Afghan children tell of suffering
A poignant collection of messages from children in Afghanistan highlighting the hardships they have to endure was today being released.
The collection, Afghanistan’s Children, is part of charity Save the Children’s work to ensure youngsters’ voices are heard by decision makers.
Included in the report is a message from a street child in Kabul, which reads:
‘‘War is causing all our troubles.
‘‘It has taken our schools and our houses and made us leave our land.
‘‘The hospitals are ruined, the farms destroyed, the children become orphans.’’
The charity, which first began working in Afghanistan in 1976, is making the report public at a briefing for MPs at the British House of Commons.
Mike Aaronson, director general of Save the Children, said: ‘‘Afghan children, like all children, are often the first and most severely affected victims of conflict.
‘‘Humanitarian needs and the rights of children cannot either be set aside or co-opted in the pursuit of military and political objectives.’’
The charity was also poised to give details to the MPs about how war and drought were affecting children and their families in the ravaged country.
Mr Aaronson added: ‘‘Children in Afghanistan have suffered tremendously due to the effects of a 20-year civil war and a three-year drought.
‘‘However, they have a lot to say about what they have been through and their hopes for the future.
‘‘Any future reconstruction of Afghanistan must take children’s aspirations into account in order to ensure that their rights are respected.’’
