will play a series of matches against Zimbabwe starting on 18th July. The tour will include four one-day international (ODI) and two 4-day matches. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) Chief Executive, Dr. Noor Mohammad Murad said the upcoming series against Zimbabwe is a major event for the Afghan team. More>>>

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The FA has continued its partnership with the Afghanistan Football Federation with a special training course for aspiring coaches.  In all 23 male and female coaches from across Afghanistan took part in an intensive training programme in grassroots football development and community coaching. The course followed on from the UK-Afghan football partnership launched by prime minister David Cameron and FA ambassador Michael Owen last December. More>>>

Photography
by Barat Ali Batoor

The Western Australian Museum in Perth, Australia, is presenting a selection of Barat Ali Batoor’s photography in a free exhibition. This solo exhibition features landscape and portraiture captured while Barat Ali Batoor was a photographer in Afghanistan.  The works bring intimate portraits of the people to viewer’s eyes, and also showcase the unique and varied beauty of the country’s rugged landscapes. It will run in conjunction with the exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum Kabul.  See Some of Barat’s Photographs>>>

A balance must be found in the media coverage of the violence in Afghanistan and the country’s attempts to rebuild after decades of war, says Wadia Samadi, the founder and editor-in-chief of Wadsam.com, Afghanistan’s first business news website.  Readers want to see more positive business news from Afghanistan, about the building of businesses, small or big, and economic development. “What is missing is a focus on economic development, the achievements that we have had in the last decade.” she says.  More>>>

A new report from Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre says that in the coming time of transition in Afghanistan, as troops leave and a new president takes office, political, security and economic stability are uncertain. As such, humanitarian access has become a key concern, particularly for internally displaced people (IDPs) in rural or remote areas where development and humanitarian actors have limited access due to insecurity and on-going conflict. Shrinking humanitarian space does not translate into shrinking needs and, if anything, multiplies them. Read the Full Report>>>

Gul Agha and his farmer friends know a good thing when they see it. Their irrigation canals are flowing twice as fast, their land is twice as productive, and their income has doubled. Now they’re eager for more. “These modern ideas are helping us so much,” says Gul Agha, 56. “Before we were using old agriculture methods, and we have had three decades of war when our production was almost zero. But now the canal improvement projects, laser land leveling and other new ideas are very good for us.” More>>>

The findings of this study from three universities in Afghanistan show that GBV exists in educational institutions in Afghanistan. By conducting and contextualising such research, Kabul University as well as other universities in Afghanistan will be able to develop comprehensive approaches, including adequate policies, legislations and programmes to address the prevalence of GBV.  Download the Study>>>

CBI began in late 2011 to help a handful of individual Afghan entrepreneurs access European markets. Among them are five Kabul-based exporters in the Home Decoration/Home Textile (HD/HT) sector. In September, 2013, they exhibited at the Maison et Objet trade fair in Paris. The debut was a huge success and CBI estimates the five businesses together will log at least 1.2 million euro worth of new export turnover by 2015. More>>>

A local Afghan company, Life Star, has launched a private bus service in Kabul. The service has 80 buses and will provide jobs for more than 200 people. It is the second private bus company to be developed in Kabul.  More>>>

On May 23, WikiLeaks revealed that Afghanistan was the previously unnamed country where the NSA conducted mass phone surveillance. The surveillance goes beyond the NSA’s controversial program in the United States. According to WikiLeaks, since 2013 the NSA has been recording and storing almost all phone calls — including those made by Afghan journalists — in the country and to other countries.  More>>>

The Afghanistan National Security Council (NSC) chaired by President Hamid Karzai, has decided not to ban Facebook in the country and called on Afghan youths and activists not to enflame tensions by misusing social media. A Presidential Palace statement said that the freedom of media has been one of the major achievements of Afghanistan during the past 13 years for the continuity of democracy, and the Afghan government remains committed to defend the freedom of media. Concerns had earlier arisen sue to the enflaming tensions and ethnic divisions through social media especially in the wake of the recent elections.  More>>>

A barely-used power plant financed by American taxpayers near Kabul, Afghanistan has cost the U.S. more than $300 million, and the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight is demanding answers from USAID. Completed in 2010 at a total expense of $307 million, USAID has since spent about $27 million on maintenance-meaning. The plant has produced only 2.2% of its capability and fuel needed to run it either can’t be stored in Kabul or is too expensive.  The power plant operates only as an emergency power source and its generators sit idle most of the time. More>>>