The UN’s top human rights official has condemned the Taliban’s repression of Afghan women and girls, calling the situation “outrageous” and warning of its dire consequences for the country’s future. Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the Taliban’s morality laws, which severely limit women’s roles in society, are a form of systematic Read more
Children are suffering! Wars in Gaza, Ukraine and other parts of the world are destroying their futures, Pope Francis says. Speaking about the conflict in Palestine and Israel after praying the Angelus in St Peter’s Square this week, Francis asked the world to “think of the children” who suffer as a result of war. For Read more
The Vatican state newspaper, Osservatore Romano, has come out in favour of gender equality in Afghanistan. On 20 July, the newspaper dedicated its front page to condemning the Taliban’s decree that all Afghanistan’s beauty centres must close down. The beauty centre closure is a complete shutdown. The Taliban decree is likely to negatively affect thousands Read more
Parwana Malik, a 9-year-old girl with dark eyes and rosy cheeks, giggles with her friends as they play jump rope in a dusty clearing. But Parwana’s laughter disappears as she returns home, a small hut with dirt walls, where she’s reminded of her fate: she’s being sold to a stranger as a child bride. The Read more
Oct. 11 was the International Day of the Girl Child, a day to empower young girls and promise them a better future. However, today, I am sorry to say to girls that I do not have good news for you. You have grown up with the promise of a better future. Throughout your life, you Read more
Was it good that the United States and its allies fought a 20 year war against the Taliban in Afghanistan? Was all of the blood, sweat and tears worth it? How can any honest, moral, objective view conclude that all of the money wasted, goodwill lost, Americans and allies killed and countless innocent poor Afghan Read more
People’s response to Catholic Social Service’s (CSS) appeal welcoming refugees from Afghanistan has been remarkable, says archdiocese general manager, John Prendergast. On 2 September, the social agency launched an appeal for housing, furniture and household packs. “Every action, small or large, will greatly benefit the individuals and families fleeing a desperate situation and seeking safety Read more
I was one of the boat people who escaped from South Vietnam. The escape happened after South Vietnam had fallen to the Vietnamese communist forces in 1975, and my world descended into total chaos with an international embargo, wars against China and Cambodia, forced collectivisation and the insidious spread of what were termed ‘re-education camps’ — but Read more
It was an unfortunate coincidence of history and geography that most of the world’s energy reserves, in the form of oil and natural gas, were buried under some of the world’s most primitive societies. The Western world’s insatiable appetite to feed its cars and planes with petroleum products enriched these societies without developing them. Their Read more
Increasing the refugee intake is one way the Australian Government could help with the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan, says Archbishop Mark Coleridge. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president says the government should provide at least 20,000 humanitarian places for refugees from Afghanistan in the wake of the current Taliban takeover. In a letter to Read more