Reuters: Fatima’s Taliban husband was so controlling that he refused to allow her to bathe and threatened to burn her face if she dared wear makeup, suspicious that his 12-year-old Afghan wife was trying to make herself attractive to other men. Click here to read more (external link).
RFE/RL’s Balkan Service August 10, 2017 An Afghan refugee boy dubbed “Little Picasso” has exhibited his paintings and photographs in Belgrade, hoping to raise money for a Serbian child’s treatment for brain cancer. Farhad Noory, 10, has lived in a refugee camp in the city with his parents and brothers for only eight months, but
August 3, 2017: In Afghanistan’s northern Balkh Province, ethnic Turkmen kids attend class every day in a small tent — the only school available in their area. There are few books, and no chairs or desks. Some teachers have faced threats from violent extremists, but they remain committed to educating the next generation, whatever the
Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 1, 2017 A U.S. government watchdog says Afghan security forces remain “complicit” in the sexual abuse of young boys despite previous warnings and strict penalties for such activities laid out recently by Afghanistan’s president. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), an office that audits and monitors
AP: The authorities told the AP that the children were being taken to Pakistani madrassas to educate a new generation in the ways of the Taliban, with the intention of returning them to Afghanistan to enforce the same rigid interpretation of Islam practiced by the radical religious movement until its ouster by U.S.-led coalition forces in
Hasib Danish Alikozai Zia-U-Rahman Hasrat VOA News | July 25, 2017 WASHINGTON/NANGARHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Ten-year-old Madina was collecting firewood with her friends Thursday in eastern Afghanistan when a roadside bomb went off and seriously injured her. “We were on a hill close to my home, collecting firewood, when I heard a loud sound underneath my feet,”
VOA News / July 22, 2017 Afghanistan’s all-girl robotics team returned Saturday to Kabul after its successful trip to Washington for the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge, and several officials representing the presidential palace welcomed the girls home, calling them role models. In the ceremony, Abdullah Abdullah, chief executive of the national unity government, said, “Despite
Khaama Press: The Afghan government for the first time finalized a law to criminalize the bullying and sexual abuse of children ‘Bacha Baazi’ late in February this year. This comes as numerous reports emerged during the recent years regarding the worsening situation of the children subjected to abuse and bullying. Click here to read more (external
Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 19, 2017 A group of Iranian lawmakers are looking to scrap a longstanding law that denies citizenship and equal rights to Iranian children born to foreign fathers. If approved by parliament, a recently drafted bill would overturn the discriminatory legislation and affect the lives of thousands of children
The Wire: Earlier this year, Afghanistan took an unprecedented policy step in the battle against the ‘child bride’ custom by launching the National Action Plan to Eliminate Early and Child Marriage. Activists are hopeful the plan will become more than a piece of paper, despite clear challenges ahead and the government’s poor record for implementation. Click