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Press Release

Beyond The Hunger, Illness, and Cold
Afghan Children Wage Battle With Their Fear

ISLAMABAD / GENEVA / NEW YORK, 16 November 2001 - Dusting off a 1997 study of child trauma in Kabul and comparing it with the latest anecdotal evidence emerging from Afghanistan, the United nations Children's Fund said today there are strong indications that long after the fighting ends, the nightmare will continue for Afghan children.

Accounts from Kabul and other parts of the country affected by recent warfare indicate that children are experiencing traumatic stress similar to that found in the UNICEF study in Kabul four years ago - the last time the city experienced direct conflict.

The findings of the 1997 report clearly showed that the war trauma experienced by children in Afghanistan - a country which has been in conflict for more than 20 years - is chronic, and the psychological impact is not short-lived. The violence that they have experienced has been and will continue to be hugely influential in their emotional development and has dramatically affected their views of themselves and of their future.

An atmosphere of uncertainty, coupled with explosions, gunfire and the sight of dead bodies in the streets are all factors in this trauma. School teachers in Kabul report that many of their pupils have been suffering from sleeplessness, nightmares and anxiety. Problems in concentrating have affected their ability to study properly at school, their appetite and their ability to play.

A UNICEF staff member who has spent the last two months in Kabul said that his grandchildren were exhibiting classic symptoms of stress-related trauma. "They cry and wake up at night and refuse to leave their mother's side, or their grandmother's side. It has been terrible to watch, because I watched my children go through the same thing," the staff member, Mr. Azizi, said.

"Afghan children are experiencing not only the hardships of physical survival, but the fear and hardships of emotional trauma," said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. "As we look ahead to the recovery and rehabilitation of Afghanistan as a nation, we must work hard on the emotional recovery and rehabilitation of Afghanistan's children. For Afghanistan to have a decent future, we must help children leave their nightmares behind."

The findings of the 1997 UNICEF study conducted among several hundred children in Kabul offer a hint of what Afghan children are coping with today. Nearly 100 per cent of the children witnessed acts of violence during the fighting, while two-thirds saw dead bodies or parts of bodies and nearly half saw multiple people killed in rocket and artillery attacks.

More disturbing were the findings of what impact these events and others had on the children:

Prior to September 11, UNICEF sponsored a number of emotional counselling programs in Afghanistan to help children who continued to struggle with the trauma of previous fighting. Re-establishing and expanding such programs will be a UNICEF priority when Afghanistan enters is rehabilitation phase.

"Our immediate priority is to help Afghan children survive this winter," said Dr. Eric Laroche, UNICEF Representative for Afghanistan. "But when the spring comes, they'll need a different kind of help. We're going to try to be ready to give it to them."

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For further information, please contact:

Alfred Ironside, UNICEF Media, New York
e-mail aironside@unicef.org tel: (1-212) 326-7261 ***

Gordon Weiss, UNICEF Media, Islamabad (UNICEF Afghanistan) tel: (92-300) 856-6235 ***

Wivina Belmonte, UNICEF Media, Geneva e-mail: wbelmonte@unicef.org tel: (41-22) 909-5509

Speeches and Press releases on Afghanistan and region

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• Afghanistan is one of worst places in the world to be pregnant 26 Oct
• America's Fund for Afghan Children donates $750,000 for measles 15 October
• UNICEF praises Afghanistan for accepting land mine treaty 29 July
• Children return in droves to school, survey shows 11 July
• New government hailed, investment in children urged 20 June
• Afghanistan determined to eradicate polio 15 April
• Tent-school opens at quake site 2 April
• UNICEF rushes to aid quake survivors 27 March
• Afghanistan's schools triumphantly open 22 March
• Across borders, a commitment to the future 15 March
• Back to school campaign picks up speed 12 March 2002
• In Afghanistan, huge back-to-school drive kicks off Wed, 20 February 2002
• Speech to the UN Conference in Tokyo Monday, 22 Jan 2002
• Japan's gift bolsters child health in region Friday, 21 Dec 2001)
• Immunization drive against birth defects in Central Asia hailed (Wed. 28 Nov. 2001)
• Afghan children wage battle of fear vs. hunger, illness, and cold (Fri. 16 Nov 2001)
• UNICEF warns winter and war still threat to Afghan children (Wed. 14 Nov.2001)
• Mules haul relief supplies for children in Afghanistan (1 Oct. 2001)
• UNICEF vows renewed drive to protect rights of all children (Sept. 28 2001)
• More than $35 million needed for Afghan children (28 Sept, 2001)
• Afghanistan woes deepen for children and women (25 Sept. 2001)
• Relief flights bring supplies to central Asia (Friday, 21 Sept. 2001)