A powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late on 31 August 2025, with its epicenter near Jalalabad in Nangarhar province. A shortage of female doctors left women untreated as the quake’s toll mounted. Credit: UNICEF/Amin Meerzad
By External Source
KABUL, Sep 24 2025 (IPS)
In normal times, women in Afghanistan face dire living conditions relative to their counterparts in other parts of the world, given the iron grip of Taliban repression. However, the powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, and Laghman at the end of August was out of the ordinary.
It was the deadliest quake to hit earthquake-prone Afghanistan in decades, and humanitarian efforts to reach the most vulnerable – usually women, children, and the elderly – were overwhelmed.
In the affected areas, a serious shortage of female doctors led to a higher toll among women because male doctors did not have easy access to female victims due to gender segregation
Nearly 700,000 homes and 500 hectares of farmland were damaged in Kunar alone, according to Afghan authorities.
But the only factor that was not a force of nature is the gender-based restrictions instituted by the Taliban, which aggravated the crisis for Afghan women.
In the affected areas, a serious shortage of female doctors led to a higher toll among women because male doctors did not have easy access to female victims due to gender segregation.
“Taliban edicts bar women from moving freely without a male guardian, ban them from many forms of work and strictly limit access to healthcare,” according to a report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
In the aftermath of the deadly quake, residents from Kunar and Jalalabad told us that women in these areas faced shortages of safe shelter and drinking water, while also battling women’s health issues.
The condition of women and children in other areas such as Kunar, Nangarhar, and Laghman was equally poor.
The total death toll from the earthquake is estimated at 2,200 people. The exact number of women casualties remains unclear, but health workers in the affected areas have reported high death tolls among women and children.
Sharifa Aziz (a pseudonym), a member of the UNICEF relief team who spent three days in various parts of Kunar province, told us over the phone: “The situation is extremely dire. When we first arrived, women cried tears of joy at seeing us. They said, ‘God’s angels have come to us.’” Their jubilation was understandable.
There were insufficient female workers to serve women’s needs, stemming from the Taliban’s overall clampdown on women’s participation in the labour market. Their participation in international humanitarian organizations’ work is also strictly limited.
As the earthquake was still unfolding, Susan Ferguson, the UN Women Special Representative in Afghanistan, put out a statement: “Women and girls will again bear the brunt of this disaster, so we must ensure their needs are at the heart of the response and recovery,” she warned.
According to her, after the major earthquake that hit Herat in 2023, “nearly six out of 10 of those who lost their lives were women, and nearly two-thirds of those injured were women.”
After the quake struck, local news sources began reporting that the majority of the victims were women and children.
In some households, as many as five or six children lost their lives, and the death toll among women and the elderly was alarmingly high.
The Taliban eventually dispatched a team of mobile health workers to Kunar only after images from social media circulated on local television showing a shortage of female doctors in the affected area, according to Abdulqadeem Abrar, spokesperson for the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
However, residents say that with the rising number of injured people, they continue to face a shortage of female medical staff.
“After the severe earthquake in our area, we came to the hospital and brought in patients here. There is a serious shortage of female doctors. If there were more female doctors here, we would not have had to transfer our patients elsewhere,” complained Chenar Gul, a resident of Kunar.
As Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, pointed out in a posting on X, the role of female doctors is critical in responding to disasters such as earthquakes.
He added that female doctors treat children and women as well as men affected by the earthquake in these provinces. However, in humanitarian agencies without female staff, or where access is restricted, it is feared that women can be left untreated for several hours.
The growing concerns over the shortage of female doctors and healthcare workers—a contributory factor to the high toll exacted on women—should have brought home to the Taliban the negative impact of their policy. But in recent remarks, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban leader, described the issue of girls’ education as “minor.”
For the fourth consecutive year, the Taliban have kept all universities, institutions, and medical training centers for girls and women closed, including specialized nursing and medical technology centers.
The scale of destruction caused by the 6.0-magnitude earthquake was exacerbated by poor infrastructure and a fragile healthcare system—a legacy of a country emerging from decades of military conflict—which explains the unacceptably high number of casualties.
However, it is within human capability to mitigate the severe impact of such recurring events on women. All it takes is for the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan women by bringing relentless pressure on the Taliban government.
Excerpt:
The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasonsIt is time to shine a spotlight on small island nations in different parts of the world, argues James Alix Michel, former President Republic of Seychelles.
By James Alix Michel
VICTORIA, Sep 24 2025 (IPS)
Like so many problems besetting the world, the existential threats facing small island states are all too obvious. Island nations are surrounded by the sea, and they depend on it for their livelihood and for their security. The sheer power of the sea can never be tamed but islanders have learnt to work with it and in doing so, there has always been a productive balance. But this balance, however, has been cast aside – the relationship has broken down. Our mighty ocean is in poor shape.
The Ocean has been wilfully exploited by the world, in the name of ‘progress’. And it is now hitting back. We are all too familiar with related issues of rising sea levels, overfishing, the polluting effects of shipping, seabed mining, acidification and the destruction of marine ecosystems. And the list goes on. The question now is what can be done about it. Or is it too late?
The world’s superpowers are more preoccupied in their own competition for primacy, middle-ranking powers scrambling to catch up with those above them and small island states, who are not blameless, with all too many examples of harmful development.
James Alix Michel
Sadly, we are running out of options. Various international institutions responsible for driving solutions have become overly bureaucratic and subject to partisan interests, which in turn slows down progress in conservation and sustainability efforts. The United Nations—once everyone’s hope in averting international crisis—is in many ways failing to deliver. There is no magic wand to be waved in that forum. But some people do care, and young people especially. If a top-down approach has not worked, can we even now do more to activate change from the bottom up? This is probably our best hope of reversing the downward trend. So how would we do it?
Firstly, at the individual and community level, focus on promoting sustainable practices that reduces pollution, reduces carbon footprints, restores habitats and increases ocean literacy. These grassroots actions will drive change from the ground-up, opening doors to influence policy.
Secondly, grow local action. There are already some wonderful initiatives around the world. And they really do make a difference – protecting marine breeding grounds, restoring coral reefs, replanting mangrove and coastal coconut plantations, creating green coastal defences. But these are not enough. Multiply the number of projects not by measly single figures but by a hundred!
Thirdly, make our political systems more responsive. Leaders are too often elected with manifestos that are quickly forgotten. Lest we forget that leaders must prioritize the ocean because it is fundamental to human health, planetary stability, and economic prosperity. Ignoring ocean health would worsen, if not trigger, severe climate impacts leading to economic instability, making its protection a matter of human survival and sustainable development.
Next, use the media effectively to shine a spotlight on small island nations in different parts of the world. Show the state of the ocean now but also show what is being done locally to stop the rot. Point out that tourists can themselves act as a force for change by supporting local economies, raising awareness for marine health, reducing their own impact and directly participating in conservation actions. When done right, marine tourism can become one of the most powerful tools for ocean conservation and restoration.
Lastly, a high-profile competition in which all small island states present their own bottom-up plans. This would be not only a matter of status and prestige but also material benefit in attracting further investment. It would soon become evident which are doing the most to save the ocean and which are not. Those in the latter category would then be encouraged to adopt some of the winning ways.
Notably, Sustainable Development Goal 14, which focuses on life below water, remains the least funded among all SDGs due to Ocean health being seen as a less immediate or tangible priority compared to other issues, despite its critical role in supporting life on Earth. Yet, high profile events such as The Monaco Ocean Protection Challenge and other high profile initiatives are continuously encouraging creative expression from the youth and attracting political and industry leaders to support innovative and powerful solutions to save the Ocean.
The fact is that it would be all too easy to throw in the towel. Things have deteriorated so much, but it is never too late to fight back. The stakes in this case are too high to dismiss. Saving the ocean should not be a mere slogan. We need to be able to see its manifestation in the sea. Act now!
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A throng of people at the Kariakoo business hub in Dar es Salaam, where air pollution is rampant. Credit: Kizito Makoye Shigela/IPS
By Kizito Makoye
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania , Sep 24 2025 (IPS)
On a hot afternoon in Kariakoo, Dar es Salaam’s bustling commercial hub, the air is a swirling mix of diesel exhaust, charcoal smoke and dust kicked up by the shuffle of feet. Traders tie handkerchiefs over their noses to deter haze from drifting into their throats and lungs.
“There are just too many cars—the toxic smoke makes it hard to breathe,” says Abdul Hassan, a vegetable vendor who has worked in the market for 19 years.
A new study by the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology and the Stockholm Environment Institute, published in Clean Air Journal, has confirmed what many city dwellers already know: the air is toxic. Real-time data collected from 14 monitoring stations across Dar es Salaam between May 2021 and February 2022 showed concentrations of particulate matter—PM2.5 and PM10 — consistently exceeded World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. At their peak, daily PM2.5 levels reached 130 µg/m³, more than eight times the WHO’s recommended limit.
These findings place Dar es Salaam firmly within the global air pollution crisis, underscoring the urgent need to deliver on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.9.1, which calls for a substantial reduction in deaths and illnesses from hazardous air.
“Air pollution is not an invisible issue—you can smell it and feel it in your lungs,” said Neema John, a street cook who works near Kariakoo market. “My children cough all night when the smoke from burning dumps drifts into our house.”
A Silent Killer
The study shows that people living near dumpsites, busy roads, and industrial zones face the greatest risks. At the Pugu Dampo landfill, particulate concentrations reached staggering levels—up to 2,762 µg/m³ for PM10—during months of uncontrolled waste burning. In Ilala and Kinondoni, home to factories and major intersections, daily averages were consistently above safe limits.
Health experts warn that such exposure is linked to asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure, and premature deaths. In Tanzania, respiratory infections are a leading cause of hospital visits and child mortality.
“This is a public health emergency hiding in plain sight,” said Linus Chuwa, a Dar es Salaam–based public health specialist.
“When PM2.5 levels exceed WHO standards by such margins, they potentially inflict long-term damage to people’s health.”
Energy Poverty and Dirty Fuels
But the problem does not only stem from traffic and industry. According to the study, Dar es Salaam consumes nearly half of Tanzania’s total charcoal each year. With only 34 percent of the country’s electricity generated from clean hydropower, most households rely on charcoal and firewood.
This reliance on dirty fuels undermines SDG target 7.1.2, which aims to ensure access to clean energy for cooking and heating.
“For families, charcoal is cheaper and more accessible, but the smoke fills homes with toxic particles,” said Fatma Suleiman, who lives in the densely populated suburb of Mbagala. “We know it’s dangerous, but it is the only cheaper alternative?”
The Urban Sustainability Challenge
Dar es Salaam is one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities, its population now above six million. Its rapid sprawl, unregulated industries, and congested roads make it a typical example of the challenges captured under SDG target 11.6.2: reducing the environmental impact of cities by improving air quality.
The study found that during peak hours—6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.—air pollution levels in traffic and industrial zones spiked sharply. Conversely, concentrations dropped during holidays, highlighting how transport and industrial activities drive emissions.
Policy efforts exist: the Bus Rapid Transit system and Standard Gauge Railway aim to reduce vehicle emissions, while Tanzania has signed onto regional and global clean air initiatives. Yet enforcement of air quality standards remains weak. The 2007 Air Quality Regulations are rarely applied, and monitoring remains limited.
A Boiling Cauldron
The warnings resonate most on Kongo Street, Kariakoo’s most notorious artery. Here, thousands push through a maze of wooden stalls while hawkers bellow prices, competing with the roar of motorbikes and rattling carts.
“You breathe smoke, dust, and even the stench from garbage that never seems to get collected,” said Mwanaidi Salum, a mother of three. “When I blow my nose, it’s black from dust and smoke.”
Although the study has identified other hotspots for air pollution, the combination of heavy traffic, open-air cooking fires, and uncollected waste makes it a microcosm of the city’s pollution crisis.
Navigating Chaos, Swallowing Fumes
Cars and motorbikes lurch forward, horns blaring, leaving behind thick plumes of exhaust. Pedestrians leap aside, clutching bags to their chests. Wooden carts piled high with rice, bananas, and bales of used clothing block every path.
Researchers warn that children, street vendors, and the elderly are especially vulnerable to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
Jacqueline Senyagwa, a research fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute, said the findings from Dar es Salaam expose risks that are far from abstract.
“While our study did not collect medical data, the air quality records we obtained from 14 monitoring stations clearly showed very high concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10—several times above the World Health Organization’s safe limits,” she explained. “Globally, long-term exposure to such particles is linked to respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, particularly among children and the elderly. We are talking about asthma, lung diseases, heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.”
She noted that air pollution has become one of the biggest drivers of non-communicable diseases worldwide. “According to the WHO, it is the second-highest cause of non-communicable diseases globally. That should be a wake-up call for Tanzania.”
Yet despite these dangers, Senyagwa said Tanzania still lacks a robust national framework for air quality monitoring. “There are several reasons. First, there is limited awareness of the health impacts of air pollution among the public, policymakers, and regulators,” she said. “Solid waste is visible, and people demand action. But air pollution is invisible, and its effects take years to show, so action is often delayed.”
Technical capacity and resources are also a challenge.
“There are very few air quality experts in Tanzania, and most monitoring equipment has to be imported,” she noted. “Institutions like the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology have only recently started fabricating local monitors. On top of that, the mandates of public agencies are fragmented. NEMC, for example, is responsible for regulating air quality, but with limited human and financial resources, enforcement has been minimal.”
According to Senyagwa, even the data itself is scarce. “The 14 stations we installed represent some of the very first ambient air monitoring efforts in the country,” she said. “Without reliable data, many decision-makers underestimate the scale of the problem.”
Her team identified clear hotspots. “At the Pugu Dampo dumpsite, the main source is open waste burning, which produces dangerously high levels of particulates,” she said. “In Vingunguti, the pollution largely comes from industries and road traffic. And in Magomeni and other crowded residential areas, vehicle emissions are the biggest culprit.”
Still, she pointed out that practical interventions do exist.
“The government’s investment in the Bus Rapid Transit system is a positive step because reducing traffic will cut emissions,” she said. “We’ve also carried out awareness campaigns with local communities—from advising waste pickers at Pugu to wear masks and stop random fires to working with schoolchildren in Vingunguti alongside partners like Save the Children Tanzania and Muhimbili College of Health Sciences.”
Dar es Salaam’s air quality crisis, she stressed, is not unique. “When we compare our results with Kampala, Nairobi, and Addis Ababa, the pattern is very similar. PM2.5 and PM10 levels across these cities also exceed WHO limits,” Senyagwa said.
Still, Tanzania can learn from regional peers. “Nairobi has gone further by passing a County Air Quality Act in 2022 and rolling out low-cost sensors across the city,” she said. “In Uganda, Kampala University has started fabricating its own sensors, while the Kampala Capital City Authority has already developed a clean air action plan. Addis Ababa is moving towards tougher vehicle emission standards.”
“These examples show that solutions are possible,” Senyagwa added. “But Tanzania must first recognize air pollution as a major public health threat—and act with the urgency it deserves.”
Plan of Action
The authors recommend a robust national monitoring framework, stronger enforcement of emission standards, and investment in waste recycling and composting to reduce open burning. Public awareness campaigns on air pollution’s health risks, they argue, are equally vital.
For the city’s dwellers, however, the need is urgent and personal. “We can’t keep raising children in an environment where every breath is dangerous,” said Hassan.
Unless Tanzania addresses dirty energy and unchecked urban pollution, its economic gains risk being overshadowed by rising health costs and declining quality of life.
Yet despite the looming health risks, life goes on at Kariakoo, even as the air grows harder to breathe.
Note: This article is brought to you by IPS Noram in collaboration with INPS Japan and Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.
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Written by Sebastian Clapp and Martin Höflmayr with Falk Vambrie.
The European defence industry is highly fragmented, with limited collaborative investment and procurement, divergent national regulations, and protectionist tendencies that undermine efficiency, interoperability and competitiveness. The Letta report makes the case for a concerted effort to advance towards the development of a ‘Common Market for the Security and Defence Industry’, which focuses on regulatory simplification, pooled procurement, and cross-border industrial integration. While the Draghi report puts its finger on the EU defence sector’s fragmentation, under-investment, and external dependencies, it urges coordinated action to strengthen the industrial base, boost joint innovation, and align national efforts through common policies and incentives. According to the White Paper for European Defence, a truly integrated EU defence market would be among the largest globally, strengthening competitiveness, readiness and industrial scale. It would enable firms from the European defence technological and industrial base (EDTIB) to expand across the Union and stimulate cross-border cooperation, mergers and new ventures, increasing the availability of EU-made defence products.
The new Defence Readiness Omnibus aims to remove procedural bottlenecks and facilitate up to €800 billion in defence investment under the Rearm Europe/Readiness 2030 plan, combining streamlined procurement rules, simplified intra-EU transfers, and revised financial instruments. Achieving readiness and autonomy requires predictable joint planning, harmonised standards, and public-private coordination. Without genuine market reform, Europe’s rising defence spending risks being absorbed by inefficiencies rather than delivering real capability gains. A functioning common defence market is therefore essential not only for competitiveness, but also for deterrence, resilience and strategic sovereignty in an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment.
The European Parliament advocates a fully integrated internal market for defence to overcome fragmentation, urging regulatory reform, joint procurement, and cross-border industrial cooperation as essential steps towards greater efficiency, competitiveness, and strategic autonomy.
Read the complete briefing on ‘Building a common market for European defence‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
EU members of NATO: Composition of defence spendingRohingya refugees at a camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Credit: UNHCR/Susan Hopper
By Steve Ross
WASHINGTON DC, Sep 24 2025 (IPS)
Last month marked eight years since hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were forcibly displaced from Myanmar’s Rakhine State to Bangladesh by the Myanmar military.
On September 30, the UN General Assembly will convene a High-level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar. The idea for the Conference was first floated by Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor, Mohammed Yunus, on the sidelines of last year’s General Assembly and was subsequently codified in December, with modalities adopted in March.
The conference aims to “propose a comprehensive, innovative, and concrete plan for a sustainable resolution of the crisis,” particularly through Rohingya returns to Myanmar.
But efforts to realize a political solution will be frustrated by the evolution of events on the ground. The Myanmar military seized power in a coup in 2021, plunging the country into chaos. The collapse in 2023 of a tentative ceasefire between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine armed group, led to the AA’s seizure of much of Rakhine State.
Rohingya were caught between the conflicting parties and instrumentalized by both, particularly the military; counterintuitively, Rohingya armed groups fought alongside the military and against the AA and continue to clash with the AA along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
The humanitarian situation in Rakhine is now dire, with hundreds of thousands of Rakhine and Rohingya internally displaced, regular airstrikes, and a military blockade limiting humanitarian access and contributing to high levels of food insecurity.
Moreover, the AA stands accused of committing further atrocities against the Rohingya, charges it denies. Across the border in Bangladesh, Rohingya in the world’s largest refugee camps have been squeezed by 150,000 new arrivals from Rakhine since the beginning of last year and steep declines in humanitarian assistance, which may soon prompt cuts to food assistance and are already impacting access to informal education, health services, and cooking fuel.
The Rohingya Conference will bring necessary attention to the Rakhine crisis, provide a rare platform for some Rohingya voices to be represented at high-level discussions (on the heels of a broader such effort in Bangladesh last month), and may yield some much-needed support from donors, even if it is not intended as a pledging conference.
But a sustainable resolution to the crisis for now remains out of reach, particularly without cultivating a more robust, legitimate, and representative Rohingya civil society and deeper engagement with the powers that be in Rakhine.
Steve Ross is Senior Fellow, Crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine State project, Stimson Center.
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