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This is a corporal punishment country report for Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, the Law on Protection of Child Rights 2019 prohibits corporal punishment in alternative care settings and in penal institutions.
However, corporal punishment is still lawful in the home, day care and as a sentence for crime. In the home, the new Law protects children from "any forms of physical and mental excruciation” but does not extend to prohibiting corporal punishment.
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Abstract
This year marks thirty years since the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention) entered into force and ten years since the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (the Guidelines) were adopted. The term ‘alternative care’ refers to the placing of children in the care of someone other than a parent. Although the seven South Asian countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – have ratified the Convention, each of the jurisdictions has reflected the Convention and Guidelines…
The alarming prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) across the globe demands scrutinization of the present mechanisms in place to protect children from abuse. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child acknowledges that the family is the natural environment for the development and well-being of children. However, historically, children throughout South Asia have suffered homelessness, neglect and deprivation due to factors such as broken homes, lack of financial resources, physical and sexual abuse, and the age-old tradition of migrating parents in search of a better life,…
Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world for a child to grow up. Many children are engaged in hazardous and illegal work, excluded from education, forced into early marriage, inappropriately placed in institutional care, or trafficked for sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. The cumulative effects of war, poverty, and displacement continue to erode community coping mechanisms, and increasing numbers of children are subject to greater and greater risks. Afghanistan ranks among the lowest countries in the world for every indicator of child survival and development…
Poverty, conflict, and other risk factors in Afghanistan contribute to a situation where many families are vulnerable to breakdown. There is a systemic lack of support, diversion, and alternative care services available for these families. Where parents are unable to provide for their children, residential care is the only recourse.
The Department of Orphanages is responsible for the administration of orphanages at the national level and is situated in the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs, and Disabled (MOLSAMD). MOLSAMD sources suggest that there are between six and eleven…
The Regional Strategic Framework for the Protection, Care and Support of Children Affected by HIV/AIDS provides guidance to the eight member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for a consistent approach across South Asia to protect, care and support children affected by HIV/AIDS. Between 2.3 and 3.7 million people in the SAARC region are estimated to be HIV positive. HIV/AIDS affects children in all parts of the SAARC.
It locates children affected by HIV/AIDS within the broader group of children in difficult circumstances, and focuses on delivering an…
The participation of children and youth in fighting forces is a common reality in many conflicts around the world. While the factors underlying the phenomenon of child soldiering are complex and multi-faceted, demobilizing and reintegrating young soldiers in the aftermath of conflict poses enormous challenges for civil society, governments, and the international community. Although UN agencies, international NGOs, national governments, and community-based organizations all have sought to provide protection and assist former child soldiers on their way back to civilian life through disarmament…
Decades of war, drought, destruction, displacement, and poverty have eroded the traditional family-based safety nets that provide for children when birth families are unable to offer adequate care. There is palpable and growing evidence in Afghanistan that institutional care of children is now the only solution used in situations where families are unable, or unwilling, to care for their children. Care of children in institutions is being used as a response to poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and repatriation.
One of the most serious challenges facing Afghanistan is the need to…
This article from the Pew Research Center presents statistics on the number of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in Europe, and the growth in child migration in the past few years.