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2000 Children in Kabul's Only Orphanage Need Assistance

Year in Review 2002
Bangladesh
Malaysia
Nepal
Thailand
Pakistan

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(Children in Kadul's Allaudin Orphanage. Source: Reuters AlertNet)

However, majority of the children in the orphanage is not 'orphans' in the traditional sense. Most have at least one living parent. But utter poverty and lack of employment have driven parents to send their children to the orphanage. As many as six new children arrive at the orphanage every day in hope for food, shelter and an education.

Inside the cement-block building, dirt cakes the grimy, unpainted walls. There is no electricity or heat in the dormitories. An old generator provides power 2 1/2 hours a day. Thin mattresses lie on the floor to accommodate the increasing number of children, who share dirty blankets and wrap themselves in ragged layers against the chill.

The plumbing system is in disrepair, and children are allowed a bath once a week in stove-heated water. The orphanage’s sewerage system remains blocked, despite numerous pledges by various aid agencies and NGOs over the years to resolve the matter. As children play in the afternoon sun, the stench of human excrement permeates the air.

Old clothes are shoved into a cardboard box; broken sandals and running shoes are in another box for the children to pick through.

A much needed food assistance program that was started by the United Nations world food program also stopped in July 2001 after monitors determined some of the food was actually going to families of staff members or was being sold in the market instead of reaching the children.

The Allaudin Center Orphanage has about 400 staff members who are mainly involved in administrative work, aid agencies are bemused how so many people could possibly be employed in a government-run facility with few resources.

Whatever be the reasons, it is evident that as the orphanage is expanding and its needs increasing, aid agencies and NGOs are becoming more and more reluctant to get involved with the center. A recent report by the Associated Press mentioned that international interest in the orphanage has been waning, with aid workers gone and the number of children increasing. Most aid agencies are reluctant to invest in the orphanage because they perceive it as a form of institutionalization of children.

The worst affected in this bargain are the children living in the orphanage. 

In spite of wide coverage in the international media, and the passing of the Afghan Freedom Support Act 2002 by the United States government, Allahudin orphanage has received little help.

The orphanage is still in need of blankets and beds to protect the children from  the chilling winter conditions of Kabul. The sewage system still needs to be repaired. Electricity and heat are yet to be come to the orphanage and the school is still in dire need of supplies.

Little has changed for the children in Kabul.

Related News Articles:
Afghanistan: Children smile to peacekeeping Santas (December 24, 2002)

Afghanistan: Children Die in army exercise (December 16, 2002)

Afghanistan: Chilling Winter claims 10 Children in Refugee Camps (December 10, 2002)

• There are 50,000 children working on the streets of the capital of Kabul alone.
• 1 out of every 4 children born in Afghanistan dies before their 5th birthday (Save the Children, USA).
• 309,000 children under five years of age die each year; under-five mortality rate ranks fourth worldwide (RAWA).
• 96 per cent of girls are illiterate and 60 per cent of boys. Only 3 percent of girls and 39 percent of boys are enrolled in school in Afghanistan (Guardian).
• 300,000 Afghan children currently die every year - largely from preventable causes (UNICEF) .

One of the most reliable sources to contribute to the orphanage, and also the one that we recommend, is through the RAWA (Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan). which has been helping the children since a long time. The following is the mailing address of RAWA in Pakistan:

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
Mailing Address:  RAWA,  P.O.Box 374,  Quetta, Pakistan
Mobile: 0092-300-8551638
Fax: 001-760-2819855
E-mail: rawa@rawa.org
Home Page: http://www.rawa.org
Mirror site: http://rawa.fancymarketing.net

You can learn more about RAWA by visiting their website. We appeal to you to help the children in this orphanage in any manner you can.

YEAR IN REVIEW 2002: CHILD RIGHTS IN ASIA

The Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) in it's 'Annual Report on Child Rights in 2002' revealed some shocking figures on the child rights situation in Bangladesh in Year 2002.

The rights of at least 7445 children were violated in some way or the other in 2002. In 2001, 3776 children were violated: a increase by 97 percent.

Regional and national newspapers carried reports of 620 child rights violations in 2002, almost double those reported in 2001.

In 2002, 584 children were killed with an average of 2 children killed every day. 686 girls/women were raped, and 83 of them killed after rape.

A total of 408 girls were trafficked to India, Pakistan and Middle East countries for forced prostitution and 130 girls/women suffered acid attacks.

Malaysia: 800 'reported' cases of child abuse in 2002

Under-reporting of child abuse is an common phenomenon in Malaysia. Child Rights Activists mention that the number of cases reported annually are just the tip of the iceberg. In 2002, 800 cases of child abuse were reported to the police. The reported cases were mostly related to physical and sexual abuse of girls.

In spite of the passing of the Child Act in 2001, which makes it easy to report child abuse cases, the situation did not see a great improvement.

Malaysia also hit headlines during the year due to its mass deportation exercise of illegal immigrants. Confirmed reports highlighted the abuse and rape of at least 13 young Filipino girls during the deportation process.

Nepal: 3,609 incidents of CR violation in 2002

A total of 3609 incidents related to the exploitation of children, sexual exploitation of children, child trafficking, forced prostitution, child labour exploitation, child death, missing children and children in conflict with the law were recorded by the Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN).

At least 40,000 children were living as bonded labourers and another 5000 children were working and living on the streets in 2002.

At least 12,000 women and children are trafficked to India for purposes of prostitution in 2002.

However, under reporting is common and these numbers are not indicative of the actual number of children who have been violated during the year.

Also See: http://www.cwin-nepal.org/resources/reports/roc_2002/index.htm

Thailand: 215 children raped, 164 abused in 2002

A nongovernmental organization Child Protection Foundation (CPF) revealed that the number of child rape cases that it had handled in 2002 had increased by 39 percent from the previous years. CPF received 215 cases of child rape in 2002.

CPF also noted a 31 percent rise in the number of child abuse cases, up to 164 cases compared to the previous year.

44 percent of the rape cases were of children age 9 and lower, majority of the perpetrators being the girls' own fathers, stepfather or close relatives.

UNICEF estimated that there were at least 200,000 child prostitutes in Thailand in 2002.

1,439 cases of child abuse reported in 2002.

Of them, 550 cases were related to murders of children , 378 committed against male children and 172 against female.

The remaining were related to rape (303), sodomy (260), injury (188) and others of severe torture (50).

Of the total, 825 were committed against minor boys and the rest against girls.

454 cases of female child abduction and 392 cases of male child abduction were reported in 2002. The main reasons being old enmity, kidnapping for ransom and sexual pleasures; and in some cases, the abducted male children trafficking to the Gulf states.

Newspapers reported 831 cases of missing children all over the country.

Important Links

Associated Press
Irin News
Save the Children, USA
RAWA
Canadian Relief Foundation