UNICEF: Children’s Rights Demand Real Action, Not Just Words
Tawazon – On World Children’s Day, UNICEF raised urgent concerns about the growing risks facing Afghan children, even as it highlighted new progress through community-based support centres established across the country.
UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, Tajudeen Oyewale warned that rising child poverty, conflict, climate shocks and sharp cuts to critical services are stealing the futures of millions of Afghan children. “Enough”, He said. “Children’s rights are not just words, they are a living promise that must be upheld through action and investment”.
In a post shared on X, UNICEF said that with support from the World Bank, the organization has established 70 early childhood centres across the country, reaching 20,000 children. These centres help foster stronger bonds between mothers and children, laying a foundation for healthier, more resilient futures.
According to UNICEF, the new centres aim to counter the growing threats faced by Afghan children by providing early learning support, psychosocial support and save spaces for healthy child-parent interaction, services that are increasingly critical as families struggle with economic hardship and limited access to education, healthcare, and nutrition.
UNICEF Afghanistan emphasized that, despite declining humanitarian resources, it remains committed to expandin support for the most vulnerable children.
The agency urged the international community to increase long-term investment in children’s well-being, stressing that early support is key for building a more resilient generation.
World Children’s Day is marked every year around the world, including in Afghanistan, often with events and messages supporting children’s rights. However, in Afghanistan, millions of children struggles with poverty, limited access to education, child labour, and a lack of basic health services.
