War Child in Afghanistan

For the past 30 years, Afghanistan has seen nothing but conflict. This means that the children and young people with whom War Child works have never known peace or security. They can never feel completely safe. And the conflict and its impact on the country not only cast a shadow over the present; they create massive uncertainty for the future. In such an environment it is hard to imagine how any child can achieve the sense of normalcy that is so vital for psychosocial well-being.

What does War Child do?
War Child has been working in Afghanistan since 2003. Promoting the rights of children has been central to the programme since it began. War Child believes in the strength of children to find their own path and influence their own future. We believe in the participation of children and young people in those decisions that most affect them. Through creative activities that offer children and young people the chance to identify the issues most important to them and address these in a practical way we hope to effect lasting change in Afghanistan, for this generation and the generations to come.

War Child-supported projects
Since 2010 War Child has been working through partners in Afghanistan, instead of implementing our own activities. This has enabled us to reduce the size of our operations, making us more efficient. Offering partners technical as well as financial support contribute to their work by improving things like monitoring and evaluation, making projects more effective. These are the organizations that are in Afghanistan for the long-term, so supporting them makes sense and helps us to have more of a long-term impact.

Lastly, organizations that come from the communities that they are working for are well supported locally. This is important to consider both for security and for programme quality. As certain parts of Afghanistan become increasingly dangerous we need to think about how we can best reach the most vulnerable children and young people and supporting partners is a vital part of that. Supporting local organizations can be part of that, although War Child is always careful to ensure that partners are not put at additional risk in implementing War Child-supported projects.

War Child Partners
- BBC World Service Trust (WST)
- Family Welfare Focus (FWF)
- Sanayee Development Organisation (SDO)

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