Afghanistan
Advocacy
Hizb-i Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant Khorasan Province (ISIL-KP), and the Taliban forces and affiliated groups, including the Haqqani network, are each listed in the annexes of the Secretary-General’s (SG) 2022 annual report (S/2022/493) on children and armed conflict (CAAC) for committing grave violations against children. In March, UNAMA’s mandate is up for renewal, per SCR 2626 (2022). According to the SG’s December report on UNAMA (S/2022/916), the UN verified 522 grave violations against children from September to December 2022. Killing and maiming was the most prevalent verified violation directly impacting 267 children (64 killed, 203 maimed). Children continued to be the main victims of unexploded ordnance. A September 30 attack on Kaaj Educational Centre in Kabul led to the deaths of 54 civilians and injury of 114, mostly women and girls from Hazara community. On December 24, the de facto authorities issued a decree banning women from working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs). As a result, several international humanitarian organizations suspended their operations, citing female staff as essential to reaching women and girls with humanitarian aid. The Security Council should:
- Renew UNAMA’s mandate for 12 months without amendment, and ensure allocation of sufficient resources to strengthen capacities to deliver on its child protection mandate, including for monitoring and engagement with parties to end and prevent grave violations, and toaddress threats posed by landmines, ERW, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs);
- 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;
- 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 by immediately reversing the ban on female NGO workers.
Japan and the United Arab Emirates are the lead countries on Afghanistan.
This information is based on Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update – March 2023.
Publications
UN Action
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
Perpetrators listed in the annexes of the Secretary-General’s annual reports on children and armed conflict
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghan National Police (including Afghan Local Police)~* | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a | |||||||
| Factions associated with the former Northern Alliance | a | ||||||||||||||
| Factions in the south of Afghanistan | a | ||||||||||||||
| Factional fighting groups | a | ||||||||||||||
| Haqqani network* | a | a,b | a,b | a,b | a,b | a,b | a,b | a,b | |||||||
| Hezb-e-Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar* | a,b,c | a,b | a,b | a,b | a,b | a,b | a,b | ||||||||
| Hezb-i-Islami | a | ||||||||||||||
| Jama’at al-Da’wah ila al-Qur’an wal-Sunnah* | a | a | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d,e | a,b,d,e | |||||||
| Taliban forces/remnants of the Taliban* | a | a, b, d | a,b,d,f | a | a,b | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d,e | a,b,d,e | ||||
| Tora Bora Front* | a | a | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d,e | a,b,d,e | |||||||
| Latif Mansur Network* | a | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d | a,b,d,e | a,b,d,e | ||||||||
| ISIL – Khorasan Province | a,b |
a: Parties that recruit and use children
b: Parties that kill and maim children
c: Parties that commit rape and other forms of sexual violence against children
d: Parties that engage in attacks on schools and/or hospitals
e: Parties that engage in abduction of children
f: Parties that deny humanitarian access to children
~ This party has concluded an action plan with the United Nations in line with Security Council resolutions 1539 (2004) and 1612 (2005).
* This party has been in the annexes for at least five years and is therefore considered a persistent perpetrator.
