Concluding a four-day-long visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Omar Abdi, has urged both countries to address children’s needs by upholding their rights to quality health care, education, and protection.
While visiting Afghanistan, Abdi visited the Indira Gandhi Children’s hospital in Kabul where he met dozens of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition.
“Abdi visited a number of projects as part of the cooperation between UNICEF and the Government of Pakistan. Abdi, who had served as UNICEF Representative in Pakistan from 2003 to 2006, visited a school, a COVID-19 and polio call center as well as the National Emergency Operation Center in Islamabad,” the UNICEF statement issued on October 9 reads.
Reiterating that UNICEF will continue to press for the rights of every girl, boy, and woman in Afghanistan, Abdi urged:
“The de facto authorities, UN member states, donors and humanitarian organizations must act together immediately to prevent the humanitarian crisis from deteriorating further, in the interest of children’s survival in Afghanistan.”
Commending the Government of Pakistan for reopening schools across the country safely and prioritizing the vaccination of teachers, Abdi stated that the Ministry of Education in Pakistan has adopted efficient measures to promote digital learning with UNICEF support. However, in-person learning remains key, he added.
- At Islamabad Model School for Girls, he met with students and teachers who use an innovative mix of digital and traditional learning to teach children
- Meeting de facto authorities in Kabul, Abdi highlighted children’s need to access basic health care, immunization, nutrition, water and sanitation, and child protection services
- He also called for polio, measles, and COVID immunization campaigns to resume immediately to protect children and communities from vaccine-preventable diseases
- Likewise, he stressed the critical importance of ensuring all boys and girls are allowed to continue their education at all levels
- As many as 80 blended learning classrooms are being established in public schools in Islamabad
- As part of a pilot by the Government of Pakistan to assist students and teachers with additional material for learning and teaching, the lessons and activities are provided offline by using a portable device in schools
- He also visited a government warehouse that uses ultra-cold chain equipment procured by UNICEF to store Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines
- So far, the global COVAX facility has delivered more than 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan
- Pakistan has administered nearly 90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with 32 million people now fully vaccinated
- Abdi met with partners at a COVID-19 and polio call center to promote vaccination
Appreciating Pakistan’s efforts to fight polio and provide safe access to polio vaccination teams across the country, Abdi remarked:
“We welcome the decrease in the number of polio cases. However, these gains are fragile.” We must continue vaccinating every child to end this crippling and fatal disease for good, he added.
While an estimated 1 million children in Afghanistan are predicted to suffer from severe acute malnutrition in 2021 and could die, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on children’s learning, with girls especially at risk in Pakistan.
In Afghanistan, severe outbreaks of measles and acute watery diarrhea have further exacerbated the situation, putting more children at risk, whereas in Pakistan many students were left struggling with the realities of remote learning without the appropriate tools.
