As the United States approaches its 2014 deadline for military withdrawal from Afghanistan, one often overshadowed aspect of the conflict is the hard-won progress made by previously marginalized segments of the Afghan population, particularly women, girls; generally the young people.
There are numerous issues associated with our society namely skyscraping illiteracy, ignorance, employments, dominant flawed cultural practices, socio-religious biases, extremism and militancy pressing hard our youth. The other hurdles before the Afghan youths ranges from insecurity, poverty, lack of access to quality education, unavailability of opportunities, ethnic and gender based discrimination. These issues in one way or the other inflict the worst catastrophic impact on youth’s competence acting as a termite that constantly degenerates their internal potential.
Afghanistan has one of the world's fastest-growing populations with an annual increase of 3.1%, according to a 2012 UN Population Fund report. Roughly 68% of Afghanistan's 26.5 million citizens are under 25, with those ages 15-24 accounting for 40% of the total population, according to credible report.
Youths, if educated in better way and provided with opportunities they require, can play a very effective role in development of our country. They are potent, energetic, zealous but perplexed, disappointed and parallely unmotivated. They suffer emotional degeneration seeing the countless magnitude of apparently irresolvable problems. Young people in any country represent the future of that country. They have a vital role to play in the development of the country, a duty they must perform, given they are provided standard education and conducive learning atmosphere –the educational institutes designed to translate societal needs into mandatory achievable goals.
Formerly, Afghanistan National Youth Policy (ANYP) was drafted by Deputy Ministry for Youth Affairs and is expected to get endorsed soon is a welcoming step forward. According to the officials, the policy's main objective is to design and implement strategies and programs to promote the talents, skills and potential of young women and men from various economic, social, cultural, and political backgrounds. Absolutely, the formation of policy is a bold tread to propel ahead nevertheless, the golden sayings framed in a decorated brochure will not resolve our problems unless practicable measures are taken to reframe them in a doable frames.
It is agreeable that Afghanistan's first-ever national youth policy outlines initiatives to help young Afghans face challenges and explore opportunities. The policy's main objective is to design and implement strategies and programs to promote the talents, skills and potential of young women and men from various economic, social, cultural, and political backgrounds.
However, countless efforts are required to undo socio-political and cultural restraints that have established firm basis in our societies hindering our collective progress. As Afghanistan prepares to enter a transformative decade (2015-2024), it is critical to make strategic and well-organized investments in its youth now, so they can realize their full potential.
Gender based discrimination is on the peak in our country. Female is treated as third class citizen. The socio-economic participation of women in social arena is culturally discouraged. Most Afghan girls still do not have access to education. Increased involvement of girls' education can eliminate violence against girls and women, which this country needs.
The ANYP makes youth (ages 18-30, as defined by the policy) a priority group in Afghanistan's overall development and poverty reduction strategies. It also identifies gaps in existing youth-related research, policies and programs and provides a way to fill them. Officials plan to engage youth on the grounds of education and training, employment, entrepreneurship, health and well-being, volunteer activities, social inclusion, youth and the world, creativity and culture. Truly speaking ANYP is a great documented policy according to the values and principles of the Afghan constitution. Afghans have very rich social and cultural values and Afghan youth must be nurtured on these values, including peace, justice and brotherhood. Practically, these values can’t be put to action unless congenial atmosphere is created. Regretfully, many great policies and strategies are lying in the heart of books and are never acted upon.
Formerly, the students of Kabul university observed hunger strike for more than a week. Primarily the hunger strike was against ethnic discrimination and institutional injustice prevalent in most departments of our country. What would the youth policy recommend to overcome this very problem of our society? Will the youth policy lay down strategies to eradicate escalated discrimination and intuitional corruption which are the basic causes frustration in afghan youth. Every country's young generation can steer the country to peace and prosperity if a sound youth policy exists, provided the discourse to transform this fantasy into reality is sorted out.
Education finds immense role national development progress. However the large number of out of school and illiterate children and youth especially girls and young women with low skills levels will remain socially an economically problematic for the foreseeable future. Consequently, young women (15 to 24 years) have significantly lower literacy rates than young men: 18% for young women compared with 50% for young men.
There are around 11m of young people aged 15 and above and adults who missed out formal education or could not complete their schooling to obtain a certificate. There is not only a social debt to compensate to those to whom access to education had been denied in the past, it is also necessary to fully use their potential for the future development of the country.
Continued conflict and fragile security context present obstacles to enrolment, monitoring and school supervision and the delivery of school supplies. Culture norms which oppose the education of girls and women as well as early marriage exacerbate the problem. In addition, a shortage of teachers, in particular female teachers, make the provision of quality education even more difficult. Moreover, only 27% of all teachers are actually qualified to teach.
Poverty is another menace for Afghan youth. Studies from countries affected by conflict have shown that large youth population combined with poverty and inequality can serve as a ferile ground for radicalization of youth and the spread of extremism. Miliitancy, insurgency and radicalization are negatively effecting our youth, they can only be reversed when youth policy is decoded and implemented with its full spirit.