Senior UN Human Rights official to visit Afghanistan, 15 to 21 April

NEW YORK/GENEVA (14 April 2015) – The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonović, will visit Afghanistan from 15 to 21 April to assess the human rights situation, and particularly the human rights impact of the handover of security responsibilities to Afghan forces and increased ground engagements across the country. 

During his visit, Šimonović is scheduled to meet with President Ashraf Ghani, and with members of the Government, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Defence, and the Minister of Women’s Affairs. He is also expected to meet with the Chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, civil society organisations, such as the Afghan People’s Dialogue Steering Committee and women’s rights NGOs.

This is Ivan Šimonović's second visit to Afghanistan. He previously visited the country from 5 to 10 March 2011.

ENDS

Media contacts:

In Afghanistan: Dominic Medley (medleyd@un.org / +964 790 193 1281)
In New York: Nenad Vasic (mailto:essoungou@un.orgvasic@un.org  / +1 212 963 5998)
In Geneva: Ravina Shamdasani (+41 22 917 9169 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org) or Cécile Pouilly (+41 22 917 9310 / cpouilly@ohchr.org)
OHCHR Country Page – Afghanistan: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/AFIndex.aspx

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