Afghanistan

Hizb-i Islami of Gulbuddin, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-KP), and Taliban forces and affiliated groups, including the Haqqani network, are each listed in the annexes of the Secretary-General’s (SG) 2023 annual report (S/2023/363) on children and armed conflict (CAAC) for grave violations against children. In December, the SG is expected to report on UNAMA, pursuant to SCR 2678 (2023). According to the SG’s September report on Afghanistan (S/2023/678), the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Report (CTFMR) verified 393 grave violations against children between April and June 2023. The most prominent violations were killing and maiming, recruitment and use, and the denial of humanitarian access. Children continue to be to be particularly vulnerable to harm from explosive remnants of war (ERW) and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which were the primary cause of civilian casualties during the reporting period, including at least 65 children. The Security Council should:

• Demand that all parties in Afghanistan fully uphold their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL);
• Call on the de facto authorities to abide by Afghanistan’s national and international commitments to protect children, including the definition of a child as any individual under 18 years, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the Paris Principles and Commitments, and the Safe Schools Declaration;
• Reiterate its call on the de facto authorities to swiftly reverse the policies and practices restricting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Afghan women and girls, including related to their access to education, employment, freedom of movement, and women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in public life, pursuant to SCR 2681 (2023);
• Reiterate its demand that all parties allow full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access consistent with international law for all humanitarian personnel, including women, for United Nations agencies, international and national non-governmental organizations, and for other humanitarian actors, and to allow women and girls safe access to humanitarian assistance and basic services;
• Ensure allocation of sufficient resources to the UN Country Team to strengthen capacities to deliver on its child protection mandate, including for monitoring and engagement with parties to end and prevent grave violations, and to address threats posed by landmines, ERW, and IEDs.

JAPAN AND THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ARE THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDERS ON AFGHANISTAN.

This information is based on Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update – December 2023.

Year listed: 2003
Action Plans signed: Afghan National Police (including the Afghan Local Police) – recruitment and use of children and sexual violence against children (January 2011)
Sanctions Committee: 1988 Sanctions Committee and 1267 ISIL and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee (Current Chair: Indonesia)
Secretary-General’s reports on CAAC in Afghanistan: 2021; 2019; 2015; 2011; 2008
Security Council Working Group conclusions on Afghanistan: 2020; 2016; 2011; 2009
UN Mission: UNAMA