Issues facing children in Afghanistan
- Children constitute one third of Afghanistan’s population.
- There are hundreds of thousands of orphans living in Afghanistan.
- One million Afghan children suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
- The infant mortality rate declined to about 135 per 1,000 live births in 2006, from an estimated 165 per 1,000 in 2001.
- One Afghan woman dies in childbirth about every half-hour and 20 percent of children never make it to their fifth birthday.
- Though six million Afghan children are now enrolled in school, millions of others are not, due either to security concerns or employment demands.
- Many Afghan children, especially girls, still do not have access to education.
- An estimated 80 percent of school buildings across the country are damaged or destroyed.
- About a quarter of all children seven to fourteen years old are forced to work to support their families.
- Approximately 30 children are killed or maimed by landmines each month in Afghanistan.