The International Bureau for Children’s Rights recently launched a nine-month project in Afghanistan, in partnership with the Afghan Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, to offer capacity-building and technical support to the Child Protection Secretariat. At the end of August, Linda Tremblay, IBCR expert on violence against children, travelled to Afghanistan for a 3-week mission as part of the project.
The child rights situation in Afghanistan, a country that is trying to rebuild itself after years of war, remains complex. The right of children to special protection, adapted to their physical and psychological maturity, remains largely unknown at the family, community, and national levels. As a result, children are at a greater risk of violence, abuse and exploitation.
Child protection issues in Afghanistan center around early marriage, forced labour, human trafficking, and violent discipline. In addition, many children get detained for minor offences, particularly girls fleeing domestic violence. This UNICEF-funded project therefore aims to strengthen the institutional and organizational capacity of the Child Protection Secretariat, to review and upgrade existing documentation tools and to support the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in the development of a national child protection policy.
Anticipated results include a strengthened child protection policy, improved child protection management protocols for social workers, training tools for the Secretariat staff, and enhanced information management.
Photo: Ms. Tremblay alongside Syed Anwar Sadat, Acting Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, at a press conference in Kabul.