Unetchac Observatory on the Field
Afghanistan
More than 1.6 million Afghans have fled the country since 2021, bringing the total number of Afghans in neighbouring countries to 8.2 million - accounting for one of the largest protracted refugee situations in the world (UNHCR, 2023). After the Taliban took control, Afghanistan is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The level of unemployment is worryingly high among youth and women.
The impact of the conflict on women and children has been particularly devastating. The fundamental rights of women and girls are under threat and many children are out of school. Malnutrition rates remain extremely high, with some 875,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in 2023, and 2.3 million children and 840,000 women from moderate acute malnutrition.
Interview to an an active field worker based in AFGHANISTAN from 2017 to 2019, in projects focused on women and children security and rights.
Testimony collected by Shyamila Hettiarachchi on 7 November 2023
INSTITUTIONAL DATA
Afghanistan - 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020
Children and armed conflict – Afghanistan - Report of the Secretary General/S/2021/662
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6,473 grave violations against 6,131 children (4,358 boys, 1,757 girls and 16 of sex unknown) aged from a few months to 17 years.
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Of these, 3,412 violations occurred in 2019 and 3,061 violations occurred in 2020. Killing and maiming remained the most prevalent violation, with a total of 5,770 children killed (1,635) and maimed (4,135).
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The country task force verified the recruitment and use of 260 boys, mainly in the northern region (161), the north-eastern region (56) and the central highlands region (13). There was a sharp increase from 2019 (64) to 2020 (196).
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The Ministry of Justice reported that 311 children (310 boys and 1 girl) were detained in the juvenile rehabilitation centre in Kabul on charges related to national security, including association with armed groups (146 boys in 2019; 164 boys and 1 girl in 2020), for periods ranging from 6 months to 3.5 years.
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The country task force verified incidents of sexual violence affecting 31 children (22 boys and 9 girls) in 2019 (17) and 2020 (14), with the highest numbers in the north - eastern region (17) and the central highland region (7).
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A total of 297 attacks on schools and hospitals, including related protected persons, were verified.
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Despite the signing of the Safe Schools Declaration by the Government in 2015, the country task force verified the military use of 17 schools in 2019 (7) and 2020 (10).
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The country task force verified the abduction of 69 children (60 boys and 9 girls), as young as 1 year old, in 2019 (14) and 2020 (55), with the higher numbers in the eastern region (24) and the northern region (21).
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The country task force verified 46 incidents of denial of humanitarian access to children in 2019 (20) and 2020 (26), attributed mostly to armed groups
