A new study has found at least 26,025 children have been killed or maimed in war-ravaged Afghanistan in the past 14 years – an average of five children every day.
The shocking findings, released by Save the Children, has spurred the organization on to join calls for increased humanitarian funding from donor countries at this week’s pledging conference in Geneva.
According to a statement issued by Save the Children, the study took into account child victims due to conflict between 2005 and 2019. The organization also stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the crisis for children.
The UN estimates that currently, seven million children are in need of urgent help in Afghanistan.
Save the Children reported that between between 2017 and 2019 there were more than 300 attacks on schools, injuring or killing at least 410 students and teachers.
The organization stated that 93 percent of late primary school-aged children are not proficient in reading and 60 percent of school-aged children missing out on their education are girls,
The organization also stated that spending on education is presently 78 percent less than the average for the South Asia region and that 14 million people, nearly 50 percent of the country’s population, need humanitarian assistance.
In addition, more than seven million children are at risk of hunger just this year, three million children under the age of five suffer from under-nutrition and the UN’s humanitarian appeal is currently only 42 percent funded.
Chris Nyamandi, Save the Children’s Country Director in Afghanistan, said: “Imagine living with the constant fear that today might be the day that your child is killed in a suicide attack or an airstrike. This is the grim reality for tens of thousands of Afghan parents whose children have been killed or injured.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has added to children’s misery and must be addressed with new funding. But as the humanitarian needs rise higher than ever, it is a struggle to secure the funds needed to help people.
“This week’s conference is a crucial moment for donor governments to reaffirm their support to Afghanistan and its millions of children, at a time when it is needed more than ever,” said Mr Nyamandi.
As the 2020 Afghanistan Conference starts in Geneva, Save the Children called on the international community to increase funding for education, especially for girls, as well as protect the interests of people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups; increase spending on public health to support children, many of whom are having to live with life-altering injuries due to being caught up in the conflict; work with the government of Afghanistan to ensure national laws related to the protection of children are fully resourced and rolled out nationwide; secure an enduring peace settlement so that future generations grow up free from the fear of violence and death.
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