Promoting Child Rights

Children in Crisis have worked in Afghanistan for the last 11 years.  During this time our staff members have regularly experienced children reporting cases of abuse committed by their teachers and parents.  Children’s Rights in Afghanistan are not being protected or respected.  The need to protect and provide children with their rights is a theme which cuts across Children in Crisis’ work throughout the world.

We have just begun a new project in Afghanistan to try and change attitudes and behaviour towards children. We want communities to take more responsibility in protecting and promoting children’s rights, and thus give a voice to children and young people.

Working alongside other organisations and government ministries, we have put together a manual for child rights training. This manual is based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child but also considers what this means in an Islamic context looking at verses in the Koran, particularly those related to child rights. This was an innovative approach, and one which will enable the people of Afghanistan to understand how upholding the rights of the child is relevant to everyone in their daily lives.

This new project will be based initially in Koti Sangi, a deprived area of Kabul where Children in Crisis has been working with vulnerable children for the past three years.  Apart from young people, we will also set-up women’s groups to be trained in Child Right’s and Positive Discipline. These sessions are a fantastic way of encouraging them to promote and share their knowledge about Child Rights within their communities.

As part of the programme we will also train 600 teachers in Child Rights, particularly focusing on positive disciplining techniques which will hopefully reduce the use of corporal punishment in the classroom. In addition, 30 of these teachers will be selected to train as master trainers who can then share their knowledge with other teachers within their schools. 

We believe that raising awareness throughout the community is fundamental to upholding Child Rights. For this reason Children in Crisis will work with key groups within the community, such as members of the police force and the community’s mullahs, who will be encouraged to share messages about child rights in their Friday prayers.

We will continue to keep you updated on this hugely important area of our programme in Afghanistan.