Foundation for Self Reliance

Afghanistan - Annual report 2008 From Reporters Without Borders For Press Freedom: Afghanistan, which has been destabilised by an increasingly violent civil war, finds it difficult to protect its journalists. Details... FSR elects new Board of Directors In keeping with our model of building self-reliance, a new team of SF Bay Area Afghan American youth have taken over the helm of FSR. Details... Conflict threatens access to children by humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan, 8 July 2008 Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy (left) and UNICEF's Director of Emergency Programmes Louis-Georges Arsenaul have completed a five-day tour of Afghanistan. Details... AFGHANISTAN: 1.5 million "severely" hit by drought KABUL, 17 July 2008 (IRIN) - At least 1.5 million people in 19 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces - mostly farming communities in the north - have been severely affected by drought and are in need of urgent humanitarian relief, an Afghan minister told IRIN. Read the full report... Details... AFGHANISTAN: High birth rate killing mothers, infants - UNFPA expert KABUL, 14 July 2008 (IRIN) - Afghanistan has the highest fertility rate in Asia - 6.7 - which not only means the deaths of thousands of young mothers and infants every year but also poses long-term challenges, an expert of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warned. Read the full report... Details... Need for Survival Fuels Sex Work, High Birth Rate Kills Mothers in Afghanistan feminist wire | daily newsbriefs: July 21, 2008. Women and young girls are being pushed to commercial sex work due to high food prices and widespread unemployment in Afghanistan. High fertility rates, poor health services, and a high maternal mortality rate compound these issues. Details... Alarm Bells in Afghanistan 07/18/2008. Center for American Progress. Caroline Wadhams & Colin Cookma. Reprinted from e-Ariana. The forgotten war in Afghanistan has once again leapt back into the news with disturbing reports of rising international casualties and large-scale Taliban offensives in the south. Read the full article... Details... Afghanistan continues to suffer... ...from a pervasive culture of impunity and a weak rule of law. Read the full 2008-2009 OHCRH report... Details... --= NFSP =-- AFGHANISTAN: Food prices fueling sex work in north? MAZAR-I-SHARRIF, 16 July 2008 (IRIN) - High food prices, drought, unemployment and lack of socio-economic opportunities are pushing some women and young girls in northern Afghanistan into commercial sex work, women’s rights activists and several affected women told IRIN. Read the full report.... Details...