Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: children

children

A wedding hall in Kabul, August 2022. The age of first marriage had been rising in Afghanistan. However, increasing numbers of child marriages, driven by economic distress, are being reported. Photo: Daniel Leal/AFP.

Living in a Collapsed Economy (4): The desperation and guilt of giving a young daughter in marriage 

Ali Mohammad Sabawoon •

The collapse of the economy has led families across Afghanistan to make desperate decisions, including giving young daughters in marriage in exchange for a bride price. AAN interviewed four fathers who spoke about the pressures of debt and the emotional turmoil and guilt that surrounded the decision.

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Why does the Incidence of Polio Vary? A comparative study of two districts in Helmand (Part 2)

Fazl Rahman Muzhary •

In this second of two case studies exploring why polio vaccination varies between apparently quite similar districts in Afghanistan, we look at two neighbouring district in Helmand province, Nawa, with its rare incidences of polio since 2001, and Nad Ali, which has seen one of the highest numbers of polio cases in the country. A […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Playful Pastimes and Much More: Seven folk games from Afghanistan

S Reza Kazemi • AAN Team •

A ‘fundraising’ game by children to buy themselves treats for Nawruz, a children’s play that satirises wedding traditions, a funny game about how to deal with a duff player, a deceptively easy game particularly played by girls with hazelnut-sized stones, two more stone throwing games played by grown-ups and a complicated ‘egg fighting’ game favoured […]

Context and Culture Read more

Child Rights Protection Law in Afghanistan: Can the parliamentary chaos be resolved?

Rohullah Sorush •

Afghanistan’s lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, has been failing to reach a consensus on a law that would protect children’s rights for almost four years. The legislation is aimed at ensuring children’s rights are implemented in government ministries and bodies in a wide range of areas, from protecting children from abuse and malnutrition to […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Highest Civilian Casualty Figures Ever: UNAMA details deaths by mortar, IED, suicide attack and targeted killing

Kate Clark •

UNAMA has published its mid-year assessment of the harm done to civilians by the warring parties in Afghanistan (full report here): the number of civilians killed and injured has risen again. There were 4921 civilian casualties, the highest number for the first half of any year since UNAMA started documenting them. 70 per cent were […]

War and Peace Read more

A rising number of children are dying from U.S. explosives littering Afghan land

AAN •

Washington Post, 9 April 2014 "As the U.S. military withdraws from Afghanistan, it is leaving behind a deadly legacy: about 800 square miles of land littered with undetonated grenades, rockets and mortar shells. The military has vacated scores of firing ranges pocked with the explosives. Dozens of children have been killed or wounded as they have […]

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Knuser skolemyte: Ny nedslaende studie om jenteutdanning i Afghanistan (not online)

admin •

Klassekampen (Norway), 1 April 2014 AAN's Thomas Ruttig is quoted in this article about progress and problems of the Afghan education system.

AAN in the Media Read more

Half of Afghan children suffer irreversible harm from malnutrition

AAN •

The Guardian, 26 January 2014 Emma Graham-Harrison, reporting from Samangan, point to the often neglected social side of events in Afghanistan: "More than half of Afghan girls and boys suffer damage to their minds and bodies that cannot be undone because they are poorly nourished in the crucial first two years of life", acoording to […]

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Little Leagues, Great Hopes: Afghan grassroots football kicks off

S Reza Kazemi •

Afghanistan’s football premier league and its national team have received tremendous attention inside and outside the country, particularly after the national team’s victory in the 2013 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship. Children’s football, on the other hand, has gone largely unnoticed – although experts say that an Afghan team has the chance to even […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Afghanistan’s Worsening, and Baffling, Hunger Crisis

AAN •

New York Times, 4 January 2014 "Afghan hospitals like Bost, in the capital of war-torn Helmand Province, have been registering significant increases in severe malnutrition among children" writes Rod Nordland, reporting on the often over-looked socio-economic side of things in Afghanistan. "Countrywide, such cases have increased by 50 percent or more compared with 2012, according to […]

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