Afghanistan

Women lawmakers, civil society members, media professionals, and government staff have formed a movement to back women's rights in the upcoming presidential election, beginning with a proposal to parliament on securing gender quotas for women candidates.

Recently several cases of “Honour Killings” in Afghanistan have been reported by the media and the Afghan Women's Network (AWN) recorded three cases of such killings across the country during the month of March.

After the publication of an article in The New York Times on Monday about an Afghan man who had agreed to give his 6-year-old daughter in marriage to pay off his debt to another man, the father called The Times and said the debt had been paid nearly a month ago by an anonymous donor.

As the shadows lengthened around her family's hut here in one of Kabul's sprawling refugee camps, a slight 6-year-old girl ran in to where her father huddled with a group of elders near a rusty wood stove. Her father, Taj Mohammad, looked away, his face glum.

“She does not know what is going to happen,” he said softly.

Jan Kubis said that despite the good news of a fall in annual civilian casualties in Afghanistan - the first decline in several years - the casualties of women subjected to violence are on the increase.

The United Nations said last month that more than 300 women and girls were killed and more than 560 injured during 2012.

The United Nation's office in Afghanistan on Thursday highlighted the importance of women's active participation in the upcoming presidential election and peace talks in Afghanistan.

Afghan women continue to face serious threats and injustice despite massive efforts at both a countrywide and international level to improve their situation.

There has been substantial progress in women's rights, but there is still a long way to go, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in Afghanistan said.

Around 700 years ago, Queen Goharshad, wife of a Timouri heir, is said to have inspired a Renaissance in Herat, Afghanistan's western province. Seven centuries later, a group of women filmmakers in Afghanistan have inspired a similar change in their war-ravaged country.

Doha, Qatar - Far from the glistening glass and burgeoning metal structures that dot the Doha skyline, the Afghan Taliban try to discreetly blend in far less pristine areas around the Qatari capital.

A teenage Afghan rape victim who secured a rare conviction of her attacker has said she was assaulted this month for a second time, by a group of government employees tasked with protecting her.