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LONDON, Nov 12 2020 (IPS) - As if four decades of war were not enough, then came the pandemic.

For each of the past five years, Afghanistan has been identified by the United Nations as the worlds deadliest country for children and, despite progress made in peace talks between the government and the Taliban, child and youth casualties from the ongoing conflict continue to mount in 2020.

Education itself has come under fire, with hundreds of attacks on schools and teachers. A 2018 joint report by the Afghanistan Ministry of Education and UNICEF, estimated that as many as 3.7 million children in Afghanistan were out of school, 60 per cent of them girls.

Against this backdrop, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) the global fund launched at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit to deliver quality education for vulnerable children and youth in countries affected by armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate-induced disasters and protracted crises selected Afghanistan as one of the first countries to roll out a Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP). The in-country Steering Committee formed to oversee implementation of the programme appointed management of the MYRP to UNICEF as a grantee.

Sarthak Pal, ECW project coordinator for UNICEF in Kabul, says Afghanistans MYRP was designed to focus on out of school children, by setting up community-based education (CBE) classes close to where they live. Classes are arranged mostly in private homes and sometimes in mosques for those who cannot make the long journey to the nearest school.

Most of these out of school children live in remote, rural and hard to reach places, Pal told IPS from Kabul. Pal explained that focusing on out of school children was a context-specific choice for Afghanistan, and may differ from MYRPs in other countries with their own unique contexts.

Watch video Keeping education alive in Afghanistan

The first year of the MYRP with teaching starting in May 2019 saw some 3,600 classes established in nine of Afghanistans 34 provinces. This required newly recruited teachers, 46 per cent of whom are women, to teach 122,000 children. Nearly 60 per cent of the enrolled children are girls.

When Education Cannot Wait came to Afghanistan in 2018 there were 3.7 million out of school children. These were the children and youth left furthest behind. Today, results from our multi-year resilience investment in Afghanistan are among the most promising in our global investment portfolio, especially for girls access to education now reaching the target of 60 percent of our investment. This shows how we can achieve education outcomes for the most marginalized children and youth in complex crisis settings by bringing together humanitarian and development actors under the leadership of the Ministry of Education. The children and youth of Afghanistan, the Afghan girls, deserve no less, said the ECW Director, Yasmine Sherif.

One new pupil in the classes is Khalid*, an eight-year-old boy with a permanent foot disability, who was displaced by conflict from Afghanistans Kunar province to Nangarhar province. Previously deprived of education by war and poverty, Khalid now attends a CBE class with access to free education and books. His teacher praises his enthusiasm and creativity and says Khalid has gone from being illiterate to learning how to read, write and draw.

The closest school is 4 kilometres away from where Khalid lives, too far for him to go, but now he has a classroom just 300 metres from his home. Both Khalids life, and the life of his family, have been transformed.

Khalids nine-year-old sister Hosna is able to attend an all-girls government school close-by. In the evening, Khalid and I study together at home and help each other in our lessons, she says, expressing how astonished she was by Khalids rapid improvement and capabilities. Khalid is so intellectually improved and motivated.

Bringing education closer to home helps secure the backing of both the community and the shuras (school councils), and is particularly effective in addressing barriers to girls education, such as long distances, a lack of female teachers and safety concerns. The role of School Management Shuras, or councils, has been important in building a sense of community ownership, although there are barriers to girls participation remains in some provinces.

ECW classes also reach children in camps set up for those displaced by conflict. Feizia Salahuddin quietly recounts in an IPS video how three of her siblings were killed. The 12-year-old girl also lost her mother. We face so many hardships here, she says. But then a smile appears when she describes going to ECW-supported CBE classes in Herat. I love to study. It makes me happy, she says.

An additional hammer blow to education this year came not from bombs or landmines but COVID-19. The government ordered all schools closed in March 2020, and CBE classes could only start reopening recently. Children affected by the impact of COVID-19 school closures now also faced increased vulnerability to recruitment by parties to the conflict, particularly boys. The crisis also exacerbated existing vulnerabilities of girls to child marriage and teenage pregnancy.

Dave Mariano, Head of Communications for Afghanistan for Save the Children International, an implementing partner for ECW, said the government had initially decided CBE classes could continue, but subsequently said teaching would have to continue via radio, television and internet, to which millions of children do not have access. Fortunately, classes eventually started to reopen with appropriate COVID-19 safety measures.

The reopening of CBEs required a lot of coordination to ensure that necessary provisions were in place to safely reopen, such as the availability of PPE, sanitisers, and even general public awareness on how to mitigate COVID risks through basic hygiene and other practices, Mariano told IPS.

Despite the challenges, UNICEF is already looking ahead to extend the MYRP, supported in this goal by the Ministry of Education and donors. Sweden is the largest in-country donor in Afghanistan, closely followed by Switzerland. However, UNICEF says the MYRP remains grossly under-funded with a 70 per cent funding gap across three years.

We are advocating that three years of MYRP is not enough. The primary school cycle in Afghanistan is six years. We cant leave the children half-way through. That is our main advocacy agenda now, said Pal.

ECW has given priority in Afghanistan to improving education for girls with a focus on female teacher recruitment. This is being achieved in Herat, where 97 per cent of teachers are women and 83 per cent of students in accelerated learning classes are girls.

For girls like Feizia Salahuddin, this means a chance to start rebuilding lives shattered by conflict and displacement, giving a sense that through a classroom and her textbooks, she is once more part of a community.

I get nervous when I get called to the blackboard, but my teachers and classmates support me, Feizia says. That is why I like them. They cooperate with me and teach me.

*Names have been changed in accordance with child safeguarding and communications policies.

Read the rest here:
Despite Conflict and COVID-19, Children Still Dream to Continue Their Education in Afghanistan - Afghanistan - ReliefWeb

KABUL, Afghanistan An Afghan-born U.S. Army veteran has turned to the military and online communities for help after years of waiting for officials to act on asylum applications he filed for his family in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban hold your entire family responsible for whatever you do, Said Noor told Stars and Stripes in a phone interview from Texas.

The 32-year-old applied for asylum for his father, mother, six brothers and two sisters in June 2018, about four years after moving to the U.S. in 2014 on a special immigrant visa, which he was given after being threatened and attacked for working as a military linguist for several years.

Since then, he said, his familys situation has grown worse, but hes had little news from the authorities about the status of the applications.

We had to take my sister and little brother out of school. The family is just stuck in the house. Theyre not even able to go buy their own groceries; someone has to bring everything to them, he said.

Late last month, Noor posted a petition on the Change.org website, seeking help from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Because of my previous work and having proudly served in the US military, myself and my family have been constantly targeted by terrorists, he wrote in the petition.

As a disabled veteran and a proud American, I am kindly asking you to help share this petition, so that together we can save (the) lives of my family, and get this petition to the right authorities to seek asylum for my family and bring them to the United States, he wrote.

His large family lives in the eastern province of Khost, where Noor was born. Khost borders Pakistan and is a stronghold of the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, which is also linked to al-Qaida and other extremist groups.

Noor gave up his Afghan passport and enlisted in the Army soon after arriving in the U.S. in 2014. He deployed to Afghanistan once during his four years in the military, where his hearing was impaired by a rocket attack.

He joined the military to show appreciation for the country he would do anything for, he said.

But it was his service as an American soldier that put his family in Khost in even graver danger than when he started working in Afghanistan as a linguist for the U.S. military in 2007, he said. The family was harassed and menaced back then, but the biggest threat to their lives came two years ago when Noor returned to Afghanistan as a U.S. citizen after separating from the Army.

We had a large get-together and somebody brought a motorcycle and parked it in front of my house, Noor said. When I stepped outside with some relatives and friends, it went off.

Noor believes he was the target of the blast, which killed five people, including two Afghan soldiers, and wounded over a dozen others, including Noor and four members of his family.

His brother Sayed Mohammad said the attack still weighs on his and the rest of the familys minds.

We still feel were in danger and weve started doing night surveillance of our property, Mohammad said in a telephone interview from Khost. All my brothers and I take turns, night by night.

The family worries not only about their personal safety but also the security situation in the country, particularly about what will happen in Afghanistan once international forces withdraw, Mohammad said. Under a deal signed in February by the U.S. and Taliban, all foreign forces could leave by May.

The recent firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper and President Donald Trumps appointment of outspoken Afghan war critic, retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor, as a senior Pentagon advisor have added to concerns among Afghans and Americans that the U.S. might accelerate the troop withdrawal, despite escalating violence around the country. Trump said last month that he wanted U.S. troops home by Christmas, although military officials quickly back-pedaled that statement.

The uncertainty over Afghanistans future and continuing threats against his family have left Noor feeling that the asylum applications for his family are at a critical phase.

As of Friday, nearly 1,600 people had signed his petition on Change.org.

He is a brother of ours and has served this great nation, wrote Brian Erickson of Pendleton, Ind., who added his name soon after Noor posted the petition three weeks ago. Show the veteran community that the government gives a damn about us and our loved ones.

Steven Morse of Quincy, Mass., was one of several signers who said they had served with Noor. Hes the definition of a true American who always chose the hard right over the easy wrong, Morse wrote.

Others, like Eileen Szczawinski of Shillington, Penn., said they signed because the U.S. owes Noor a debt of gratitude.

This man put his life on the line to help American soldiers, she wrote. Now its our turn to help him and his family.

Once the petition has reached its goal of 10,000 signatures, Noor plans to send it to Congress in the hope that lawmakers might speed up the asylum process.

A lot of people dont realize how bad the situation is in Afghanistan, Noor said. Some people desperately need to get of there. My family are some of those people because I put them in danger by supporting the U.S.

Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report.

wellman.phillip@stripes.comTwitter: @pwwellman

Said Noor poses for a photo while serving in the U.S. Army. Noor enlisted in the military after coming to the U.S. in 2014 on a special immigrant visa, which he was given for his work as a linguist in Afghanistan. He launched an online petition last month to garner support for his application for his family to be granted asylum in the U.S.COURTESY PHOTO

Excerpt from:
Army veteran seeks help as asylum petitions for family in Afghanistan languish - Stars and Stripes

Fatima Sultani, 18 a member of Hikeventures mountaineering team, excercises on a hilltop in Kabul, Afghanistan September 11, 2020. Picture taken September 11, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

US President Donald Trumps last-minute shuffling of senior personnel at the Pentagon, amid what is at best an uncertain endgame for his administration, has renewed speculation that he will attempt to complete the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan before Christmas, or in any event before he leaves office.

It is difficult to understand what benefit he, or those around him, might believe would be derived from such an impetuous, damaging, and risky course of action. But proceedingindeed speedingdown that road would leave a lasting stain not only on the president and his administration, but on our nation. Doing so would end any hope for a decent and responsible peace agreement in Afghanistan, and would also put to rest any prospect that Trumps legacy might include taking credit for the Afghan peace process that he and his Afghanistan team took the lead in creating.

Right now, US forces are already at their lowest level since the early stages of the US and coalition campaign in Afghanistan. These forces are accompanied on the ground by declining, but still substantial, numbers of NATO and coalition forces. Those partner forces, it bears recalling, rely on the US military for key aspects of support that enable their presence. Were the order given to withdraw US forces completely within four to eight weeks, the result would be not an orderly, safe withdrawal, but an evacuation: hasty, ill-planned, and risky.

The deployment of our military force is a complex enterprise, requiring extensive infrastructure, equipment, and support. It cannot be turned on and off like a switch, and withdrawing is just as complicated an exercise. A complete but planned and orderly withdrawal (which we oppose outside the context of a peace agreement) would be damaging enough. The spectacle of US troops abandoning facilities and equipment, leaving the field in Afghanistan to the Taliban and ISIS, would be broadcast around the world as a symbol of US defeat and humiliation, and of victory for Islamist extremism.

Those who wish the United States harm will toast with champagne or tea, while those who wish the United States well will be dismayed and have their suspicions of Washington as an unreliable partner reinforced. Our allies would need to depart from Afghanistan under similar, ignominious circumstances, leading to heightened concern in many capitals about whether they would want to join the United States in coalition security efforts in the futuresomething vital to our own security.

And, to underscore the obvious, the United States would be consigning to an even more perilous fate the many Afghan men and women who share the US vision of a peaceful Afghanistana partner in combatting violent Islamist extremism and posing no threat to its neighborsand who have worked with us to advance that vision.

Currently, there is no need for an abrupt decision on withdrawal and the president can claim credit both for having lowered the presence of US forces in Afghanistan to historic levels and for opening the door for peace talks. It is ironic that anyone would consider it beneficial to the president or the country to imperil that legacy and US security, in the process dishonoring the sacrifice of the brave American men and women who fought there.

We hope that speculation about a rushed departure is unfounded, or that those who might be tempted by the prospect will conclude that the damage done would far outweigh whatever benefit they might anticipate. Let the president take credit for what has been achieved, and leave the next stage for Afghanistan to the next administration.

Ambassador James Cunningham was US deputy ambassador to Afghanistan in 2011 and US ambassador to Afghanistan from 2012-2014. He is also a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Councils South Asia Center.

Ambassador John Negroponte was US deputy secretary of state from 2007-2009 and director of national intelligence from 2005-2007.

Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann was US ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005-2007.

Ambassador Hugo Llorens was US assistant chief of mission in Afghanistan from2012-2013 and charge daffairs from 2016-2017.

AmbassadorRichard Olson was US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2015-2016) and previously served at the US Embassy in Afghanistan (2011-2012) as well as US ambassador to the UAE andto Pakistan.

Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne was US deputy ambassador to Afghanistan and coordinating director for development from 2009-2011. He is also a nonresident senior fellow in the Atlantic Councils GeoEconomics Center.

Thu, Nov 12, 2020

With the Taliban feeling increasingly emboldened, President-elect Biden must adopt a new and more practicable strategy for the region that is not based solely on military and security compulsions but includes future-oriented economic and political plans, working with international organizations and partners to achieve common goals.

New AtlanticistbyShuja Nawaz

Sat, Oct 10, 2020

An accelerated US withdrawal will effectively mean abandoning the fruits of two years of determined US diplomacy with the Taliban, Afghan partners in Kabul, our allies, and regional and international partners to get the Afghan parties to the negotiating table.

New AtlanticistbyJames Cunningham, John Negroponte, Ronald Neuman, Hugo Llorens, Richard Olson, and Earl Anthony Wayne

Originally posted here:
Rushing for the exits in Afghanistan would leave a lasting stain on America - Atlantic Council

COVID-19 IN AFGHANISTAN

COVID-19 in Afghanistan is having a catastrophic impact on millions of vulnerable families. Even before the pandemic emerged, 93 percent of Afghan households survived on less than $2 per day so the vast majority of families have virtually no capacity to absorb the economic shock of COVID-19 and the resulting loss of livelihoods. Border closures have also meant a drastic reduction in exports and a sharp decline in remittances. In addition, the price of staple foods continues to increase, making it harder and harder for families to feed themselves, support their children and meet basic needs.

A significant number of returnees have also come back to Afghanistan since the outbreak started.According to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), over 597,000 Afghans have deported or returned voluntarily to home both due to the impacts of COVID-19 as well as the deteriorating status of economy of Iran. In an October 2020 Situation report, IOM noted that due to coronavirus transmission fears in Iran, spontaneous returns continue, with a total of 25,917 undocumented Afghans returned from Iran through the Milak (Nimroz) and Herat (Islam Qala) borders between 27 Sep 03 Oct 2020.

The children of Afghanistan, especially those already suffering from poverty and inequity, are among the most vulnerable to the harsh socioeconomic impact of COVID-19. A third of the population including 7.3 million children will face food shortages due to the impacts of the current pandemic according to Save the Children. Child mortality, malnutrition, forced marriages, sexual abuse, child labour and other forms of violence and exploitation and are all common challenges for the average child. With the addition of COVID-19 and its immediate and secondary impacts, children are now more anxious and worried than ever before and at greater risk of facing physical, sexual and emotional violence, especially as the economic impacts of the crisis set in with poverty rates and hunger in the country rising.

See the rest here:
Breaking point: COVID-19 and the Child Protection Crisis in Afghanistan - Afghanistan - ReliefWeb

ICRC Director-General Robert Mardini made his first field visit in his new position to Afghanistan, from 8-11 November, where the ICRC has been helping people suffering from the consequences of war for more than three decades. Mr. Mardini shared some of his thoughts at the end of his trip:

It's an important signal that Afghanistan is the first country I visited in my new post as ICRC director-general. It's a signal of both the ICRC's commitment to the country but also the continued needs of the people there, who have suffered from the effects of decades of conflict.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has added yet another deadly threat to people already worn down by other crises, and, very unfortunately, it has made it even harder to secure funding to help people in need. Many donor governments are primarily concerned by their own domestic problems as the pandemic has created a global economic crisis.

Ahead of the Afghanistan pledging conference to be held in Geneva on 23-24 November, co-hosted by the U.N. and the governments of Finland and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, this visit allows me to make a strong case to donors about the urgency of adequate and sustainable funding for humanitarian programmes.

During my trip I met with authorities, civil society and affected people on both sides of the conflict. I have raised our grave concerns to all concerned parties about the enormous impact of the ongoing conflict on civilians.

Even as peace talks are taking place, it is clear that there has been an intensification of hostilities in Afghanistan in recent weeks, with a resulting increase in the numbers of people wounded by weapons being admitted to hospitals. According to hospital staff in areas on both sides of the conflict, for example in Helmand, Kandahar or Ghazni province, hundreds of casualties were admitted last month, including significant numbers of civilians.

It also clear that more than four decades of armed conflict in Afghanistan have left the health care system in the country unable to cope with the magnitude of needs. With COVID-19 adding yet another deadly threat, access to health care is among the most pressing humanitarian needs in the country.

I saw this for myself when I visited Andar district and Ghazni provincial hospitals -- two health care facilities managed by authorities on different sides of the conflict. Yet speaking with health care workers and authorities on both sides, I was struck more by what they have in common than what divides them. Healthcare needs are acute everywhere and need to be addressed urgently, regardless of political affiliations.

In Andar district hospital, there is one emergency surgeon serving a catchment area of around 50,000 people. The emergency room currently has only five beds. When there is an attack or incident in nearby areas -- as there often is -- the hospital quickly becomes inundated with war wounded, often many of them civilians.

Likewise, in Ghazni provincial hospital there are typically hundreds of war wounded admitted per month -- along with all the other patients requiring care -- and the 100-bed capacity easily becomes overwhelmed. Both hospitals have water supply and electricity problems, meaning what little equipment they have in many cases can't be used.

Still, I was encouraged by the positive attitude of health authorities on both sides of the conflict and inspired by the courage of Afghan health workers treating the wounded and sick 24/7.

With regard to the peace talks in Doha, any sincere efforts to secure peace are of course always welcome. But in the meantime, urgent humanitarian needs cannot be overlooked. Even if a peace agreement is reached tomorrow, this does not by itself erase decades of suffering and deep-rooted needs that in some cases span generations, not least the often-invisible psychological scars of conflict.

As long as the armed conflict continues, all parties need to respect the principles of international humanitarian law to lessen the harm caused to civilians. Respect for IHL is not open to negotiation in any circumstances. It is the ultimate safety net to ensure respect for the life and dignity of people affected by armed conflict.

We encourage the parties to the conflict to reach agreements on specific issues that would help to alleviate the suffering of all those affected, enhance IHL compliance and ultimately build trust and confidence across lines, for example related to the evacuation of the wounded, the transfer of human remains, the respect for the medical mission and access to education.

The ICRC stands ready to help facilitate the reaching of such agreements, which we believe could ultimately help pave the way to a political solution that will lead to less suffering for the people of Afghanistan.

Continue reading here:
Afghanistan visit: Hospitals on both sides of conflict show a health system in need - Afghanistan - ReliefWeb