KABUL - The Afghan government was on Wednesday urged to fully implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international obligations and resolve children’s problems.
Talking to a symposium titled ‘Child Rights in Afghanistan’ in Kabul deputy foreign minister Hashmat Khalil Karzai said sexual exploitation, underage marriages, children’s lack of access to education and health services and violence against were main challenges children faced in Afghanistan.
He said many Afghan children were deprived of healthcare services due to insecurity and lack of transport facilities in remote areas.
More than 200,000 Afghan children had lost body parts in armed fights, explosions and suicide attacks, Karzai said.
He said the government was responsible to resolve problems children faced and implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as maintain the rights of all citizens.
Deputy justice minister Sayed Mohammad Hashemi, speaking on the occasion, said the Ministry of Justice paved the ground for 800 children this year to receive training and legal services.
Fazli Ilahi Ibrahimi, head of the social protection section at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, said: “Around eight million children are currently vulnerable to numerous risks, 2.7 million of them are involved in hard labor, 300,000 children are addicted to drugs, 60,000 are orphans, 190,000 are disabled and a large number of other children are suffering from different other problems.”
He asked the government to allocate budget for addressing children’s related problems.
UNICE representative for Afghanistan, Stefano Savi on the occasion asked relevant government organs to press lawmakers to approve the children law as soon as possible.
He said UNICEF was committed to supporting the Afghan people and the government. (Pajhwok)