• published: 21 Apr 2010
• views: 15948

MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan, 20 April 2010 In this video, UNICEF's Sarah Crowe reports on UNICEF's efforts to help protect Afghan girls from violence and early marriage. Says UNICEF Child Protection Officer Farid Dastgeer, We also need to provide opportunities for girls when they graduate, so that they can earn as much as a boy earns in the community. But Mr. Dastgeer cautions: Peace is the key to any success in any area, and especially in child protection, so if there is war, there is limitation of access to the rural areas [and] there is little chance we get to know the real problems of children from those areas. We need peace so that the community comes forward with their problems, and then UNICEF, along with partners, addresses those problems. Achieving peace wont be a walk in the park, but there are places where children have filled schools and classrooms, where families can walk around freely, where childhood is not interrupted. There is real momentum towards progress for girls and boys in parts of Afghanistan.