'Not possible without engaging….': Nobel laureate Satyarthi on education for children in Afghanistan

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Sunday stressed upon the need to engage with the ruling groups in Afghanistan for education and healthcare of children in that country. Satyarthi, who was recently appointed as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocate, also warned that if no concrete action is taken now, then Afghan children will suffer the most.

“We have to consider that Afghan kids are our children. Collective, prompt and sustainable efforts should be made to ensure education, healthcare and protection of those children. That is not possible without engaging the ruling groups,” Satyarthi said, adding that though kids have never caused wars, insurgencies, violence or poverty, they are the worst sufferers of all the problems these create.

“Afghanistan is one such example. Their children are going to suffer the most if we don’t take any concrete action now,” he further said.

A UNICEF report released last month said that around 10 million children across the war-torn nation need humanitarian assistance to survive. Earlier this month, the agency said that since August 15, when the Taliban seized power in the country, nearly 300 unaccompanied children have been evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city.

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The return to power of the Taliban has sparked fears that the regime will prohibit women and girls from pursuing education, as it did during its first five years in power, from 1996 to 2001. 

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The hardliners seized control in Afghanistan as the United States withdrew its forces from the Afghan soil, an exercise it completed on August 30, thus concluding its military presence here after two decades.