Advocacy

Read more about the article Bi-weekly Situation Report <br /> No. 2 (January 15, 2021 – January 31, 2021)

Bi-weekly Situation Report
No. 2 (January 15, 2021 – January 31, 2021)

Civil Society and Human Rights Network Purpose: This bi-weekly report describes the updates and challenges related to the government’s relief response program, known as Dastarkhan-e-Meli, and health assistance in combating Covid-19 in Afghanistan.Time Coverage: The report covers all the measures undertaken from January 15 to January 31, 2021, by the government in Afghanistan concerning health and humanitarian assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic.Situation Overview: Herat:During the reporting period, people in six districts across Herat province have received aid packages. However, according to CSHRN’s focal point in Herat, several problems have been reported from aid distribution in this province. The problems are summaries as below:In Fajar council from PD 15 of Herat city, the beneficiary lists have been prepared three months before the start of the program. As a result, many poor families who have recently (re) settled in these areas have been left out from aid support.In PDs 10 and 15 of Herat city, some deserving families did not receive aid packages. Instead, the aid packages have been distributed to those families who do not fall under the criteria already set by the Dastarkhan-e-Meli program.In PD 13 of Herat city, some families of Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army were denied aid packages despite their inadequate livelihood. According to the report, they local facilitator in Herat do not clearly understand the project beneficiaries’ criteria set by the Dastarkhan-e-MeliGhor:The Dastarkhan Melli program has been suspended due to threats from the Taliban in two districts of Ghor province, such as Tolak and Shahrak. According to the report by the CSHRN focal point, the Taliban have threatened local facilitators to stop the program, otherwise they will be targeted.Khost:From Khost province, however, systematic and widespread cases of financial misuse and corruption have been reported. According to CSHRN’s local focal point, Provincial Deputy…

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No. 2 (January 15, 2021 – January 31, 2021)
Read more about the article Bi-weekly Situation Report <br> No. 1 (January 01, 2021 – January 15, 2021)

Bi-weekly Situation Report
No. 1 (January 01, 2021 – January 15, 2021)

Civil Society and Human Rights Network Purpose: This bi-weekly report describes the updates and challenges related to the government’s relief response program, known as Dastarkhan-e-Meli, and health assistance in combating Covid-19 in Afghanistan. Time Coverage: The report covers all the measures undertaken from January 01 to January 15, 2021, by the government in Afghanistan concerning health and humanitarian assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic. Geographical Coverage: Under this report, the updates from the following sixteen provinces are covered: Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, Paktia, Takhar, Laghman, Balkh, Nimroz, Nangarhar, Bamiyan, Jowzjan, Ghor, Kapisa, Helmand, Khost, and Logar. Situation Overview: The outbreak of Covid-19 has had devastating implications on people’s health and livelihoods across Afghanistan. The economic, social, and health conditions created by the pandemic have further exacerbated the situation to protect vulnerable families, many of whom have already been suffering from low income, social, and health crises due to long-standing conflict over the last several years. According to the World Bank data, Covid-19 pandemic increased the poverty rate from 54.5% to 75% in Afghanistan. Those families, who are dependent on daily wages or remittances from Iran and Pakistan, have especially been affected by the pandemic. To cushion its economic implications, in July 2020, the government of Afghanistan initiated its relief package program (Dastarkhan-e-Meli) to help low-income households across the country who have been heavily affected by the pandemic. Yet, since then, concerns have been mounting over irregularities and misuse of the resources under this program. During the reporting period, CSHRN’s focal points from sixteen mentioned provinces have tracked the aid distribution measures by the local authorities and reported several cases of mismanagement and threats by the Taliban. In addition, during the reporting period, positive tests of Covid-19 have also been on the rise in some provinces, mainly in Kabul. Below is…

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No. 1 (January 01, 2021 – January 15, 2021)
Read more about the article Attack on civilian targets is in no way acceptable.

Attack on civilian targets is in no way acceptable.

 This morning, terrorist groups stormed a civilian hospital in Kabul and attacked a funeral ceremony in Nangarhar province. Killing of civilians is in direct violation of domestic and international laws, and is a crime against humanity. The Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) calls on the Afghan government to take immediate actions to stop the attacks on civilian targets.

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Read more about the article Press Release by the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) on Recent Crises in the Country.

Press Release by the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) on Recent Crises in the Country.

Resolving post-election disputes, unconditional ceasefire, and an reduction in aid from friendly countries to Afghanistan is an urgent need to prevent the escalation of the crises in the country. Press Release by the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) on recent Crises in the country As a common threat to all human beings, the COVID-19 virus is rapidly spilling over everywhere in the world and Afghanistan. Due to protected armed conflict, Afghanistan has lost its infrastructure, the country is now on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe more than any other time in the past. The spread of the COVID-19 virus has crossed all political, ethnic, religious and ideological lines and is threatening the country as a whole. Although official statistics confirmed only 42 infectious cases so far, the assumption is presumably much higher than announced.  On the other hand, the post-electoral disputes between the two forerunning electoral teams have diverted attention to contain the crises, paving further instability and diminishing global confidence on the Afghan government. As the biggest supporter of the Afghan government, the U.S. Department of State has recently warned that it will cut $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan as the result of political disputes between the two electoral rivals. This has added further concerns to the already problems in Afghanistan. Based on these considerations, therefore, the CSHRN, as a premier organization for civil and human rights in the country, recommends to all parties (government, political parties, the Taliban, and the international community): Now is the best time for an unconditional ceasefire in the country. To prevent a humanitarian crisis and to save the lives of their own people, the Afghan government and the Taliban must declare a ceasefire without any preconditions until the end of the crisis stemmed from the spread of…

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Read more about the article Radio Program on International Humanitarian Law (IHL)

Radio Program on International Humanitarian Law (IHL)

programme consists of two parts: analysis and debate. An international lawyer with expertise in international law prepares an analysis of the situation. Then the moderator of the radio programme asks questions from the guests invited in the program according to this analysis. The main focus of the programme is to deliberate questions regarding the killing of innocent people during military operations, the conditions of prisoners of war, the conditions in the prisons controlled by international military troops in Afghanistan, the role of the international community in monitoring IHL in Afghanistan, the role of the Afghan state and the international community regarding IHL and … The programme is aired once a month by Good Morning Afghanistan with the collaboration of the Civil Society and Human Rights Network. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Read more about the article Afghan Civil Society Activists and Organizations Statement About National Unity Government on the peace agreement with the Armed opposition groups

Afghan Civil Society Activists and Organizations Statement About National Unity Government on the peace agreement with the Armed opposition groups

In the name of Almighty Allah  Afghan Civil Society Activists and Organizations Statement About National Unity Government on the peace agreement with the Armed opposition groups 27 Aqrab 1395, of November 17, 2016 Kabul, Afghanistan Peace talks with armed groups involved in the Afghan system is an integral part of official policy of Afghanistan since more than a decade. Despite the persistent efforts and high political and economic investments, conflict continues in Afghanistan and every year more other layers are added. Due to the inefficiency and failure of the Afghan government's peace policy in the three and a half decades, still the parties to the conflict do not respect the demands and sacrifices of people and recommendations of civil society and human rights organizations for current structural transition from conflict. It has been more than a decade since Afghan peace talks with Taliban continues; but not only Peace was not in amid, but even we have not witnessed durable ceasefire and cessation of the conflict. Despair, frustration and cynicism of the citizens of Afghanistan to the official policy of peace and reconciliation of the warring groups becomes more and more widespread each day. Recently, two important and promising issue about the Afghan government and the International Criminal Court, in connection with the logical and legal termination of Afghanistan conflicts have been proposed. Last week, Afghan President in a meeting with the delegation of the United Nations, demanded to include the name of the leader of the Taliban and other terrorist in the black list of the United Nations. The request can be considered as a turning point, in a serious struggle with terrorist groups, which is a major cause of human rights violations and humanitarian law in conflicts in Afghanistan. On other hand, prosecutor’s office of International Criminal…

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Read more about the article Civil Society Report on Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Civil Society Report on Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

ABOUT THIS REPORT This report on implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) presents the perspectives and views of civil society with regard to Afghanistan’s compli­ance with its obligations under CRPD.This report has been compiled from consultation with government institutions, civil society or­ganization either working for persons with disabilities or persons without disability, focus group discussions, individual and collective interviews and expert group discussions. In the development of this report civil society submissions and reports released by national and international organiza­tions have also been exploited. The issues raised in this report and gaps highlighted in government compliance with the CRPD should be considered in the context of Afghanistan. ------------------------------------------------------------- To read the report, please click on the link below.

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Read more about the article The 8th General Assembly of CSHRN

The 8th General Assembly of CSHRN

The 8th general assembly of the Civil Society & Human Rights Network (CSHRN) was conducted by the presence of its member organizations in Kabul on 10th Feb, 2015. General Assembly is the highest decision-making authority of CSHRN that is organized once every two years, in which the member organizations are deciding and planning about the strategic issues of the network as well as electing the triple committee’s members via a democratic election. At the beginning of the program, M.Naim Nazari, the executive director of CSHRN talked about the achievements of the network and praised the constructive coordination and cooperation of its member institutions. He asked the member organizations to make more and more efforts for monitoring the human rights situation and joint advocacy for improving the human rights situation in the country. Mr. Nazari added that, the Civil Society & Human Rights Network with the assistance of its member institutions was able to publish nine educational manuals on human rights during 2014. He also mentioned some important and valuable reports that have been prepared and submitted to its relevant agencies by CSHRN during 2014. He concluded that these crucial reports are the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the annual report on human rights situation in Afghanistan and Monitoring report on the functions of the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan to ICC. The executive director of CSHRN has also mentioned the functions and activities of CSHRN in the field of coordination, capacity-building, monitoring the human rights situation, advocacy and public awareness. Afterward, Ahmad Seyar Lalee, CSHRN’s program officer, briefed the general assembly regarding the suggestions of the member organizations on amending the strategies of CSHRN and said «for amending the strategy of CSHRN, the strategic frameworks of CSHRN have been compared with the strategies of credible organizations». According to…

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Read more about the article CSHRN UPR Report

CSHRN UPR Report

In August 2004, 24 human rights organizations registered the Civil Society and Human Rights Network in the Ministry of Justice and according to general assembly of (CSHRN), the Network was later registered in February 2011 with the Ministry of Economy under official name of Civil Society and Human Right Organization (CSHRO). We are organized as a nationwide network of 124 civil society organizations representing broad segments of the Afghan society in Kabul and in four provinces. Our members work in a variety of areas such as women’s issues, transitional justice, radio-and TV production, printed media, but we are all bound together by our common commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and our common determination to promote human rights and to consistently apply rights based approaches to what we do To read the report, please click on the link below.

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