Afghanistan

Frontline Diary

15 December 2004: Reflections on progress for Afghanistan’s children

© UNICEF Afghanistan/2004/Carwardine

Steady progress has been made in Afghanistan over the last three years to build a nation fit for children.

By Edward Carwardine

Edward Carwardine is UNICEF’s Communication Officer in Afghanistan. The following are his personal reflections on the progress he has seen for Afghan children over the last three years.

KABUL, 15 December 2004 - Winter is upon us here in Kabul. The last flowers have fallen from roses in the garden and the vines which bedeck the walls of our compound have gone into hibernation. Winter has come earlier than usual this year – a sign that it may be longer and colder than last year.

The first snows have fallen on the mountains around Bamyan, not far from Kabul. Bamyan was the scene of an infamous episode, when the faces of the 1,500 year old Buddhas that stood 40 metres high against the cliff were destroyed by the Taliban in early 2001. Discussion is still ongoing about how and when they could be rebuilt. Constructive change is always much more complex than wanton destruction….

© UNICEF Afghanistan/2004/Brook

Nearly 4,000 former child soldiers have been demobilized in 2004 across Afghanistan.

Looking back over nearly three years here in Afghanistan, I have been thinking of some of the amazing changes I have witnessed for myself. As a spokesperson for UNICEF, I have the unrivalled luxury of dipping my nose into a whole range of activities, and reporting on them to the outside world.

I have given briefings on reductions of polio and measles amongst children, a fall in landmine injuries, and massive increases in the number of children going to school. I still can’t think of that day in 2002 – when my Afghan colleagues and I watched the first girls walk back into their schools – without my heart jumping.

I have interviewed former child soldiers now learning to be carpenters; I have walked through the foothills of the Hindu Kush to monitor distribution of school supplies; I have visited projects where widows and other women have been able to earn an income in their own right for the first time in a decade; and I have drafted statements applauding Government commitments to key child rights legislation and international conventions, which in some cases set examples for other countries.

© UNICEF Afghanistan/2003/Premfors

In Afghanistan, there are new opportunities for women to get involved in community life. These women are working for a polio immunization campaign in the northern provinces.

So much progress, so many steps forward have been taken. As another year comes to an end, it seemed an appropriate moment to reflect on how rapidly life has changed for the better for so many Afghan children. Given the history of Afghanistan, a history steeped in conflict and chaos, those changes take on even greater significance.

The year began with a new Constitution for Afghanistan, and the hope for a new democracy. Slowly but surely, in spite of many who feared a violent twist to the process, the first Presidential elections were organized. Just last week the new President was sworn in at the beautiful Presidential Palace in the centre of the capital.

Sadly, the threat of instability still lurks in the shadows. When I first arrived in Kabul in early 2002 one could drive right up to the gates of the Palace. Since that time, rings of steel and concrete have rippled outwards in the form of barriers and roadblocks. On the President’s inauguration day, most people’s view of the Palace was limited to a glimpse of the red, green and black national flag fluttering above the tree tops.

This is not to say that the new leaders of Afghanistan are isolated from the aspirations of the people. A few weeks ago, to mark the 15th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Vice President Hidayat Amin Arsala opened his offices to a group of children and received from them a new Children’s Manifesto for Afghanistan.

The Manifesto set out the hopes and expectations of Afghan children, and outlined key policy targets for both the Government and its partners in the reconstruction process. His Excellency took the matter seriously, and made a public commitment to ensure that the Manifesto would be brought to the attention of the new Cabinet before the end of the year.

For Afghanistan’s youngest citizens, a long-denied opportunity – to make their voice heard and help shape their own future – has arrived, if slightly early, as their New Year’s gift.