Side-event on Protecting education and addressing child protection challenges in Afghanistan
Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends
I'm honoured to have been invited to co-host today's event, and encouraged to see that interest has been so high. With the Afghanistan conference just around the corner and the pandemic still taking a huge toll on children's access to education worldwide, it is difficult to conceive of a more important topic.
Progress made in the area of education has for a long time been a beacon of light in the conflict-ridden Afghan context. Between 2001 and 2018, the number of children attending school increased from less than a million to over 9 million. Out of these nearly 40 percent were girls. Even as things remained difficult, these figures inspired hope and promise of a better future for the Afghan youth.
While I'm confident we all still share this hope, there have been worrying trends over the past few years. Attacks on schools have increased. Teachers are increasingly subjected to threats and to violence. We still see schools being used for military purposes, even though this practice has been reduced. But many schools have simply had to close, caught in the crossfire of the ongoing conflict. Record numbers of civilian casualties have generated new waves of displacement, affecting children and taking them out of school.
Add to this the pandemic, which has hit already fragile livelihoods in the country with full force, and the consequences of which we still cannot fully assess.
I want to emphasise that it is not only direct violence that affects children in Afghanistan. It is also the fear of violence. Fear that leads to children dropping out of school, to lower admission rates, to deteriorated quality of education and learning. Girls are disproportionately affected. Interviews conducted by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan in conflict areas reveal a pattern where parents who previously encouraged their daughters to go to school, now are questioning if it's really worth the risk.
Sweden's commitment to advancing education in Afghanistan dates back nearly four decades.
The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan started delivering education services already in the 1980s. Today they manage schools in 14 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. Swedish support to their programmes, with a particular focus on girls and children with disabilities, have meant that 90 000 girls and boys can go to school. The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan also educates female teachers – a prerequisite to enabling more girls to access education.
Sweden has also earmarked support to the Education Cannot Wait initiative, contributing towards a multiyear education programme targeted at internally displaced and returnee children.
Through support to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund , Sweden supports Education Quality Reform in Afghanistan, a program which aims to build nearly 2000 schools and upgrade the physical infrastructure of an additional 700 schools. Unfortunately, only during October-November this year, we have received three reports of incidents where almost completed schools have been damaged by different actors in the conflict.
The Afghan government signing the Safe Schools Declaration in 2015 was an important step. Progress must be safe-guarded and further advancements made towards ensuring that all parties to the conflict respect International Humanitarian Law and protect civilians from attack. Incidents where schools come under attack must be investigated, the responsible held accountable.
Particular focus needs to be directed to girl's access to education, including on sexual and reproductive health. In the wake of the pandemic, we see an alarming worldwide increase in the incidence of sexual and gender-based violence and forced early marriages. Girls' school attendance, and comprehensive sexuality education for girls and boys, are key to preventing this, and to furthering women's empowerment.
It is therefore important that implementation of the Safe Schools declaration is gender responsive. In this context I'm pleased to note that the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan recently developed an action plan for gender-based violence. Sweden is closely following this work.
It's a privilege to be sharing the floor today with many of you who are implementing this important work. I look forward to learning from your experiences. I urge other donors to do the same, and to make use of the upcoming conference to reinforce commitments to education and child protection in Afghanistan.
Before I finish, let me express my sincere condolences to Her Excellency Minister Hamidi and Afghan friends who are with us today, on the tragic loss of life in recent attacks, including the loathsome attack on Kabul University earlier this month. Attacks on education, at all levels, are attacks on human progress, on empowerment, and on our shared future.
Thank you.