UNHCR and UNICEF Launch Global Framework to Educate Millions of Afghan Children

Tawazon – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have signed a global “Strategic Cooperation Framework.” This framework aims to integrate displaced, returnee, and vulnerable children and families into national systems for education, child protection, water and sanitation, social support, data collection, and the eradication of childhood statelessness by 2030.

This global strategic cooperation framework is a key step toward operational coordination and joint advocacy between UNHCR and UNICEF. Its goal is to provide essential services for displaced children and ensure their access to fundamental rights such as education, protection, mental health, and hygiene. Implementing this framework in Afghanistan could strengthen educational capacity, enhance psychosocial support, improve health, and empower families.

Suh cooperation has even greater importance as Afghanistan faces a massive wave of internal displacement, returning refugees, and severe restrictions on children’s access to education, hygiene services, and psychosocial support. More than 7.8 million children in the country are out of school; only half of children at the primary level and just one-fifth at the secondary level have access to education.

This UNHCR–UNICEF cooperation framework could pave the way for focused and effective service delivery to Afghan children, ensuring that no child is left behind in the path toward development and humanitarian crisis response.